This thesis presents an edition of the complete text of The Roit or Quheill of Tyme a chronicle composed in Scots by the Scottish Franciscan friar Adam Abell during the 1530s. An example of the mediaeval genre of "universal" chronicle, it opens with a retelling of the creation story of Genesis and continues its narrative through biblical, classical Greek and Roman, mediaeval Scottish and European history. The main body of the chronicle ends in 1533, but Abell later added a continuation which follows events to 1537. The edition is based on the unique manuscript preserved in the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, NLS MS 1746. An introduction which places the chronicle within not only its social and cultural context in late mediaeval Scotland, but also the contexts of Scottish and international mediaeval historiography, is included. A glossary has also been appended to provide guidance with vocabulary. The Roit or Quheill of TyLne, which has never before been edited in full, is significant for a number of reasons. It is the last surviving Scottish chronicle composed before the Reformation, and provides an eyewitness narrative of the reigns of James III, James IV and James V. Furthermore, it is one of the very few examples of Franciscan secular historical writing which survive from mediaeval Europe, and is therefore an international rarity. Although much about Abell himself is obscure, the variety of materials quoted within the chronicle and his awareness of contemporary events provide insights into the education of, and resources available to, an ordinary Scottish religious in the early sixteenth century.

Résumé / Abstract

The subject of this thesis is the Synopsis Chronike (or Synopsis Sathas), a Byzantine chronicle of the thirteenth century that conveys the history of the world, starting from Adam and concluding with the recapture of Constantinople in 1261. The study focuses on the first part of the text (Adam – Nikephoros Botaneiates), and more specifically on the comprehensive presentation and analysis of the whole corpus of its sources, passage by passage, in order to reconstruct the background of the chronicle and to determine its place in the Byzantine chronicle tradition. Following the introductory first chapter, which sets out the aims of the thesis and establishes its methodology, chapter two offers an overview of the chronicle itself, and a first discussion of the main issues it presents: the key characteristics of its narrative structure, its manuscript tradition, and – mainly – the problem of its authorship, with special reference to the commonly supposed author, Theodore Skoutariotes, bishop of Kyzikos. Chapter three conveys a detailed presentation of the results of our research; following the discussion of the sources and influences of the proem, it attempts to place each passage of the Synopsis Chronike in the context of any related texts, which are then identified as 'main sources', 'other sources' and 'parallel passages', depending on their link to the Synopsis Chronike. Chapter four discusses individually each text that appears as a source of the Synopsis Chronike, and locates its place amongst the whole corpus of the sources. Furthermore, it examines the passages for which we were not able to identify a main source, and suggests possible sources that have not survived. Finally, the concluding chapter of the thesis summarises the earlier discussion, and attempts to combine the different pieces of information, and to provide an overall picture of the background of the Synopsis Chronike in order to establish – to the degree that it is possible – its position in the Byzantine chronicle tradition.

Dans le cadre de ces travaux, l’objectif fixé était de développer des polymères aromatiques possédant des propriétés de conduction protonique. Pour y parvenir des motifs de type acide sulfonique ont été introduits le long des chaînes macromoléculaires. La méthodologie de synthèse de ces polymères qui a été choisie, consistait à polymériser des précurseurs contenant dans leur structure un motif perfluoroalkyle sulfoné. Quatre précurseurs originaux ont ainsi été initialement synthétisés. Différents polymères aromatiques ont été préparés à partir de ces précurseurs en faisant varier le taux de séquences perfluoroalkyles sulfonées. Ces polymères ont ensuite été mis en oeuvre sous la forme de membranes denses selon un procédé de coulée évaporation. A partir de ces membranes, des études de gonflement à l’eau et de conductivité ionique ont été réalisées. / As part of this work, the objective was to develop aromatic polymers with proton conduction properties. To achieve this, the sulfonic acid motifs were introduced along the macromolecular chains. The methodology of synthesis of these polymers was to polymerise the precursor containing in their structure a perfluoroalkyl sulfone moieties. Four novel precursors have been initially synthesized. Different aromatic polymers were prepared from these precursors by varying the rate of perfluoroalkyl sulfonated sequences. These polymers were then used in the form of dense membranes obtained by a casting process of evaporation. From these membranes, swelling studies in water and ionic conductivity were carried out.