An Exercise in the Obscure: The construction of history on the Canterbury Roll.
Thousands of years of history and mythology are summarised across the 5 metre long medieval genealogy of the kings of England known as the “Canterbury Roll”.
The result is a confusing and contradictory narrative. This is no truer than in the early membranes of the Roll, which display the English kings’ biblical and legendary ancestry. Modern scholarship has failed to recognise the value of this type of material where it appears on chronicles and genealogical rolls.
My paper presents findings that demonstrates the value of analysing some of this more obscure material in the case of the Canterbury Roll. It will demonstrate that when it comes to chronicles and medieval manuscripts, an exercise in the obscure is worth engaging in.
Jayson Boon is currently completing his MA in History at UC. In 2018, he completed his BA Hons in History. He has been working on the Canterbury Roll Project since 2017, a collaborative translation/edition project produced by History and Digital Humanities at UC and Nottingham Trent University.
Image: Noah and his sons on the Canterbury Roll. Christchurch, University of Canterbury, MS 1 © University of Canterbury. Used with Permission.
