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Historiography of the United Kingdom


The Historiography of the United Kingdom Includes the historical and archival research and writing on the history of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. For studies of the overseas empire see Historiography of the British Empire.

Gildas, a fifth century monk, was the first major historian of England. His De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (Latin for "The Ruin and conquests Conquest of Britain") records the downfall of the Britons at the hands of Saxon invaders, emphasizing God's anger and providential punishment of an entire nation, in an echo of Old Testament themes. His work has often been used by later historians, starting with Bede.

Venerable Bede (673–735), an English monk was the most influential historian of the Anglo-Saxon era In his day and in modern England. He borrowed from Gildas and others in writing The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Latin: "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum"). He saw English history as a unity, based around the Christian church. N.J. Higham argues he designed his work to promote his reform agenda to Ceolwulf, the Northumbrian king. Bede painted a highly optimistic picture of the current situation in the Church.

Numerous chroniclers prepared detailed accounts of recent history. King Alfred the Great commission the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 893, and similar chronicles were prepared throughout the Middle Ages. The most famous production is by a transplanted Frenchman, Jean Froissart (1333–1410). His Froissart's Chronicles, written in French, remains an important source for the first half of the Hundred Years' War.

Sir Walter Raleigh (1554–1618), Educated at Oxford, was a soldier, courtier, and humanist during the late Renaissance in England. Convicted of intrigues against the king, he was imprisoned in the Tower and wrote his incomplete "History of the World." Using a wide array of sources in six languages, Raleigh was fully abreast of the latest continental scholarship. He wrote not about England, but of the ancient world with a heavy emphasis on geography. Despite his intention of providing current advice to the King of England, King James I complained that it was "too sawcie in censuring Princes." Raleigh was freed, but was later beheaded for offenses not related to his historiography.


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