Historiography is the aspect of history, and of semiotics, that is the study of how knowledge of the past, recent or distant, is obtained and transmitted; simply put, historiography is the history of history.^[1] Broadly speaking, historiography examines the writing of history and the use of historical methods, drawing upon such elements as authorship, sourcing, interpretation, style, bias, and audience. The word historiography can also refer to a body of historical work. As the tools of historical investigation have changed over time and space, the term itself bears multiple meanings and is not readily associated with a single all-encompassing definition. This article is about the social science. ... Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of signs and symbols, both individually and grouped into sign systems. ... The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. ...

Scholars often discuss historiography topically, such as "Historiography of Catholicism" or "Historiography of China". There are many approaches or genres of history, such as oral history and social history. Beginning in the 19th century, with the rise of academic historians, a corpus of literature related to historiography came into existence, including classic works such as E. H. Carr's What is History? (1961) and Hayden White's Metahistory (1974). As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic—from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[1]—is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or... This article is about the historical discipline; see Oral tradition for the oral transmission of historical information. ... ŅSocial history is an area of historical study considered by some to be a social science that attempts to view historical evidence from the point of view of developing social trends. ... Edward Hallett Carr (28 June 1892 – 5 November 1982) was a British historian, journalist and international relations theorist, and fierce opponent of empiricism within historiography. ... What is History? is a 1961 nonfiction book by historian Edward Hallet Carr on historiography. ... Metahistory is a historiography book by Hayden White first published in 1974. ...

Defining historiography

There are two basic issues involved in historiography (Breisach, 1994). First, the study of the development of history as an academic discipline over time, as well as its development in different cultures and epochs. Second, the study of the academic tools, methods and approaches that have been and are being used, including the historical method. The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. ...

The term "historiography" can also be used to refer to a specific body of historical writing that was written during a specific time concerning a specific issue. For instance, a statement about "medieval historiography" would refer to some issue in the academic discipline of Medieval History, and not to the actual history of the Middle Ages or to historical works written in that time (e.g., "during the last century, medieval historiography changed its focus from the study of political events to social and mental structures", or "medieval historiography has largely benefited from the recognition of the importance of parish records": that is, the discipline underwent some change).

Conal Furay and Michael J. Salevouris define historiography as "the study of the way history has been and is written — the history of historical writing... When you study 'historiography' you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians."^[2] One should be cautious, however, that in the sense given in the previous paragraph when a historian does historiography they are actually studying "the events of the past directly".

Questions studied

Some of the common questions of historiography are:

1. Reliability of the sources used, in terms of authorship, credibility of the author, and the authenticity or corruption of the text. (See also source criticism).
2. Historiographical tradition or framework. Every historian uses one (or more) historiographical traditions, some of which are Marxist, or Annales School, ("total history"), political history, etc.
3. Moral issues, guilt assignment, and praise assignment
4. Revisionism versus orthodox interpretations
5. Historical Metanarratives

Issues engaged by critical historiography includes topics such as: Source Criticism is an aspect of historical criticism, a method of literary study used especially in the field of biblical criticism that seeks to understand a literary piece better by attempting to establish the sources used by the author and/or redactor who put the literary piece together. ... The Annales School (Annales is pronounced // in French) is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales dhistoire économique et sociale (later called , then renamed in 1994 as ) where it was first expounded. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political history is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders. ... In critical theory, and particularly postmodernism, a metanarrative is a grand overarching account, or all-encompassing story, which is thought to give order to the historical record. ... The term Critical Historiography is used by various scholars in recent decades to emphasize the ambiguous relationship between history writing and historiography. ...

• What constitutes a historical "event"?
• In what modes does a historian write and produce statements of "truth" and "fact"?
• How does the medium (novel, textbook, film, theatre, comic) through which historical information is conveyed influence its meaning?
  • What inherent epistemological problems does archive-based history possess?
• How do historians establish their own objectivity or come to terms with their own subjectivity?
• What is the relationship between historical theory and historical practice?
• What is the "goal" of history?
• What does history teach us?

This article or section should include material from Episteme Epistemology (from the Greek words episteme=science and logos=word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ...

The history of written history

Understanding the past appears to be a universal human need and the telling of history has emerged independently in civilisations around the world. What constitutes history is a philosophical question (see philosophy of history). For the purposes of this survey it is written history recorded in a narrative format for the purpose of informing future generations about events. Philosophy of history or historiosophy is an area of philosophy concerning the eventual significance, if any, of human history. ...

