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Annals
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Annals (Latin: annāles, from annus, "year")[1][2] are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year,[1] although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.[2]

Scope

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The nature of the distinction between annals and history is a subject based on divisions established by the ancient Romans.[1] Verrius Flaccus, quoted by Aulus Gellius,[3] stated that the etymology of history (from Greek ιστορειν, historein, equated with Latin inspicere, "to inquire in person") properly restricts it to primary sources such as Thucydides's which have come from the author's own observations, while annals record the events of earlier times arranged according to years.[1] Hayden White distinguishes annals from chronicles, which organize their events by topics such as the reigns of kings,[4] and from histories, which aim to present and conclude a narrative implying the moral importance of the events recorded.[5][6][4] Generally speaking, annalists record events drily, leaving the entries unexplained and equally weighted.[5]

History

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Ancient

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The chief sources of information in regard to the annals of ancient Rome are two passages in Cicero[7][1] and in Servius[8][9] which have been the subject of much discussion. Cicero states that, from the founding of the Republic down to the pontificate of Publius Mucius Scaevola (c. 132 BC), it was usual for the pontifex maximus to record the name of the magistrates and the noteworthy events of each year on a white tablet (an album), which was exhibited in an open place at his house so that the people might read it.[1] Servius states the events were written for each day.[n 1] In the late Republic, these were known as the Annales Maximi.[1] After the pontificate of Publius, annals were compiled by various unofficial writers, of whom Cicero names Cato, Pictor, and Piso.[1] These annals have been generally regarded as the same with the Commentarii Pontificum cited by Livy, but there seems reason to believe that the two were distinct, with the Commentarii being fuller and more circumstantial.[1] Verrius Flaccus's division of genres is borne out in the common division of Tacitus's works into Annals and Histories,[1] although he did not use those titles to refer to his own works.

Medieval

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Among the early Christians, it was common to establish the date of Easter by asking local Jews for the date of Passover (Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar) and either using that date or the nearest Sunday to it.[10][11] By the end of the 3rd century, this date sometimes occurred before the spring equinox and frequently varied from city to city.[12] Following the 325 Council of Nicaea, Easter tables began to be drawn up according to various methods of computing Easter, often running from the Passion until decades or centuries into the future. Beginning in Ireland, Wales, and England in the 7th century, monks began to briefly note important events of the year as marginalia in these tables.[9] Thereafter the compilation of annals became by and large a monastic activity, with the earliest recorded monastic annals being compiled in Ireland and known as the Chronicle of Ireland.[13] Not all early annalistic texts, however, were monastic, and some in fact were made under royal patronage. For example, what is now called the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a text concerned mainly with the activities of kings, was written in annalistic form. Other examples of insular annals, written under various kinds of patronage, include the Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Ulster, the Annals of Innisfallen, and the Annals of Wales (Annales Cambriæ).

Introduced by insular missionaries to the continent, these texts were recopied, augmented, and continued, especially in Austrasia.[9] During the 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance, they became the usual form of contemporary history: major examples include the Royal Frankish Annals, the Annals of Fulda (Annales Fuldenses), the Annals of St Bertin (Annales Bertiniani), and the Annals of Lorsch (Annales Laureschamenses).[9] As the annals developed into fuller and more descriptive entries, they became more indistinguishable from chronicles, although the term was still used for various works, such as the Annals of Waverley.[9]

Modern

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In modern literature, the term "annals" is similarly loosely applied to works which more or less strictly adhere to the order of years,[9] both in western contexts (English Annual Registers, French Annuaires de la Revue, German Jahrbücher) and to equivalent styles in other cultures (such as the Chinese Spring and Autumn Annals).

It is also applied to various periodicals, particularly peer-reviewed journals in the sciences, after the model of Lavoisier's Annales de chimie et de physique.

