Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter draws together the major themes and conclusions of the book and presents an overall picture of these chronicles, including lost chronicles, and their development. It deals with patrons, scribe/authors and place(s) of production, emphasizing the role of the court. It covers story and content, including discussion of the chronicle poems and poetic annals. It discusses the role of bishops, especially archbishops, and the religious houses and households connected to them. It pays attention to the identity of anonymous scribe/authors and to audiences. It emphasizes the plurality of these chronicles alongside a tradition of vernacular history-writing. It questions deliberate circulation buts stresses engaged history-writing including the importance of apparently neutral copies. It offers answers to the question of why this tradition of writing ended.