Hellenic world

Reproduction of part of a Tenth-century copy of Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War

The earliest known systematic historical thought emerged in ancient Greece, a development which would be an important influence on the writing of history elsewhere around the Mediterranean. Greek historians greatly contributed to the development of historical methodology. The earliest known critical historical works were The Histories composed by Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 BC–ca.425 BC), who became later known as the 'father of history' (Cicero). Herodotus attempted to distinguish between more and less reliable accounts, and personally conducted research by travelling extensively, giving written accounts of various Mediterranean cultures. Although Herodotus' overall emphasis lay on the actions and characters of men, he also attributed an important role to divinity in the determination of historical events. For other uses, see Thucydides (disambiguation). ... The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. ... Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: HÄ“ródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (c. ... The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The generation following Herodotus witnessed a spate of local histories of the individual poleis, written by the first of the local historians who employed the written archives of city and sanctuary. Such local histories, the forerunners of Thucydides as Dionysius of Halicarnassus characterized them^[3], continued to be written into Late Antiquity, as long as the polis survived. Two figures from the earliest stages stand out, Hippias of Elis, who produced the lists of winners in the Olympic games that provided the basic chronological framework as long as the pagan classical tradition lasted, and Hellanicus of Lesbos, who compiled more than two dozen histories from civic records, all of them now lost. A polis (πόλις, pronunciation pol-is) plural: poleis (πόλεις) is a city, a city-state and also citizenship and body of citizens. ... Local history is the study of the history of a relatively small geographic area; typically a specific settlement, parish or county. ... Dionysius Halicarnassensis (of Halicarnassus), Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, flourished during the reign of Augustus. ... Hellanicus of Lesbos (in Ancient Greek Hellanicós) (born in Mytilene on the isle of Lesbos in 490 BC) was an ancient Greek logographer who flourished during the latter half of the 5th century BC. He is reputed to have lived to the age of 85. ...

Thucydides largely eliminated divine causality in his account of the war between Athens and Sparta, establishing a rationalistic element which became defining of subsequent Western historical writings. He was also the first to distinguish between cause and immediate origins of an event, while his successor Xenophon (ca. 431–355 BC) introduced autobiographical elements and character studies in his Anabasis. For other uses, see Thucydides (disambiguation). ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... The Greek term anabasis referred to an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. ...

The proverbial Philippic attacks of the Athenian orator Demosthenes (384-322 BC) on Philip II of Macedon marked the height of ancient political agitation. The now lost history of Alexander's campaigns by the diadoch Ptolemy I (367-283 BC) may represent the first historical work composed by a ruler. Polybius (ca. 203–120 BC) wrote on the rise of Rome to world prominence, trying to harmonize the Greek and Roman point of views. A philippic is a fiery, damning speech delivered to condemn a particular political actor. ... Demosthenes (384–322 BC, Greek: Δημοσθένης, DÄ“mosthénÄ“s) was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. ... Philip II of Macedon: victory medal (niketerion) struck in Tarsus, 2nd c. ... ... For the unrelated astronomer, see Ptolemy Ptolemy I Soter (367 BC–283 BC), ruler of Egypt (reigned 323 BC - 283 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. ... Polybius (c. ...

The Chaldean priest Berossus (fl. 3rd century) composed a Greek-language History of Babylonia for the Seleucid king Antiochus I, combining Hellenistic methods of historiography and Mesopotamian accounts to form a unique composite. Reports exist of other near-eastern histories, such as that composed by the Phoenician historian Sanchuniathon; but his very existence is considered semi-fabled and writings attributed to him are fragmentary, known only through the later historians Philo of Byblos and Eusebius, who asserted that he wrote before even the Trojan war. Look up Chaldean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. ... Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ... Silver coin of Antiochus I Antiochus I Soter ( 324/323_262/261 BC reigned 281 BC - 261 BC) was half Persian, his mother Apame being one of those eastern princesses whom Alexander had given as wives to his generals in 324 BC. On the assassination of his father Seleucus I in... Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. ... Sanchuniathon or Sanchoniathon or Sanchoniatho is the purported Phoenician author of three works in Phoenician, surviving only in partial paraphrase and summary of a Greek translation by Philo of Byblos. ... Philo of Byblos (Herennios Philon), (ca 64 - 141 CE) was an antiquarian writer of grammatical, lexical and historical works in Greek, whose name Herennius makes it appear that he was a client of the Consul suffectus Herennius Severus, through whom Philo could have achieved the status of a Roman citizen. ... Eusebius is the name of several significant historical people: Pope Eusebius - Pope in AD 309 - 310. ... The fall of Troy, by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769). ...

China

First page of the Shiji

In China, the Classic of History, one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts is one of the earliest narratives of China. The Spring and Autumn Annals, the official chronicle of the State of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BC, is among the earliest surviving Chinese historical texts to be arranged on annalistic principles. It is traditionally attributed to Confucius. The Zuo Zhuan, attributed to Zuo Qiuming in the 5th century BC, is the earliest Chinese work of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. Zhan Guo Ce was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work and compilation of sporadic materials on the Warring States Period compiled between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC. Chinese historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in studying Chinese history. ... The Classic of History (書經/书经 Shū Jīng) is a collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. ... The Five Classics (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a corpus of five ancient Chinese books used by Confucianism as the basis of studies. ... Chinese classic texts or Chinese canonical texts are the classical literature in Chinese culture that are considered to be the best or the most valuable. ... The Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋 ChÅ«n QiÅ«, also known as 麟經 Lín JÄ«ng) is the official chronicle of the state of Lu covering the period from 722 BCE to 481 BCE. It is the earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged on annalistic principles. ... Annals (Latin Annales, from annus, a year) are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. ... Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ... The Zuo Zhuan (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Tso Chuan) is the earliest Chinese work of narrative history and covers the period from 722 BCE to 468 BCE. It was traditionally attributed to Zuo Qiuming, as a commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals, although many scholars believe it was an independent... ZÇ”o QÄ«umíng (Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Tso Chiuming, fl. ... Zhanguoce (simplified Chinese: 战国策, traditional Chinese: 戰國策, pinyin: Zhànguócè) (ZGC) was a renowned ancient Chinese historical work on the Warring States Period compiled in late Western Han Dynasty by Liu Xiang (劉向). ... Warring States redirects here. ...

