Introduction
Subtitle
This website introduces some of the most influential approaches that historians have taken in writing about the past up to Ranke. What is history? What is it for? Who is it for? It addresses various philosophies of history (the underlying assumptions of how we can access and understand the past), as well as various historical interpretive frameworks that have shaped the professional practice of history.
Myth and History
How History Emerged from Myth
According to Donald R. Kelley, history emerged from myth, and forced itself into stories and legends until it gained full insight (Kelley, 1). But when exactly did this happen? Was it during the time of Machiavelli, the well-known Italian Renaissance historian? Or Voltaire, the famous writer and historian during the French Enlightenment era? Or is it still gaining understanding in the current century? This question will probably never attain a definite answer. As long as there are people around to record it, the subject of history will forever be changing and gaining wisdom and knowledge by those studying it (Kelley, 1). This essay will take a closer look at the mythologies and histories of different cultures, including the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and will also dicuss a few of the key players that are credited with the founding of history and the creation of what we now know as historiography.
Clash of the Titans
Herodotus, Thucydides, and the Foundation of Historical Methodology
Institutional history and historical inquiry is often traced back to the oral traditions of the Greek dominated Mediterranean World in which traveling minstrels and poets were the primary vehicle of history before its evolution into a paradigmatic inquisitive practice. Historical tradition in the early Hellenic world consisted of firsthand accounts that were retold across generations. While these nomadic proto-historians were perhaps innumerable, very little of their product survives for obvious reasons.
The Romans
The Model for the Ages
This is looking at the Romans and the historians that helped shaped the path for the many areas that followed. Looking at Livy, Cicero, and Tacitus and their methods and why they are important to history.
Providential History
How Judeo-Christian historiography created a universal history with a providential plan
Judeo-Christian historiographers believed that history was universal in which God played an active role. They took on this task by creating a common origin, chronology, and a bridge that connected paganism and Christianity. The Bible spoke of this common origin of humankind, while chronologies connected a succession of kings and popes. The bridge of paganism and Christianity was composed of profane and sacred history. Judeo-Christian historiography strived to create a God of History.
A Supernatural History
How People Wrote History When God Was In Control
Myth is defined by having components of the supernatural world. From this jumping off point we see many varieties in myth. My main focus is that of the Judeo-Christian Myths as they affect how the Jews and Christians told history based on the Myths They Believed. Since Jews and Christians believed that God was the supreme creator and master of the universe and therefore history, they wrote with him included in the picture.
Renaissance Historiography
How Historical Practice Changed Through the Renaissance
Historiography in the Renaissance began to develop a humanistic approach, and historical events began to be thought of in a more secular context. However, despite this progress, history continued to be influenced by traditional approaches. Although humanism was an important part of historical writing at the time, many scholars were still influenced heavily by religion, and this influence is apparent in their works. The form of the chronicle, which was so widely used in the Middle Ages, continued to be an important historical tool in the Renaissance. The idea of critical thinking in regards to historical sources began to appear, however, the methodology and traditional ways of thinking about the structure of history were not yet viewed critically.
Reforming History
The Impact of the Reformation of the Broader Profession of History
This chapter aims to highlight the key themes and people of the reformation, as well as show how these themes and the profession of history itself differs from previous eras and impacts the subsequent. An appropriate place to start any story is to begin with the origins and agendas, move onto the actual period and finally end with how history was regarded along with the duality of history in the Reformation.
Enlightenment History
The Narrative and Dialogue of Historiography During the Enlightenment
The Enlightenment witnessed thinkers who used reason to critique the established structures of society. This criticism was also applied to the study of history. History of the Enlightenment cannot be understood without a fundamental understanding of philosophical concepts of the time. In this article Enlightenment thought and its effect on the study of history are examined.
Scientific History
Approaching A New Genre of History
The Enlightenment witnessed thinkers who used reason to critique the established structures of society. This criticism was also applied to the study of history. History of the Enlightenment cannot be understood without a fundamental understanding of philosophical concepts of the time. In this article Enlightenment thought and its effect on the study of history are examined.
Historical Methods and Truth
Defining Truth: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment
From the scrolls of ancient Greece to the jargon packed books of the modern academic historian, historians have searched for “true histories”. In studying what constitutes history, we must focus on some themes that belong to what we call today historiography. Historiography focuses on these themes that form this modern academic discipline: Source criticism, fact vs. truth, impartiality, scholarship, critical understanding, and secularism. From ancient times to the modern day, what constitutes the “truth” has changed significantly, and historians have been critical to that change.
Histories for Everyone
The Varied and Deep Tradition of Universal History
Universal histories, at their most fundamental level, detail histories which attempt to transcend particulars, the local and the singular, to form a narrative which applies to all the world’s peoples. It is important to note two words there; the attempt and the transcendence. Universal histories seek to escape the particulars of the society which creates them, to transcend the particulars and spread a larger message. This attempt to create a universal history is impossible. Universal Histories often fail in their goals, fall flat on further analysis, or are significantly limited in scope. They make assumptions or generalizations, based on perceived trends, religious expectations, or philosophical musings, that can never be utterly “correct”. Thus, in modern scholarship, we see an abandonment of these ancient traditions and narratives for more limited, small scale, historical analysis. I urge the reader, as an aside, to contrast the modern historical field with the varied and deep traditions of the past, and see how the ancients created rich, flawed, and fascinating narratives which sought to expand their horizons.