Universal history

Universal history is the presentation of the history of humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.[1][2][3] It is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. A universal chronicle or world chronicle traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to the present (contemporary time).[4] Universal History, the term as understood by historians, embraces the events of all times and nations with this limitation only that they shall be so far ascertained as to make a scientific treatment of them possible.[5][6]

Universal History is the representation of generally facts both of entire nations and of individuals.[7] Its uses are manifold. It teaches human nature and the experience of all centuries. It teaches the important events of public and private life. It explains the present by past and sharpens the sight of the future. It disposes the mind to toleration in religious matters, to genuine piety, to patriotism, and to benevolence towards the whole of mankind. It abhor follies, vices, and crimes, encourages to virtue and inspires a love for right and liberty.[7] Universal History is commonly divided into three parts, viz. ancient, medieval, and modern time.[7]

Contents

Historiography

The roots of historiography in the 19th century are bound up with the concept that history written with a strong connection to the primary sources could, somehow, be integrated with "the big picture", i.e. to a general, universal history. For example, Leopold Von Ranke, probably the pre-eminent historian of the 19th century, founder of "Rankean positivism," the classic mode of historiography that now stands against postmodernism, attempted to write a Universal History at the close of his career. The work of Oswald Spengler and Arnold J. Toynbee are two examples of attempts to integrate primary source -based history and Universal History. Spengler's work is more general; Toynbee created a theory that would allow the study of "civilizations" to proceed with integration of source-based history writing and Universal History writing. Both writers attempted to incorporate teleological theories into general presentations of the history.

Instances and Description

Ancient examples

Ancient authors

In Greco-Roman antiquity, the first universal history was written by Ephorus (fl. 4th century BC). This work has been lost, but its influence can be seen in the ambitions of Polybius (203–120 BC) and Diodorus (fl. 1st century BC) to give comprehensive accounts of their worlds. In Leipzig are preserved five fragments dating to the 2nd century AD and coming from a world chronicle. Its author is unknown, but was perhaps a Christian. Later, universal history provided an influential lens on the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire in such works as Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, Augustine's City of God, and Orosius' History Against the Pagans.

During the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) of China, Sima Qian (145–86 BC) was the first Chinese historian to attempt a universal history—from the earliest mythological origins of his civilization to his present day—in his Records of the Grand Historian. Although his generation was the first in China to discover the existence of kingdoms in Central Asia and India, his work did not attempt to cover the history of these regions.

Ancient history

The first five books of the Bible constitute a primary example of such a history. To the extent that the Pentateuch presents itself as an account of humankind as a whole, from creation to the death of Moses, it is universal history. The story progresses according to a universal principle: the Bible posits that the history of humankind is governed by Yawveh, and that his will is manifest in every event that takes place. The destiny of all humankind, according to this idea, is governed by humans' relationship with God. This idea naturally flows into the story of the Children of Israel, whose patriarchs conversed with God and made various covenants with Him. These covenants governed humankind's destiny. This idea extends into the New Testament, which posits that the sacrifice of Jesus now affects every person, and every generation since His resurrection, into the limitless future.

Medieval examples

Western Europe

The universal chronicle traces history from the beginning of the world up to the present and was an especially popular genre of historiography in medieval Western Europe. The universal chronicle differs from the ordinary chronicle in its much broader chronological and geographical scope, giving, in principle, a continuous account of the progress of world history from the creation of the world up to the author's own times, but in practice often narrowing down to a more limited geographical range as it approaches those times.

The Chronica of Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275–339) is considered to be the starting point of this tradition. The second book of this work consisted of a set of concordance tables (Chronici canones) that for the first time synchronized the several concurrent chronologies in use with different peoples. Eusebius' chronicle became known to the Latin West through the translation by Jerome (c. 347–420).

Universal chronicles are sometimes organized around a central ideological theme, such as the Augustinian idea of the tension between the heavenly and the earthly state, which plays a major role in Otto von Freising's Historia de duabus civitatibus. In other cases, any obvious theme may be lacking. Some universal chronicles bear a more or less encyclopedic character, with many digressions on non-historical subjects, as is the case with the Chronicon of Helinand of Froidmont.

Other notable universal chroniclers of the Medieval West include Bede (c. 672 or 673–735), the Christherre-Chronik, Helinand of Froidmont (c. 1160—1237?), Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636), Jans der Enikel, Matthew Paris (c. 1200-1259), Ranulf Higdon (c. 1280-1363), Rudolf von Ems, Sigebert of Gembloux (c. 1030–1112), Otto von Freising (c. 1114–1158), and Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1190-1264?).