In China, Sima Qian (around 100 BC) was the first to lay the groundwork for professional historical writing. His written work was the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), a monumental lifelong achievement in literature. Its scope extends as far back as the 16th century BC, including many treatises on specific subjects, along with individual biographies for prominent people, as well as exploring the lives and deeds of commoners found in his own time or in previous eras. His work influenced every subsequent author of history in China, including the prestigious Ban family of the Eastern Han Dynasty era. Sima Qian Si Ma Qian (司馬遷) (c. ... The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor until his own time. ... The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China (Chinese: 史記; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shih-chi; literally Historical Records), written from 109 BCE to 91 BCE, was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ...

Traditionalist Chinese historiography describes history in terms of dynastic cycles. In this view, each new dynasty is founded by a morally righteous founder. Over time, the dynasty becomes morally corrupt and dissolute. Eventually, the dynasty becomes so weak as to allow its replacement by a new dynasty.

Roman world

The Romans adopted the Greek tradition, becoming the first European people to write history in a non-Greek language. While early Roman works were still written in Greek, the Latin Origines, composed by the Roman statesman Cato the Elder (234–149 BC) in a conscious effort to counteract the Greek cultural influence, marked the beginning of Latin historical writings. Hailed for its lucid style, Julius Caesar's (100 BC–44 BC) Bellum Gallicum may represent the earliest autobiographical war coverage.^{[citation needed]} The politician and orator Cicero (106–43 BC) introduced rhetorical elements in his political writings. Marcus Porcius Cato (Latin: M·PORCIVS·M·F·CATO[1]) (234 BC, Tusculum–149 BC) was a Roman statesman, surnamed the Censor (Censorius), Sapiens, Priscus, or the Elder (Major), to distinguish him from Cato the Younger (his great-grandson). ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Commentarii de Bello Gallico (literally Commentaries on the Gallic War in Latin) is an account written by Julius Caesar (in the third person) about his nine years of war in Gaul. ... For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ...

Strabo (63 BC–ca. AD 24) was a main exponent of the Greco-Roman tradition of combining geography with history, presenting a descriptive history of peoples and places known to his era. Livy (59 BC–AD 17) records the rise of Rome from city-state to world dominion. His inquiry into the question of what would have happened if Alexander the Great had marched against Rome represents the first known instance of alternate history.^[4] The Greek geographer Strabo in a 16th century engraving. ... A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... Alternative history or alternate history can be: A History told from an alternative viewpoint, rather than from the view of imperialist, conqueror, or explorer. ...

Biography, although popular throughout antiquity, was introduced as a branch of history by the works of Plutarch (c. 46 - 127) and Suetonius (c. 69-after 130) who described the deeds and characters of ancient personalities, stressing their human side. Tacitus (c. 56–c. 117) denounces Roman immorality by praising German virtues, elaborating on the topos of the Noble savage. Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus ( 69/75 - after 130), also known as Suetonius, was a prominent Roman historian and biographer. ... For other uses, see Tacitus (disambiguation). ... A detail from Benjamin Wests The Death of General Wolfe; Wests idealised depiction of this American Indian is in the tradition of the Noble savage (Fryd, 75) In the eighteenth-century cult of Primitivism the noble savage, uncorrupted by the influences of civilization, was considered more worthy, more...

Christendom

The growth of Christianity and its increased status in the Roman Empire after Constantine I led to the development of a distinct Christian historiography, influenced by both Christian theology and the nature of the Bible, encompassing new areas of study and views of history. The central role of the Bible in Christianity is reflected in the preference Christian historians had for written sources compared to the classical historians' preference for oral sources and in the inclusion of politically unimportant people. Christian historians also focused on development of Religion and society. This can be seen in the extensive inclusion of written sources in the Ecclesiastical History written by Eusebius of Caesarea circa 324 and in the subjects it deals with.^[5] Christian theology led a view of time as linear, progressing according to God's divine plan. As God's plan encompassed everyone, Christian histories in this period had a universal approach. For example, Christian writers often included summaries of important historical events prior to the start of the period the work was dealing with.^[6] Topics in Christianity Preaching Prayer Ecumenism Relation to other religions Movements Music Liturgy Calendar Symbols Art Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus[2] (27 February c. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (c. ... Christian doctrine redirects here. ...