See also

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Works
Periodicals

Notes

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Additional notes

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Annals are historical records in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, typically consisting of brief statements of facts without extensive interpretation or . The term derives from the Latin annales, the plural of annalis meaning "yearly," reflecting their structure as annual summaries. As one of the earliest forms of in various cultures, annals served primarily to document significant occurrences, such as royal deeds, natural phenomena, or political changes, often maintained by official scribes or priests for administrative or propagandistic purposes. The origins of annalistic writing trace back to the ancient Near East, where Assyrian and Babylonian kings inscribed year-by-year accounts of military campaigns and conquests on monuments and clay tablets to glorify their reigns and legitimize authority. Similar practices appeared among the in , producing concise records of royal achievements from the second millennium BCE. In ancient , the (Chunqiu), compiled around the 5th century BCE, exemplify the genre as a terse of the state of Lu from 722 to 481 BCE, influencing later Confucian . In the , annals evolved as a distinct form, beginning with the Annales Maximi in —official priestly records of omens, elections, and public events dating to the 5th century BCE, though surviving only in fragments quoted by later authors. Roman historians like in the 3rd century BCE adopted this year-by-year format for their works, establishing annalistic historiography as a standard for chronicling the republic's history. The most famous example is Tacitus's Annals (early 2nd century CE), a literary adaptation covering the Roman emperors from to , blending factual reporting with moral critique despite the genre's traditional restraint. During the medieval period in , monastic communities produced numerous annals, such as the in Ireland (5th–16th centuries CE), which cataloged events from local to Viking invasions in a laconic style. These works often began as marginal notes on tables and expanded into standalone volumes, bridging ancient traditions with emerging forms that added more connective narrative. While annals differ from fuller histories by their episodic nature, they provided foundational sources for later scholars, influencing the development of systematic historical inquiry across civilizations. In contemporary usage, "annals" also denotes scholarly journals recording advancements in fields like science or medicine, echoing their original role as ongoing records.

Definition and Scope

Definition

Annals are concise historical records in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year. The term derives from the Latin annāles, meaning "yearly books" or "annals," which is formed from annālis ("pertaining to a year") and ultimately from annus ("year"). This etymology reflects the core organizational principle of annals as year-ordered compilations, a practice that originated in ancient with works like the Annales Maximi, the official pontifical records of . Over time, the concept has been applied more broadly to any systematic collection of historical entries structured by annual divisions. The primary purpose of annals is to document events in a factual, non-narrative , emphasizing brevity and objectivity without extensive interpretation, , or moralizing. Unlike more interpretive historical forms, annals prioritize raw recording of occurrences as they happened, serving as a foundational for later historical synthesis. This approach ensures a neutral that captures the passage of time through discrete annual summaries, often maintained by official or clerical authorities to preserve . In their basic structure, annals consist of entries listed under yearly headings, with each year's section containing succinct notations of significant public or communal events, such as elections, battles, accessions, or natural phenomena. These records typically eschew elaborate , opting instead for list-like formats that facilitate quick and chronological clarity. The Roman annāles set this , influencing subsequent traditions where the yearly framework remains central to the genre's identity.

Characteristics and Distinctions

Annals are characterized by their brevity, objectivity, and absence of causal connections or narrative flow, presenting events in a dry, unembellished list organized strictly by year. This form eschews interpretive commentary, focusing instead on factual notations without linking events into a cohesive story or exploring motivations and consequences. According to , annals represent a "pre-narrative" mode of historical representation, where events are recorded as isolated occurrences lacking the emplotment, closure, or explanatory structure found in full . Unlike interpretive histories, which weave events into analytical narratives with explicit causal explanations and authorial insights, annals function as compilations of raw data, serving as unprocessed records rather than synthesized accounts. For instance, ' History of the Peloponnesian War exemplifies the historical genre through its detailed speeches, strategic analyses, and thematic explorations of and power, transforming mere events into a structured . In contrast, annals remain neutral aggregations without such elaboration. Annals also differ from chronicles in their rigid adherence to year-by-year listings devoid of thematic , extended commentary, or broader contextualization. While maintain a chronological framework but often incorporate details on rulers' reigns, moral reflections, or interconnected topics across periods, annals limit themselves to terse entries under annual headings, avoiding any narrative expansion. In Roman scholarly , annals were specifically defined as official records of magistrates' elections and significant omens, distinct from more elaborate historical compositions. Figures like Verrius Flaccus emphasized this scope, viewing annals as foundational, chronicle-like documents tied to pontifical duties rather than comprehensive or literary histories.

Historical Development

Ancient Origins

The Annales Maximi represent the earliest systematic form of annalistic recording in , originating with the establishment of the around 509 BC. Maintained by the and his college of priests, these official records were inscribed annually on whitewashed wooden tablets displayed publicly in the , the pontiffs' headquarters in the Forum Romanum. They documented key public events, including the names of magistrates elected each year, religious rituals, celestial phenomena such as eclipses, natural prodigies, and occasional notes on food prices or military outcomes, serving primarily as a religious and administrative rather than a . The compilation of these scattered annual entries into a cohesive corpus occurred around c. 130 BC under Publius Mucius Scaevola, the from 130 BC until his death circa 115 BC. Scaevola's edition, spanning 80 books, extended the records from the Republic's founding to his own time, approximately 130 BC, and marked the first comprehensive edition of the Annales Maximi, transforming the pontifical notices into a foundational historical resource. This work emphasized Rome's sacred relationship with the gods through its focus on omens and rituals, influencing the structure of subsequent by establishing a year-by-year framework tied to consular terms. Early Roman annalists built directly on this pontifical tradition, adapting it into prose histories during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. , active around 225–200 BC, is regarded as the first Roman to compose a historical account in Greek, organizing events chronologically by consular years and drawing from the Annales Maximi for details on early Republican affairs. Similarly, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, writing in the mid-2nd century BC as in 133 BC, produced a year-by-year in Latin that critiqued contemporary politics while relying on pontifical records for factual backbone, marking a shift toward interpretive . These works by Pictor and Piso exemplify the transition from terse priestly logs to more elaborate annals, prioritizing moral and political lessons over exhaustive detail. The Annales Maximi and early annalists profoundly shaped later Roman historical writing, providing raw chronological material for authors like Titus Livius (Livy), whose (c. 27–9 BC) incorporated annalistic structures and details on prodigies and magistrates derived from these sources via intermediate historians. However, the original tablets and Scaevola's edition did not survive intact; much of the material was lost in antiquity, likely due to fires damaging the —such as a significant blaze in 148 BC—and the gradual obsolescence of the pontifical recording practice by the late Republic, leaving only fragments preserved through quotations in later texts. While brief parallels to year-by-year records appear in Etruscan ritual calendars and Greek chronographic lists, the Roman Annales Maximi stand as the primary archetype of ancient annalistic practice, emphasizing state-sanctioned continuity over mythological elaboration.

