HISTORY FOR XVI CENTURY MASS READERS: “CHRONIK” BY CHRISTIAN EGENOLFF

Andronov Ilya Evgen'evich, Candidate of historical sciences, associate professor, the department of the Italian language, Lomonosov Moscow State University (building 1, 31 Lomonosovsky avenue, Moscow, Russia), orgizomenos@gmail.com

930.1(4-011)

Background. The Chistian Egenolff’s Chronik (1535) is one of the most popular historical books in German language, which is nevertheless virtually ignored by historians outside of the German-speaking lands. Its analysis allows to describe the most stereotyped general historical concept, to identify likings of the reading public and conditions of commercial success of the book on history.
Materials and methods. The analysis of Egenolff’s “Chronik” must be conducted in constant comparison to other popular historical texts of that epoche, especially those written in Latin or German. The methodological novelty is represented by using not the scholarly composition, but a mass reader’s book as the reflection of the common knowledge.
Results. The research refutes the prevailing view to this book as a secondary one to Steinhöwel’s or Schedel’s Chronicles. The historical conception of the “Chronik” was considered mainly as an echo of the most common knowledge in historical and geographical matters. The obtained picture of the humanitarian mass reader’s horizons is quite representative of the XVIth century Germany and of West Europe as well.
Conclusions. The results of this research are valuable practically for any study of the XVIth century historiography since they allow comparing the new tendencies caused by the most prominent works of other manifestations of the scientific progress with the views of broad masses of readers, which inevitably impacts the way the society interprets the most advanced ideas.

Early Modern History, Mass Literature, German Historiography, translatio Imperii, History of reading, Historiography of the XVIth century, book production.

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