A page of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Writing history was popular among Christian monks and clergy in the Middle Ages. They wrote about the history of Jesus Christ, the Church and of their patrons, the dynastic history of the local rulers. In the Early Middle Ages historical writing often took the form of annals or chronicles recording events year by year but this style tended to hamper the analysis of events and causes.^[7] An example of this type of writing are Anglo-Saxon Chronicles which were the work of several different writers and start during the reign of Alfred the Great in the late 9th century and one copy of which was still being updated in 1154. Some writers in the period did construct a more narrative form of history including Gregory of Tours and more successfully Bede who wrote both secular and ecclesiastical history and is known for writing Ecclesiastical History of the English People.^[5] For other uses, see Bede (disambiguation). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Frankish ruler Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III in 800 in Rome. ... Annals (Latin Annales, from annus, a year) are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. ... Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica, from Greek Χρόνος) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. ... The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle. ... For the 10th century Bishop of Sherborne, see Alfred (bishop). ... A narrative is a construct created in a suitable medium (speech, writing, images) that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. ... Saint Gregory of Tours (November 30, c. ... For other uses, see Bede (disambiguation). ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... This article should be transwikied to wiktionary Ecclesiastical means pertaining to the Church (especially Christianity) as an organized body of believers and clergy, with a stress on its juridical and institutional structure. ... The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (in English: Ecclesiastical History of the English People) is a work in Latin by the Venerable Bede on the history of the Christian church in England, and of England generally. ...

History was written about states or nations during the Renaissance. The study of history changed during the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Voltaire described the history of certain ages that were important according to him, instead of describing events in a chronological order. History became an independent discipline. It was not called philosophia historiae anymore, but merely history (historia). This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... The word Enlightment redirects here. ... Romantics redirects here. ... For other uses, see Voltaire (disambiguation). ...

Islamic world

The first detailed studies on the subject of historiography itself and the first critiques on historical methods appeared in the works of the Arab Muslim historian and historiographer Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), who wrote historiographical writings in the Muqaddimah (Latinized as Prolegomena) and Kitab al-I'bar (Book of Advice).^[8] Among many other things, his Muqaddimah laid the groundwork for the observation of the role of state, communication, propaganda and systematic bias in history,^[9] and he discussed the rise and fall of civilizations. He also developed a scientific method for the study of history, and is thus considered to be the founder of historiography.^[10][11] In the preface to the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun warned of seven mistakes that he thought that historians regularly committed. In this criticism, he approached the past as strange and in need of interpretation. The originality of Ibn Khaldun was to claim that the cultural difference of another age must govern the evaluation of relevant historical material, to distinguish the principles according to which it might be possible to attempt the evaluation, and lastly, to feel the need for experience, in addition to rational principles, in order to assess a culture of the past. Ibn Khaldun often criticized "idle superstition and uncritical acceptance of historical data." As a result, he introduced a scientific method to the study of history, which was considered something "new to his age", and he often referred to it as his "new science", now associated with historiography,^[12] and he is thus considered to be the "father of historiography"^[13][11] or the "father of the philosophy of history".^[14] The historiography of early Islam is the study of how various historians have treated the events of the first two centuries of Islamic history. ... The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Ibn KhaldÅ«n or Ibn Khaldoun (full name, Arabic: , ) (May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH – March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH), was a famous Berber Muslim polymath: a historian, historiographer, demographer, economist, philosopher, political theorist, sociologist and social scientist born in present-day Tunisia. ... The Muqaddimah, or the Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun (Arabic: مقدّمة ابن خلدون), records an early Muslim view of universal history. Many modern thinkers view it as one of the first works of sociology. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. ... For other uses, see Communication (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Propaganda (disambiguation). ... A systemic bias is a bias which is endemic in a system – especially a human system – making it tend to err consistently in a certain direction. ... Central New York City. ... -1... For other uses, see Superstition (disambiguation). ... -1... Philosophy of history or historiosophy is an area of philosophy concerning the eventual significance, if any, of human history. ...

Muslim historical writings first began developing earlier from the 7th century with the reconstruction of Muhammad's life in the centuries following his death. Due to numerous conflicting narratives regarding Muhammad and his companions from various sources, it was necessary to verify which sources were more reliable. In order to evaluate these sources, various methodologies were developed, such as the "science of biography", "science of hadith" and "Isnad" (chain of transmission). These methodologies were later applied to other historical figures in the Islamic civilization. Egyptology began in Arab Egypt from the 9th century, with the first known attempts at deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs made by Dhul-Nun al-Misri and Ibn Wahshiyya. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838-923) is known for writing a detailed and comprehensive chronicle of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern history in his History of the Prophets and Kings in 915. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... In Islam, the Ṣaḥābah (Arabic: ‎ companions) were the companions of Muhammad. ... Ilm ar-Rijal (Arabic) is the science of biography especially as practiced in Islam, where it was first applied to the sira, the life of the Prophet Muhammad. ... The Science of hadith is the process that Muslim scholars use to evaluate hadith. ... The isnad (Arabic اسناد or in Quranic era Arabic اسند) are the citations or backings that establish the legitimacy of the hadith, which are the sayings of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam. ... During the Islamic Golden Age, usually dated from the 8th century to the 13th century,[1] engineers, scholars and traders of the Islamic world contributed enormously to the arts, agriculture, economics, industry, literature, navigation, philosophy, sciences, and technology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding many... The Great Sphinx of Giza against Khafres Pyramid at the Giza pyramid complex. ... During the initial Islamic invasion in 639 AD, Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Ummayad Caliphs in Damascus but, in 747, the Ummayads were overthrown and the power of the Arabs slowly began to weaken. ... A section of the Papyrus of Ani showing cursive hieroglyphs. ... Dhul-Nun al-Misri (Arabic:ذو النون المصري) (d. ... Balamis 14th century Persian version of Universal History by al-Tabari Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari 838–923 (father of Jafar, named Muhammad, son of Jarir from the province of Tabaristan, Arabic الطبري), was an author from Persia, one of the earliest, most prominent and famous Persian... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The History of the Prophets and Kings (Arabic: تاريخ الرسل والملوك Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, popularly Tarikh al-Tabari) is a history by Persian author and historian Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (838–923) from the Creation to AD 915, and is renowned for its detail and accuracy concerning Arab and Muslim...

