Chronicle

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For other uses, see Chronicle (disambiguation).

Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica, from Greek Χρόνος) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. Typically equal weight is given for important events and less important events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, which focuses on important events and excludes those the author does not see as important.

Nabonidus Chronicle, British Museum, London

Scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups: live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A dead chronicle is one where the author gathers his list of events up to the time of his writing, but does not record further events as they occur. A live chronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles over dead ones.

The term often refers to a book written by a chronicler in the Middle Ages describing historical events in a country, or the lives of a nobleman or a clergyman, although it is also applied to a record of public events. Various contemporary newspapers or other periodicals have adopted "chronicle" as part of their name. Various fictional stories have also adopted "chronicle" as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories.