Our theme this September is about chroniclers, writers, and storytellers. What can these accounts from the medieval past tell us? How accurate were they? Who was the intended audience? What did their writers want to impart? This issue looks at various accounts across the medieval period – some well known, some not.

We open with Bede, our earliest narrator and one of the most famous of the Early Middle Ages. Then we examine the Annales Cambriae. Dated to the eleventh century, it is an invaluable source on the history of pre-medieval and medieval Wales. Next, it’s on to another famous chronicler – Matthew Paris. This thirteenth-century Benedictine monk from St. Albans was a prolific writer, mapmaker, and artist, but we still ask: how reliable was he? We move to the Steppes to learn about The Secret History of the Mongols, a Mongolian- language text dedicated to Genghis Khan that gives readers a glimpse into the Mongol Empire and medieval nomadic societies. To end our theme, we find ourselves back north, in Scotland, to delve into The Scotichronicon, a chronicle written by Walter Bower in 1440 as kingly advice to a young James II of Scotland.

For our non-theme features, we speak to the keeper of Finland’s beautiful Olavinlinna Castle. We also learn that Buddhist monks were not always pacifists as we travel back to the eighth century and the turbulent history of the Sohei, Japan’s warrior monks. Finally, if you’re hooked after this issue and looking for more great chronicles, we have some suggestions hot off the press – new-in medieval books!

Welcome to our first autumn issue!