Until the 10th century, history most often meant political and military history, but this was not so with Persian historian Biruni (973-1048). In his Kitab fi Tahqiq ma l'il-Hind (Researches on India), he did not record political and military history in any detail, but wrote more on India's cultural, scientific, social and religious history. He also discussed more on his idea of history in another work The Chronology of the Ancient Nations.^[15] Biruni is considered the father of Indology for his detailed studies on Indian history.^[16] Other famous Muslim historians included Urwah (d. 712), Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 728), Ibn Ishaq (d. 761), al-Waqidi (745-822), Ibn Hisham (d. 834), and Ibn Hajar (1372-1449), among others. This article is about the Persian people, an ethnic group found mainly in Iran. ... A statue of Biruni adorns the southwest entrance of Laleh Park in Tehran, Iran. ... The culture of India has been shaped by the long history of India, its unique geography and the absorption of customs, traditions and ideas from some of its neighbors as well as by preserving its ancient heritages, from the Indus Valley Civilization onward. ... An Indian Muslim couple weds on the bank of Karnatakas Tungabhadra River. ... Indology refers to the academic study of the history, languages, and cultures of the Indian subcontinent, and as such a subset of Asian studies. ... Urwah Ibn Al-Zubayr (d. ... Wahb ibn Munabbih (Abu Abd Allah al-á¹¢anaani al-Dhimari) was a Mohammedan traditionist of Dhimar (two days journey from Sanaa) in Yemen; died at the age of ninety, in a year variously given by Arabic authorities as 725, 728, 732, and 737 C.E. On his fathers... Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar, or simply Ibn Ishaq (Arabic: , meaning the son of Isaac) (died 767, or 761 (Robinson 2003, p. ... Abu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (Arabic ) (c. ... Ibn Hisham, Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik (d. ... Ibn Hajar Asqalani is a Sunni Scholar. ...

Franz Rosenthal wrote in the History of Muslim Historiography: Franz Rosenthal, the Sterling Professor Emeritus of Arabic, scholar of Arabic literature and Islam (1914-2003). ...

"Muslim historiography has at all times been united by the closest ties with the general development of scholarship in Islam, and the position of historical knowledge in Muslim education has exercised a decisive influence upon the intellectual level of historical writing....The Muslims achieved a definite advance beyond previous historical writing in the sociological understanding of history and the systematisation of historiography. The development of modern historical writing seems to have gained considerably in speed and substance through the utilization of a Muslim Literature which enabled western historians, from the seventeenth century on, to see a large section of the world through foreign eyes. The Muslim historiography helped indirectly and modestly to shape present day historical thinking."^[17] Islamic Studies is the academic discipline which focuses on Islamic issues. ... Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand, ca. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge [1]) is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture[2]. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous... This article is about the social science. ... Islamic literature is a field that includes the study of modern and classical Arabic and the litarature written in those languages. ...

Modern era

Modern historiography began with Ranke in the 19th century, who was very critical on the sources used in history. He was opposed to analyses and rationalizations. His adagium was writing history the way it was. He wanted eyewitness accounts and wanted an emphasis on the point of view of the eyewitness. Hegel and Marx introduced the change of society in history. Former historians had focused on cyclical events of the rise and decline of rulers and nations. A new discipline, sociology, emerged in the late nineteenth century that analyzed and compared these perspectives on a larger scale. Leopold von Ranke (December 21, 1795- May 23, 1886) was one of the greatest German historians of the 19th century, and is frequently considered the founder of scientific history. ... Carmina Cantabrigiensia, Manuscript C, folio 436v, 11th century Textual criticism or lower criticism is a branch of philology or bibliography that is concerned with the identification and removal of errors from texts and manuscripts. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Sociology (from Latin: socius, companion; and the suffix -ology, the study of, from Greek λόγος, lógos, knowledge [1]) is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture[2]. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous...

The French Annales School radically changed history during the 20th century. Fernand Braudel wanted history to become more scientific by demanding more mathematical evidence in history, in order to make the history discipline less subjective. Furthermore, he added a social-economic and geographic framework to answer historical questions. Other French historians, like Philippe Ariès and Michel Foucault described history of daily life topics such as death and sexuality. They wanted history to be written about all topics and that all questions should be asked. The Annales School (Annales is pronounced // in French) is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales dhistoire économique et sociale (later called , then renamed in 1994 as ) where it was first expounded. ... Fernand Braudel (August 24, 1902–November 27, 1985) was a French historian. ... Philippe Aries was an important French medievalist and historian of the family and childhood, in the style of Georges Duby. ... Michel Foucault (pronounced ) (15 October 1926–25 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian, critic and sociologist. ...

