Anno Domini

Anno Domini (Latin: In the year of (Our) (a) ____________), abbreviated as AD or A.D., defines an (b)_____________based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or (c)______________. Similarly,(d) _____________, abbreviated as BC or B.C., is used in the English language to denote years before the start of this epoch. The designation is used to number years in the (e)______________, conventionally used with the Julian and Gregorian (f)____________. More fully, years may be also specified as Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ"). Though the Anno Domini (g)_______________ was devised in 525 it was not until the 8th century that the system began to be adopted in (h) ______________. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, even popes continued to date documents according to (i) _____________, and usage of AD only gradually became more common in Europe from the 11th to the 14th centuries. In 1422, Portugal became the last Western European country to adopt the (j)_______________. Year numbering using the Anno Domini system (or its related Common Era (CE) designation) is the most widespread (k) __________________ in the world today. For decades, it has been the unofficial (l) __________________, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union. Its preeminence is due to the historical processes of European (m) ____________, by means of which the (n)______________ came to be imposed upon those who wanted to be recognized as members of the (o)_____________. Its association with (p) _____________ is another factor which promoted the spread of the numbering system.

Unit X

I. Look through the words and expressions and learn them:

Ø to set in a meaningful interpretive context – розміщувати у виразному пояснювальному контексті;

Ø quintessentially Christian forms of historical writing – найбільш типові християнські форми історичних документів;

Ø awake to wars, plagues and disasters – викликані війнами , епідеміями катастрофами;

Ø to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories – надавати вигляд епічної форми своїм розповідям;

Ø narrowing down to a more limited geographical range – звужуючи до більш обмеженого географічного кола;

Ø a set of concordance tables – сукупність узгоджених таблиць;

Ø tension between the heavenly and the earthly state – напруга між небесною та земною державою;

Ø to bear a more or less encyclopedic character – нести/мати більш чи менш енциклопедичний характер

II. Read and translate the text:

CHRONICLE

Generally a chronicle (Latin: chronica, from Greek χρονικά) is a historical account of facts and events in chronological order. Typically, equal weight is given for important events and less important events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, which focuses on important events, sets them in a meaningful interpretive context and excludes those the author does not see as important.

Scholars categorize the genre of chronicle into two subgroups: live chronicles, and dead chronicles. A deadchronicle is one where the author gathers a list of events up to the time of his writing, but does not record further events as they occur. A livechronicle is where one or more authors add to a chronicle in a regular fashion, recording contemporary events shortly after they occur. Because of the immediacy of the information, historians tend to value live chronicles, such as annals, over dead ones.

"The chronicle is one of the quintessentially Christian forms of historical writing," Michael Kulikowsky has remarked. "The ultimate goal of this exercise is usually to place the events of human history in the framework of Christian time, to record the annual stages by which human history marches towards the Second Coming" This makes the Christian chroniclers particularly awake to wars, plagues and disasters.

The term often refers to a book written by a chronicler in the Middle Ages describing historical events in a country, or the lives of a nobleman or a clergyman, although it is also applied to a record of public events. Various contemporary newspapers or other periodicals have adopted "chronicle" as part of their name. Various fictional stories have also adopted "chronicle" as part of their title, to give an impression of epic proportion to their stories.

The universal chronicle (or world chronicle), tracing history from the beginning of the world up to the present, was an especially popular genre of historiography in medieval Western Europe. The universal chronicle differs from the ordinary chronicle in its much broader chronological and geographical scope, giving, in principle, a continuous account of the progress of world history from the creation of the world up to the author's own times, but in practice often narrowing down to a more limited geographical range as it approaches those times.

The Chronica of Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275–339) is considered to be the starting point of this tradition. The second book of this work consisted of a set of concordance tables (Chronici canones) that for the first time synchronized the several concurrent chronologies in use with different peoples. Eusebius' chronicle became known to the Latin West through the translation by Jerome (c. 347–420).

Universal chronicles are sometimes organized around a central ideological theme, such as the Augustinian idea of the tension between the heavenly and the earthly state, which plays a major role in Otto von Freising's Historia de duabus civitatibus. In other cases, any obvious theme may be lacking. Some universal chronicles bear a more or less encyclopedic character, with many digressions on non-historical subjects, as is the case with the Chronicon of Helinand of Froidmont.

Other notable universal chroniclers of the Medieval West include Bede (c. 672 or 673–735), Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636), Matthew Paris (c. 1200-1259), Ranulf Higdon (c. 1280-1363), Rudolf von Ems, and Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1190-1264?).

Christian writers as late as Bossuet (in his Discours sur l'histoire universelle, 1679) were still reflecting on and continuing the Medieval tradition of universal history.

Chronological narrationChronicles, the predecessors of modern 'histories' were accounts, in prose or verse, of national or worldwide events over a considerable period of time. If the chronicles deal with events year by year, they are often called annals. Unlike the modern historian, most chroniclers tended to take their information as they found it, and made little attempt to separate face from legend. The most important English chronicles are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, started by King Alfred in the ninth century and continued until the twelfth century, and the Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (1577-87) by Raphael Holinshed and other writers; the latter documents were important sources of materials for Elizabethan drama.

III. Find English equivalents for the following:

¨ суспільні події;

¨ у хронологічному та географічному просторі;

¨ відображувати та повторювати середньовічні традиції;

¨ з відхиленнями по не історичним предметам;

¨ об'єднуватися навколо основної ідеологічної теми;

¨ від початку світу до сьогодення;

¨ не записувати подальші події;

¨ розміщувати події в історії людства в межах християнського часу;

¨ завдяки негайності/безпосередньості інформації

IV. Study the given below lexical units (provide their Ukrainian varians):

· the predecessors of modern 'histories';

· digressions on non-historical subjects;

· to be organized around a central ideological theme;

· to be the starting point of this tradition;

· in its much broader chronological and geographical scope;

· lives of a nobleman or a clergyman;

· apply to a record of public events;

· in contrast to a narrative or history

V. Give synonyms to the underlined words:

o a meaningful interpretive context;

o to gather a list of events;

o the ultimate goal;

o awake to disasters;

o an impression of epic proportion;

o concurrent chronologies;

o heavenly state;

o immediacy of the information;

o to bear encyclopedic character;

o many digressions

VI. Interpret the expressions and sentences in other words:

- ultimate goal of this exercise;

- the purpose being the recording of events that occurred;

- to record contemporary events shortly after they occur;

- to record the annual stages;

- a continuous account of the progress;

- to separate face from legend

VII. – Match the historical terms listed up in column A with the definitions provided in column B.

– Exemplify the use of the historical lexis listed up in column A and make the sentences of your own.