Universal history (genre)

A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of humankind as a whole.[1] Universal historians try to identify connections and patterns among individual historical events and phenomena, making them part of a general narrative.[2] A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to the present.[3] Therefore, any work classed as such purportedly attempts to embrace the events of all times and nations in so far as scientific treatment of them is possible.[4]

Siegfried of Ballhausen was the first to use the title Historia universalis (universal history) in 1304.[5]

  1. ^ Lamprecht 1905; Ploetz 1883, pp. ix–xii; Bossuet 1810, pp. 1–6.
  2. ^ Halmi, Nicholas (2023). "Universal Histories". Intellectual History Review. 33 (3): 367–374. doi:10.1080/17496977.2023.2180590. ISSN 1749-6977.
  3. ^ Ranke 1884, p. x: "History begins at the point where monuments become intelligible and documentary evidence of a trustworthy character is forthcoming but from this point onwards the domain is boundless for Universal History as understood."
  4. ^ Harding 1848, p. 1; Ranke 1884.
  5. ^ Borst 1991, p. 68.