Foundation of important historical journals

The idea of the historical journal, a forum where academic historians could exchange ideas or publish newly discovered facts, came into being in the nineteenth century. The early journals were similar to those used in the physical sciences, and were seen as a means by which history could be professionalised. Journals also helped historians to establish various historiographical approaches, the most notable example of which was Annales. Économies. Sociétés. Civilisations. a publication instrumental in establishing the Annales School. The Annales School (Annales is pronounced // in French) is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales dhistoire économique et sociale (later called , then renamed in 1994 as ) where it was first expounded. ...

• 1840 Historisk tidsskrift (Denmark)
• 1859 Historische Zeitschrift (Germany)
• 1866 Archivum historicum, later Historiallinen arkisto (Finland, published in Finnish)
• 1867 Századok (Hungary)
• 1871 Historisk tidsskrift (Norway)
• 1876 Revue Historique (France)
• 1881 Historisk tidskrift (Sweden)
• 1886 English Historical Review (UK)
• 1895 American Historical Review (USA)
• 1914 Mississippi Valley Historical Review (renamed 1964 the Journal of American History) (USA)
• 1916 The Journal of Negro History
• 1916 Historisk Tidskrift för Finland (Finland, published in Swedish)
• 1918 Hispanic American historical review
• 1928 Scandia (Sweden)
• 1929 Annales. Économies. Sociétés. Civilisations
• 1952 Past & present: a journal of historical studies (Great Britain)
• 1953 Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte (Germany)
• 1956 Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria (Nigeria)
• 1960 Journal of African History (Cambridge)
• 1960 Technology and culture: the international quarterly of the Society for the History of Technology (USA)
• 1975 Geschichte und Gesellschaft. Zeitschrift für historische Sozialwissenschaft (Germany)
• 1976 Journal of Family History
• 1982 Storia della Storiografia — History of Historiography — Histoire de l'Historiographie — Geschichte der Geschichtsschreibung [1]
• 1982 Subaltern Studies (Oxford University Press)
• 1986 Zeitschrift für Sozialgeschichte des 20.und 21. Jahrhunderts, new title since 2003: Sozial.Geschichte. Zeitschrift für historische Analyse des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts (Germany)
• 1990 Gender and history
• 1990 L'Homme. Zeitschrift für feministische Geschichtswissenschaft [2] (Austria)
• 1990 Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften (ÖZG) [3] Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften (ÖZG)
• 1992 Women's History Review
• 1993 Historische Anthropologie [4]

Historische Zeitschrift, founded in 1859 by Heinrich von Sybel is considered to be the first and for a time the foremost historical journal. ... Svenska Historiska Föreningen is a Swedish historical society, founded in 1880. ... The English Historical Review is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press. ... The American Historical Review (AHR) is the official publication of the American Historical Association (AHA), a body of academics, professors, teachers, students, historians, curators and others, founded in 1884 for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts, and the dissemination of historical research. ... The Journal of American History (sometimes abbreviated as JAH), is the official journal of the Organization of American Historians. ... The Journal of American History (sometimes abbreviated as JAH), is the official journal of the Organization of American Historians. ... The Journal of Negro History was founded in 1916. ... Scandia: tidskrift för historisk forskning (usually referred to as just Scandia) is an academic journal for history which has been published since 1928, when it was founded by the Swedish historian Lauritz Weibull (1873-1960), professor at the University of Lund. ... The Annales School (Annales is pronounced // in French) is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales dhistoire économique et sociale (later called , then renamed in 1994 as ) where it was first expounded. ... --Rlandmann 06:43, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC) Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Technology and Culture is an academic journal founded in 1959. ... The Subaltern Studies Group (SSG) or Subaltern Studies Collective are a group of South Asian scholars interested in the postcolonial and post-imperial societies of South Asia in particular and the developing world in general. ...

Approaches to history

The question of how a historian approaches historical events is one of the most important questions within historiography. It is commonly recognised by historians that, in themselves, individual historical facts are not particularly meaningful. Such facts will only become useful when assembled with other historical evidence, and the process of assembling this evidence is understood as a particular historiographical approach.

Some of the more common historiographical approaches are:

• Annales School
• Big history
• Cliometrics
• Comparative history
• Counterfactual history
• Critical historiography
• Cultural history
• Deconstruction
• Diplomatic history
• Economic history
• Family history
• Gender history
• Great man history
• Historical materialism
• History from below
• History of ideas
• Marxist historiography
• Metahistory
• Microhistory
• Military history
• Numismatics
• Oral history
• Paleography
• Political history
• Poststructural
• Prosopography
• Quantitative history
• Revisionism
• Social history
• Universal history
• Whig history
• Women's history
• World history

