Froissart, Villani and the historical writing in the late Middle Ages: Between Anthropology and History

• Main Author: Sergio Ospina Romero
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Medellín 2016-01-01
• Series: Historia y Sociedad
• Subjects: Villani; Froissart; historiography; historical anthropology; middle ages
• Online Access: http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/hisysoc/article/view/47962/49150

The following article examines the historical writings of two medieval chroniclers: Giovanni Villani (1270?-1348) y Jean Froissart (1337-1405), in order to identify their historiographic models, their research methods and their narrative strategies. These aspects certainly allow us to understand in a better way how historical writing was like in the middle ages, but they also represent important methodological and epistemological antecedents in the process of consolidation of History as an academic discipline from 19th century. Moreover, being aware of the conceptual limitations of their epoch but taking into consideration their ways of writing history, the article suggests that Villani and Froissart can be considered authentic pioneers of the later interaction between Anthropology and History, in the assiduous effort to inquire about the life of societies and cultures in the past.