As the summer draws to a close I find myself wanting to reflect on how this endeavor has forced me to grow as a researcher and fledgling academic. Although not quite as exciting as my blog post on my trip to Paris, or my completely exhilarating foray into the benefits of Latin knowledge, I believe that it is important to track this progress within the context of this project.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of this project is the reliance of my claim upon my own personal analysis of images in Les Grandes Chroniques. While I usually find it easy to rely on synthetical sources, because this specific area has not been studied, I cannot do this. Thus, I have been pushed to come to my own conclusions, and to do so through rigorous and detailed examinations of primary source material. This experience has made me far more capable of doing so, and has allowed me to better understand what it takes to be a proper historian, that relies on their own ideas and not those of others.
Additionally, and far more mundane, but equally important, has been learning how to navigate library databases, in order to find digitized (and non-digitized) versions of Les Grandes Chroniques. The database I have spent the most time with has been the BnF catalog, and looking through that, “flipping” (clicking the next button on my computer) through the many “pages” (images), has taught me what the most efficient way to utilize online resources is. Furthermore, by being forced to have to search for many dozens of manuscripts, I have a better understanding of how to do such research, and where to look to find copies of manuscripts both within major collections like the BnF or the Library of Congress, but also in smaller museums and libraries, that I might have previously overlooked or not known about.
Overall, I am really proud of the work I have been able to accomplish, and I am excited to finally synthesize it into a final draft worthy of presentation to my professors and peers. I am super grateful for this program because it forced me to pursue this idea, and with that, I was able to learn all sorts of new research skills that will not only help me in this specific project, but in all my future endeavors.