Explanation in Chronicles of Western Europe in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 
                           by 
                         Kaitlin Heller 
                             
                             
                             
           A Thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of 
             Philosophy, Graduate Department of History, in the University of Toronto 
                             
                             
                             
                    © Copyright by Kaitlin Heller 2017 
                                            	
                          Abstract 
          Explanation in Chronicles of Western Europe in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 
                         Kaitlin Heller 
                    Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2017  
                     Graduate Department of History 
                       University of Toronto 
                             
             This dissertation examines the way historical writing was structured in Latin and 
          Old French works of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in Europe. Through 
          comparative analysis of the Genesis section of Peter Comestor's Historia Scholastica 
          with two later historical works, the Otia Imperialia of Gervase of Tilbury and the 
          Histoire ancienne jusqu’à César, now attributed to Wauchier de Denain, this thesis 
          argues that Comestor’s explanatory mechanisms influenced these later works in their 
          treatment of supernatural events, their organization of historical narrative, and their 
          descriptions of the natural world.   
             Peter Comestor’s writing in the Historia Scholastica evinces three major goals: to 
          preserve a continuous, seamless river of time, in which past and present are mutually 
          intelligible and laid out in a clear order; to describe accurately a whole and seamless 
          world, in which biblical events can be both mapped onto the known landscape of 
          Comestor’s day and understood through the sciences of that time; and to create a 
          seamless text, with no gaps or confusing passages.  
             Both Wauchier de Denain and Gervase of Tilbury incorporate the content as well 
          as the form of the Historia Scholastica, a fact which holds generic implications for these 
                                             ii 
          texts. The Historia’s structural adaptability made it useful to these two writers, and, I 
          argue, may have been the cause of its popularity amongst other lay writers of history. 
          Comestor’s work provided a template for connecting the meaning of stories and 
          experiences with the meaning of history, and offered a means by which historical 
          narratives could accommodate new connections to the present day. 
             I argue that the structure of the Historia Scholastica, the material from which it 
          drew its explanations, and its methods of explanation made it acceptable for later writers 
          to imitate its structure and sources, and therefore made it possible and sensible for them 
          to include material which we would not now categorize as proper to the historical genre: 
          stories of contemporary experiences, folkloric material, and wonder tales.  
                                             iii 
          Acknowledgments 
           
             It truly does take a village to write a thesis. If I have forgotten here to thank 
          anyone who helped me along the way, it is by reason of a poor memory and a great 
          quantity of helpers, not a lack of gratitude. 
             My supervisor, Joe Goering, has been an invaluable guide during the process of 
          my growth as a scholar. Were it not for his admonitions to “waste time” in the library, I 
          would never have made half the discoveries that proved essential to this dissertation, nor 
          would I have learned to be patient with myself as a researcher.  
             My co-supervisor Isabelle Cochelin’s feedback was fundamental to this thesis, 
          both in its shape and its argument, in matters great and small. Her watchful eye has 
          sharpened my own analysis of my work.  
             My co-supervisor Suzanne Akbari’s advice not only on academic matters, but 
          para-academic tasks and processes, was of inestimable value as I developed a writing 
          process. Her guidance has reshaped my work practices greatly. 
             Other professors at the University of Toronto and elsewhere have provided 
          support, instruction, advice, and a sense of community without which I would have been 
          in dire straits indeed. I would especially like to thank Ken Bartlett, Liza Blake, Alexandra 
          Bolintineanu, Caroline Walker Bynum, Paul Cohen, Leah DeVun, Greti Dinkova-Bruun, 
          Nick Everett, Jennifer Harris, Russell Kazal, Will Robins, Bert Roest, Chester Scoville, 
          Nick Terpstra, and David Townsend. I must also add my immense gratitude to Betsy 
          Mitchell, former Editor in Chief of Del Rey Books, who wrote a letter supporting my 
          application for the Vanier. 
                                             iv