Medieval history-writing is normally associated with the chronicle tradition, a chronological account of significant events, often written by a monk. But, as a brief glance at any sample of monastic chronicles shows, it is impossible to confine the chronicle to this narrow definition. The style, format and level of detail range across a spectrum of time scales, levels of specificity, themes and functions. Chronicles encompass notational local annals as well as detailed prose narratives of internationally significant events, mythical origin stories from oral tradition and erudite critiques of contemporary politics. The chronicle is characterised not by its adherence to a specific model but rather by a flexibility that allows it to defy strict categorisation. This flexibility was enabled by the practice of collaborative composition over extended periods of time and the continual mining, amalgamation or continuation of older texts to create new versions of narrative and record. Historians have long grappled with the difficulties of categorisation that result from the vagaries of medieval authorship and textual practice. I am here less interested in attempting a new definition than in exploring new ways to understand the material. One approach which proves particularly rewarding is to examine chronicles through their functions, as administrative, didactic, commemorative and performative works. Two functions in particular, the commemorative and the administrative, carved new paths for the chronicle during the fifteenth century. These functions benefit from closer examination, as they help illustrate the medieval relationship with the past and the meaning of history for religious communities during a period of extended change.

The commemorative function of medieval historical works operated at two levels. First, the written account of previous centuries of the story of humanity, from the Creation to contemporary time, linked Christian concepts of the teleological progress of God's intentions for the Church to the lived human past. The past itself assumed sacred status, being the record of God's interaction with humankind as revealed in the Bible. Biblical stories had equal authority with other ancient historical texts from Greece and Rome and contemporary history was understood to be a continuation of this linear progression of salvation. The very act of adding to this holy record was considered pious commemorative work, both the process of copying out old texts and the creation of new ones.