Medieval Expansion

The earliest medieval annals emerged during the , originating in monastic scriptoria where scholars compiled records that blended earlier oral traditions with contemporary events. These works, produced under the patronage of monastic communities, served as vital repositories of ecclesiastical and secular history, often retrospectively incorporating material from pagan and early Christian eras. Prominent examples include the , compiled primarily at the monastery of and spanning from 431 to 1540 AD with a focus on northern Irish affairs, and the , assembled at the island monastery of Inisfallen in , which covers events from the 5th to the 15th centuries while emphasizing regional history. The in the 8th and 9th centuries marked a significant revival and institutionalization of annals across , driven by imperial initiatives to document political and religious developments. The Royal Frankish Annals, covering the period from 741 to 829 AD, exemplify this expansion; composed in Latin at the Carolingian court under royal patronage, they provided an official year-by-year record of Frankish rulers' activities, military campaigns, and diplomatic relations, often revised retrospectively to align with evolving political narratives. This court-centered production facilitated the dissemination of annals as tools for legitimizing Carolingian authority, contrasting with the more localized monastic efforts in Ireland. In England, the represented a composite evolution of the annalistic form around 890 AD, initiated during the reign of as part of broader educational and cultural reforms. This multilingual work (primarily in ) tracked English history from Roman times through the 12th century, with multiple versions produced at monastic centers such as , Abingdon, and , incorporating both chronological entries and occasional narrative expansions on key events like Viking invasions. Its decentralized development allowed for regional variations, blending brevity with interpretive elements to foster a sense of unified Anglo-Saxon identity. The production of these medieval annals was predominantly supported by monastic , with scriptoria serving as hubs for transcription and augmentation, often involving additions to earlier records for completeness. Continental spread occurred through influential monasteries like , where the Annals of Fulda (covering 830–902 AD) were maintained under abbatial oversight to chronicle East Frankish events, and St. Bertin, site of the Annals of St. Bertin (830–882 AD), which detailed West Frankish affairs with a focus on concerns. This monastic framework ensured annals' chronological structure while adapting them to local patronage networks and ideological needs.

Modern Evolution

During the , humanist scholars revived the classical tradition of annals by emulating ancient models such as those of and , adapting them to contemporary contexts while incorporating analytical depth inspired by Greek historians like and . (c. 1370–1444), a pivotal figure in this revival, structured his Historia florentini populi (History of the Florentine People, begun c. 1415) around a chronological framework that retained the year-by-year organization of annals, even as he transitioned toward more continuous narrative forms to emphasize political causation and . This evolution marked a shift from terse, event-listing chronicles to eloquent, interpretive histories, yet preserved the annalistic emphasis on temporal sequence to provide a sense of historical continuity. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the annalistic form persisted prominently in ecclesiastical historiography, particularly as a tool for doctrinal defense during the . Cesare Baronius's Annales ecclesiastici (1588–1607), a monumental 12-volume work spanning from the birth of Christ to 1198, exemplified this continuity by organizing events annually and prioritizing verbatim quotations from primary documents to affirm the Catholic Church's unchanging tradition (semper eadem). Commissioned by and expanded by successors like Odorico Rinaldi, it served as an apologetic bulwark against Protestant critiques, influencing subsequent Catholic annals through its rigorous, source-based methodology that blended historical narrative with theological argumentation. By the , traditional annalistic historical compilations began to wane amid the rise of "scientific" or analytic , which favored causal explanations, , and broader socio-political narratives over strict year-by-year listings, as pioneered by figures like . However, the annalistic influence endured in specialized domains such as diplomatic records, where U.S. State Department files from 1789 to 1906 were organized chronologically within categories to track international correspondence and events. Similarly, year-books in legal and administrative contexts maintained for annual summaries of proceedings and statutes, preserving the concise, chronological of annals in practical . This period also saw annals evolve into printed periodicals for scholarly dissemination, particularly in the sciences, where the term denoted annual compilations of discoveries. The Annales de chimie et de physique, founded in 1789 amid the as a venue for chemical memoirs and later expanded to physics, exemplified this shift by publishing yearly volumes of experimental reports and theoretical advancements, bridging historical record-keeping with emerging .