The Annales School (Annales is pronounced // in French) is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales dhistoire économique et sociale (later called , then renamed in 1994 as ) where it was first expounded. ... Big History is a discreet field of historical study that arose in the late 1980s. ... Cliometrics refers to the systematic use of economic theory and econometrics techniques to study economic history. ... The chronological comparison or commentory between different societies at a given time is called comparative history. ... Counterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a recent form of history which attempts to answer what if questions known as counterfactuals. ... The term Critical Historiography is used by various scholars in recent decades to emphasize the ambiguous relationship between history writing and historiography. ... Cultural history (from the German term Kulturgeschichte), at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. ... Deconstruction is a term in contemporary philosophy, literary criticism, and the social sciences, denoting a process by which the texts and languages of Western philosophy (in particular) appear to shift and complicate in meaning when read in light of the assumptions and absences they reveal within themselves. ... Sometimes referred to as Rankian History, diplomatic history focuses on politics, politicians and other high rulers and views them as being the driving force of continuity and change in history. ... Economic history is the study of how economic phenomena evolved in the past. ... Family history is the study of multiple generations of people who appear to be related. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Great man theory is a theory held by some that aims to explain history by the impact of Great men, or heroes: highly influential individuals, either from personal charisma, genius intellects, or great political impact. ... Marxist or historical materialist historiography is an influential school of historiography. ... Metahistory is a historiography book by Hayden White first published in 1974. ... Microhistory is a branch of the study of history. ... Battlespace Weapons Tactics Strategy Organization Logistics Lists War Portal         Military history is composed of the events in the history of humanity that fall within the category of conflict. ... Numismatics is the scientific study of currency and its history in all its varied forms. ... This article is about the historical discipline; see Oral tradition for the oral transmission of historical information. ... Palaeography, literally old writing, (from the Greek words paleos = old and grapho = write) is the study of script. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political history is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders. ... Prosopography, in historical studies, is an investigation of the common background characteristics of a historical group, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable, by means of a collective study of their lives. ... Quantitative history is an application of statistical methodology developed in social science into the field of history. ... Å…Social history is an area of historical study considered by some to be a social science that attempts to view historical evidence from the point of view of developing social trends. ... Universal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Judeo-Christian wellspring of that tradition. ... Whig history is a pejorative name given to a view of history that is shared by a number of eighteenth and nineteenth century British writers on historical subjects. ... Womens history is a term that refers to information about the past in regard to the female human being. ... World History is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. ...

See also

• Philosophy of history
• Historiography of science
• Historiography and nationalism
  • Soviet historiography
  • Historiography of the Cold War
• List of historians
  • List of historians by area of study
• Medieval Chronicle Society
• Historical method
  • Primary source — documents, correspondence, diaries
    • Secondary source — interpretations, written history
      • Tertiary source — compilations of other source material
• Military historiography
• Magistra vitae
• Mythologization of history
• Historiography at Wikiversity, where it is part of the School of History

Philosophy of history or historiosophy is an area of philosophy concerning the eventual significance, if any, of human history. ... The historiography of science is the historical study of the history of science (which often overlaps the history of technology, the history of medicine, and the history of mathematics). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This is a list of historians. ... This is a list of historians categorized by their area of study. ... The Medieval Chronicle Society is an international and interdisciplinary organisation founded to facilitate the work of scholars interested in medieval chronicles, or more generally medieval historiography. ... The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. ... In historical scholarship, a primary source is a document, or other source of information that was created at or near the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described. ... In library and information science, historiography and some other areas of scholarship, a secondary source is a document or recording that relates or discusses information originally presented elsewhere. ... Where a primary source presents material from a first-hand witness to a phenomenon, and a secondary source provides commentary, analysis and criticism of primary sources, a tertiary source is a selection and compilation of primary and secondary sources. ... Mythologization of history Mythologization of history is an effort to attribute to a current nation or state the attributes of some more glorious time, particularly when stronger leaders than the supposedly weak ones of the present held dominion over a greater expanse of territory or possessed more independence than the...

References

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... The Other Press is the student newspaper of Douglas College. ... Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun (full name, Arabic: , ) (May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH – March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH), was a famous Berber Muslim polymath: a historian, historiographer, demographer, economist, philosopher, political theorist, sociologist and social scientist born in present-day Tunisia. ... The Princeton University Press is a publishing house, a division of Princeton University, that is highly respected in academic publishing. ... For other uses, see SIC. Sic is a Latin word meaning thus, so, as such, or just as that. In writing, it is placed within square brackets and usually italicized—[sic]—to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been reproduced...

Bibliography

Theory and philosophy

• Frank Ankersmit (ed), A New Philosophy of History, 1995, ISBN 0-226-02100-9
• Michael Bentley, Modern Historiography: An Introduction, 1999 ISBN 0-415-20267-1
• Marc Bloch, The Historian's Craft [1940?]
• Peter Burke, History and Social Theory, Polity Press, Oxford, 1992
• David Cannadine (editor), What is History Now, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002
• E. H. Carr, What is History? 1961, ISBN 0-394-70391-X
• R.G. Collingwood, The Idea of History, 1936, ISBN 0-19-285306-6
• Geoffrey Elton, The Practice of History, 1969, ISBN 0-631-22980-9
• Richard J. Evans In Defence of History, 1997, ISBN 1862071047
• David Hackett Fischer, Historians' Fallacies: Towards a Logic of Historical Thought, Harper & Row, 1970.
• Keith Jenkins, Rethinking History, 1991, ISBN 0-415-30443-1
• Keith Jenkins, ed. The Postmodern History Reader (2006)
• Arthur Marwick, The Nature of History, 1970, ISBN 0-333-10941-4
• Alun Munslow. The Routledge Companion to Historical Studies (2000)
• Roger Spalding & Christopher Parker, Historiography: An Introduction, 2008, ISBN 0719072859
• John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 2002, ISBN 0-582-77254-0
• W.H. Walsh, An Introduction to Philosophy of History, 1951.
• Hayden White, The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, 1987, ISBN 0-8018-4115-1

Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (July 6, 1886 – June 16, 1944) was a French historian of medieval France in the period between the First and Second World Wars, and a founder of the Annales School. ... Peter Burke (born 1937) is a British historian. ... David Cannadine (born 1950) is a British historian, known for a number of books including The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy and Ornamentalism; and as a commentator and broadcaster on British public life, especially the British monarchy. ... Edward Hallett Carr (28 June 1892 – 5 November 1982) was a British historian, journalist and international relations theorist, and fierce opponent of empiricism within historiography. ... What is History? is a 1961 nonfiction book by historian Edward Hallet Carr on historiography. ... Robin George Collingwood (February 22, 1889 - January 9, 1943), British philosopher and historian. ... Geoffrey Elton (English constitutionalist) Geoffrey Elton (British historian) Categories: Disambiguation ... Professor Richard Evans (born 1947) is a British historian of Germany. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Keith Jenkins is one of Britains leading dudes of postmodern history. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Histories of historical writing

• Geoffrey Barraclough, History: Main Trends of Research in the Social and Human Sciences, (1978)
• Michael Bentley (ed.), Companion to Historiography, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0-415-28557-7 990pp; 39 chapters by experts
• Ernst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval and Modern, 3rd edition, 2007, ISBN 0-226-07278-9
• H. Floris Cohen, The Scientific Revolution: A Historiographical Inquiry, Chicago, 1994, ISBN 0-226-11280-2
• Mark T. Gilderhus, History an Historiographical Introduction, 2002, ISBN 0-13-044824-9
• Georg G. Iggers, Historiography in the 20th Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern Challenge (2005)
• Susan Kinnell, Historiography: An Annotated Bibliography of Journal Article, Books and Dissertations, 1987, ISBN 0-87436-168-0
• Lloyd Kramer and Sarah Maza, eds. A Companion to Western Historical Thought Blackwell 2006. 520pp; ISBN 978-1-4051-4961-7.
• Arnaldo Momigliano, The Classical Foundation of Modern Historiography, 1990, ISBN 9780226072838
• Philippe Poirrier, Aborder l'histoire, Paris, Seuil, 2000.
• Philippe Poirrier,Les enjeux de l'histoire culturelle, Paris, Seuil, 2004.
• Philippe Poirrier, Introduction à l'historiographie, Paris, Belin, 2009.
• Daniel Woolf, Historiography, in New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, ed. M.C. Horowitz, New York, Scribner, 2005, vol. I.

Feminist historiography

• Mary Ritter Beard, Woman as force in history: A study in traditions and realities
• Gerda Lerner, The Majority Finds its Past: Placing Women in History, New York: Oxford University Press 1979
• Bonnie G. Smith, The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice, Harvard UP 2000
• Mary Spongberg, Writing women's history since the Renaissance, Palgrave Macmillan, 2002
• Julie Des Jardins, "Women and the Historical Enterprise in America" University of North Carolina Press, 2002
• Judith M. Bennett, History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006

Mary Ritter Beard (1876 - 1958), was a United States historian and campaigner for womens suffrage. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Thematic and regional

• Cappel,Constance. "The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: The History of a Native American People". The Edwin Mellen Press,(2007)
• John Ernest. Liberation Historiography: African American Writers and the Challenge of History, 1794-1861. University of North Carolina Press, 2004
• Frank Farrell. Themes in Australian History: Questions, Issues and Interpretation in an Evolving Historiography (1990)
• Marc Ferro, Cinema and History, Wayne State University Press, 1988
• R. Darcy and Richard C. Rohrs, A Guide to Quantitative History (1995)
• Hudson, Pat. History by Numbers: An Introduction to Quantitative Approaches (2002)
• James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Touchstone Books 1996
• Tessa Morris-Suzuki, The Past Within Us: Media, Memory, History, 2005, ISBN 1-85984-513-4
• Gary Nash, Charlotte Crabtree, and Ross Dunn. History on Trial: Culture Wars and the Teaching of the Past, (2000)
• Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (1988), ISBN 0-521-34328-3
• Uri Ram, The Future of the Past in Israel - A Sociology of Knowledge Approach, in Benny Morris, Making Israel, the University of Michigan Press, 2007.
• Thomas Söderqvist. The Historiography of Contemporary Science and Technology (1997)
• Sommer, Barbara W. The Oral History Manual (2003)
• Jan Vansina, "Oral Tradition as History," University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1985
• Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim. Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (1982)
• Keita, Maghan. "Race and the Writing of History" Oxford UP (2000)

Marc Ferro is a French historian specialised in the history of Russia, the USSR and cinema. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Journals

• Cromohs — cyber review of modern historiography
• History and Theory
• History of Historiography

External links

• Series of accessible, interactive online lectures
• BBC Historiography Guide
• Summary of key historiographical schools
• Philosophy of History introduced at The Galilean Library
• Scientific Historiography, explained in an interview with Aviezer Tucker at the Galilean Library
• International Commission for the History and Theory of Historiography
• Web Portal on Historiography and Historical Culture