The tradition of universal history can even be seen in the works of medieval historians whose purpose may not have been to chronicle the ancient past, but nonetheless included it in a local history of more recent times. One such example is the Decem Libri Historiarum of Gregory of Tours (d. 594), where only the first of his ten books describes creation and ancient history, while the last six books focus on events in his own lifetime and region. While this reading of Gregory is currently a widely accepted hypothesis in historical circles, the central purpose of Gregory's writing is still a topic of hot debate.[8][9]

Christian writers as late as Bossuet (in his Discours sur l'histoire universelle,1679) were still reflecting on and continuing the Medieval tradition of universal history.[10]

Middle East

In the medieval Islamic world, universal history in this vein was taken up by Muslim historians such as al-Tabari and Ibn Khaldun. The 13th century Ta' rīkh-i jahān-gushā (History of the World Conqueror) by Ala'iddin Ata-Malik Juvayni, Jami al-Tawarikh ("Compendium of Chronicles") by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (now held at the University of Edinburgh) and the Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun are significant example of this tradition.

Central Asia

The Secret History of the Mongols (1240) by unknown author, a source of the first magnitude for the social history of the Asian Nomadic civilization based on Mongols before the establishment of their world's greatest empire in 13 century. It contains main historical events in vast land of Eurasia in 800 years ago.

Modern examples

An early European project was the Universal History of George Sale and others, written in the mid-18th century. In the 19th century, universal histories proliferated. Philosophers such as Kant, Schiller and Hegel, and political philosophers such as Marx, presented general theories of history that shared essential characteristics with the Biblical account: they conceived of history as a coherent whole, governed by certain basic characteristics or immutable principles. For example, Hegel presented the idea that progress in history is actually the progress not of humankind's material existence, but of humanity's spiritual development. Concomitantly, Hegel presented a developmental theory of how the human spirit progresses: through the dialectic of synthesis and antithesis. Marx's theory of dialectic materialism is essential to his general concept of history: that the struggle to dominate the means of production governs all historical development.

Pop universal history

Basic ideas of universal history are so prevalent that they are difficult to separate from basic Western assumptions of how the world is or should be. Outside some intellectuals, such ideas continue to predominate as core assumptions. The teleological aspects of universal history remain entrenched. Many people believe that the events of our world, and more specifically, the events within the human community, are directed toward an end or tending toward an end of some sort. 'Linear' pre-suppositions of the theory are no less prevalent. Most people living in Western cultures conceive of time, and therefore of history, as a line or an arrow, that is proceeding from past to future, toward some end. In contrast to this view, Social cycle theories are among the earliest social theories in sociology. Sociological cycle theory argues that events and stages of society and history are generally repeating themselves in cycles.

Universal chronicles

Timeline

Ancient

Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details


Medieval


Modern


Contemporary


See also

General
World-systems theory, Metanarrative, Cliometrics
Other
Historical Materialism, The End of History and the Last Man

References

  1. ^ What is history?: Five lectures on the modern science of history By Karl Lamprecht. Pages 181-227.
  2. ^ Epitome of ancient, mediaeval and modern history By Carl Ploetz. Introduction, page ix - xii.
  3. ^ Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, James Elphinston. An universal history: from the beginning of the world, to the Empire of Charlemagne. R. Moore, 1810. page 1-6 (introduction)
  4. ^ History begins at the point where monuments become intelligible and documentary evidence of a trustworthy character is fortheoming but from this point onwards the domain is boundless for Universal History as understood. (Universal history: the oldest historical group of nations and the Greeks by Leopold von Ranke. Preface, pg. x)
  5. ^ Leopold von Ranke. Universal history: the oldest historical group of nations and the Greeks. Scribner, 1884.
  6. ^ An epitome of universal history By A. Harding. Page 1.
  7. ^ a b c H. M. Cottinger. Elements of universal history for higher institutes in republics and for self-instruction. Charles H. Whiting, 1884. pg. 1.
  8. ^ Wood, Ian. Gregory of Tours. (Bangor: Headstart History, 1994.)
  9. ^ Mitchell, Kathleen and Wood, Ian, eds.. The World of Gregory of Tours. (Boston: Brill, 2002).
  10. ^ Bossuet, J. B. Discours sur l'histoire universelle (Paris, Furne et cie, 1853).

External articles and further reading