Global Traditions

Western Examples

One prominent classical example of Western annals is the Annals by the Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus, composed around 116 AD. This work chronicles the history of the Roman Empire during the Julio-Claudian dynasty, spanning from the death of Augustus in 14 AD to the assassination of Nero in 68 AD. Tacitus structured the narrative annalistically, organizing events by consular years, but elevated it through a sophisticated literary style marked by conciseness, irony, and psychological depth to critique the erosion of republican freedoms under imperial rule. In the medieval period, the represents a key Gaelic compilation from the European tradition. Assembled between 1632 and 1636 by four Irish Franciscan scholars—Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire, and Cú Choigríche Ó Duibhgeannáin—at a monastery in Donegal, this retrospective chronicle synthesizes earlier into a comprehensive record of Gaelic history. It covers events from the mythological origins of (nominally from A.M. 2242) through to 1616 AD, emphasizing kingship, ecclesiastical matters, and societal shifts amid English incursions, thereby preserving indigenous narratives in the . The Annals of St. Gall, originating from the Benedictine monastery of St. Gall in present-day , exemplify medieval monastic annals in the Western tradition. Spanning the 8th to 15th centuries, these records were maintained by monks as a continuous series of entries documenting both local abbey affairs—such as abbatial elections and property disputes—and wider imperial events, including Carolingian and Ottonian politics. The annals reflect the monastery's role as a cultural and political hub in Alemannic , with composite manuscripts like the Greater Annals integrating earlier Alemannic sources from the onward to provide chronological insights into medieval Swiss and history. In the American colonial context, Puritan settlers adapted annalistic practices through brief year-based records in personal and communal diaries, serving as proto-annals for emerging societies. A representative instance is John Winthrop's Journal, maintained from 1630 to 1649, which records the founding and governance of the in an annalistic format aligned with calendar years. As the colony's first governor, Winthrop documented key events like migrations, religious disputes, and interactions with Native Americans, framing them within a providential that underscored the settlers' covenantal mission. This journal not only functioned as an informal chronicle but also influenced later historiographical works, such as Thomas Prince's 1736 Chronological History of New-England, explicitly modeled in annals form.

Non-Western Examples

In East Asian , the (Chunqiu), dating to the BCE, exemplifies an early form of annals-style recording in ancient . This terse documents events in the state of Lu from 722 to 481 BCE, structured chronologically by year, season, and month, with brief entries on political, diplomatic, and natural occurrences. Traditionally attributed to , who is said to have edited it to embed subtle moral and political judgments through word choice and omissions, influencing later Confucian interpretations via commentaries like the . Its laconic style prioritizes factual succession over narrative embellishment, serving as a foundational text for Chinese historical methodology. In Korea, the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty ( wangjo sillok), compiled from 1392 to 1897 CE, represent one of the most extensive annals traditions outside . These official Veritable Records consist of 28 separate sets, each dedicated to a single monarch's reign, providing exhaustive year-by-year accounts of court politics, diplomacy, natural disasters, and administrative decisions. Spanning over 1,800 volumes in total, the records were meticulously drafted by contemporary historians to ensure objectivity, with final versions sealed after the ruler's death to prevent tampering. This systematic approach underscores the Joseon emphasis on bureaucratic fidelity, making the Sillok a for reconstructing Korean . Islamic historiography features prominent annals-like works, such as the Annals of al-Tabari (Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk), authored by the scholar in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. This monumental chronicle organizes events chronologically from the creation of the world through prophetic histories to 915 CE, integrating Islamic, pre-Islamic, and contemporary narratives drawn from oral traditions, earlier chronicles, and eyewitness accounts. 's method emphasizes linear progression and source citation, balancing factual reporting with theological interpretation to trace in human affairs. The work's vast scope, exceeding 7,000 pages in its Arabic editions, influenced subsequent Muslim historians by establishing a model for universal history in annalistic form. Beyond these traditions, annals-like records appear in African contexts, often blending with or local narratives. In , Hausa ajami manuscripts—texts in Hausa written in modified —include limited historical records, such as family genealogies and migration accounts from the 19th-century , preserving oral histories in written form amid Islamic scholarly networks. Examples like the Wurno manuscript detail clan lineages and events under leaders like Muhammad Bello, offering glimpses into regional despite their fragmentary survival.

