Historia regum britanniae
some considerations about history and gender in medieval chronicles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55702/medievalis.v14i2.71358Palavras-chave:
Medieval chronicles, Gender studies, Historia Regum Britanniae, Anglo-Norman EnglandResumo
Written by the Welsh cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth in twelfth century England, Historia Regum Britanniae is a medieval chronicle that presents a mythical-historical narrative of the ancient British past. This article presents a theoretical survey of three aspects that permeate the writing of the chronicle. Firstly, we address the historical context of its production by emphasizing the social and political transformations brought to England by the Norman Conquest the conflict known as Anarchy (Houts, 2002; Chinbnall, 1986). Based on the studies by Weiler (2020), Henley (2020) and Tolhurst (2013), the second aspect concerns how Monmouth's work deviates from the traditional ecclesiastical model of historical writing, especially with regard to the representation of women. The last aspect points out the possibilities of applying the concept of gender presented by Scott (1986) in the study of medieval historical texts. Finally, we discuss the importance of these three points for a deeper understanding of the narrative of the Historia Regum Britanniae, as well as for a possible reinterpretation of its content.
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