Contemporary Usage

In Historiography

The , established in 1929 by historians and through the journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale, marked a pivotal shift in by prioritizing long-term social, economic, and cultural structures over the traditional focus on political events and short-term narratives. This approach sought to integrate insights from , , and to understand historical processes as gradual evolutions rather than episodic occurrences, fundamentally challenging the event-centered "history of battles and kings" prevalent in earlier scholarship. A key figure in its development was , whose concept of the —emphasizing slow-changing environmental and structural factors spanning centuries—exemplified the school's emphasis on deep temporal layers, as seen in his seminal work The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. The theoretical legacy of annals in was profoundly analyzed by in his 1987 book The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, where he positioned annals as an "embryonic" form of . White argued that annals, by recording discrete events without interpretive emplotment or narrative closure, represent a pre-narrative stage foundational to positivist , yet lacking the moralizing or explanatory frameworks that later historical writing employs to impose meaning on the past. This perspective highlighted annals' role as raw, unadorned chronicles that underscore the constructed nature of full historical , influencing debates on the rhetorical dimensions of history-writing. In the , annals experienced a revival through and quantitative , where scholars mined annalistic records for data on event frequencies and patterns to model long-term trends empirically. For instance, analyses of medieval annals have quantified occurrences of or social upheavals to test hypotheses in , bridging the Annales' structural focus with statistical methods to reveal underlying regularities in historical data. This integration revitalized annals as a tool for interdisciplinary research, enabling measurable insights into phenomena like demographic shifts or crisis cycles. Despite these contributions, annals have faced criticisms for their fragmented structure, which postmodern often contrasts with more cohesive approaches. Detractors, including Paul Ricoeur, argue that the Annales-inspired emphasis on structures can neglect human agency and interpretive depth, resulting in a disjointed portrayal of that prioritizes abstraction over and . This tension underscores ongoing debates between structuralist and narrativist methods in contemporary historical practice.

As Publication Titles

In modern academia, the term "annals" frequently appears in the titles of scientific and scholarly journals, evoking a tradition of systematic, year-by-year documentation of advances in specific fields. One prominent example is Annales de chimie et de physique, a French journal founded in 1789 in Paris by chemists Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau and Antoine Lavoisier, which initially focused on chemical discoveries before expanding to include physics and remains active today. Similarly, the Annals of Mathematics, established in 1884 and published bimonthly by Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study, specializes in original research papers in pure mathematics, serving as a key venue for seminal contributions in the discipline. These titles underscore how "annals" connotes rigorous, cumulative recording of intellectual progress, often in serial formats that build upon prior volumes. Publications from historical and scientific societies also commonly adopt "annals" to denote annual or periodic compilations of proceedings, research, and institutional records. The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, launched in 1877 as a successor to the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, publishes multidisciplinary scientific papers and has evolved into a monthly journal covering biology, earth sciences, and beyond, with over 200 years of continuous output. Another enduring example is The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, first issued in 1890 and published by SAGE on behalf of the academy founded in 1889, which features thematic volumes on social policy, governance, and societal issues, drawing on expert contributions to foster interdisciplinary dialogue. Such society-affiliated annals emphasize archival value, often including conference summaries and yearly overviews that preserve institutional knowledge. Beyond dedicated journals, "annals" titles extend to institutional records, particularly annual reports framed as historical narratives for universities, corporations, and organizations. For instance, many universities produce "annals" volumes that academic years through event summaries, faculty achievements, and administrative histories, as seen in longstanding series like those from European institutions continuing early modern periodical traditions. In corporate contexts, companies such as have issued "annals" styled reports to document technological milestones and operational histories, blending factual year-in-review formats with retrospective analysis. These uses highlight "annals" as a marker for structured, chronological rather than ephemeral newsletters. The advent of digital publishing since the early has transformed "annals" into platforms, enabling broader access and interactive features for annual records. Traditional journals like the and Annals of the now offer full digital archives, with post-2000 issues available via platforms such as and Wiley Online Library, facilitating global searchability and citation tracking. In and historical databases, digital "annals" emerge as crowdsourced repositories of yearly events, such as FamilySearch's , which aggregates user-contributed timelines and records into searchable annual formats for family histories. This shift enhances the format's role in democratizing access to chronological data, moving from print exclusivity to collaborative, web-based preservation.

References

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