Indian Sculpture c12.117

c12.117

The medieval period also saw the development of a new form of historical writing, the *universal history*. This was an attempt to write a history of the world from the creation to the present day, often within a framework of the six ages of the world. This type of history was popularised by writers like Otto of Freising, whose *Chronica sive Historia de duabus civitatibus* (Chronicle or History of the Two Cities) is a masterpiece of medieval historical thought. Otto, influenced by the theology of St. Augustine, saw history as a struggle between the city of God and the city of man, a conflict that would only be resolved at the end of time. This work, and others like it, provided a grand, overarching framework for understanding the past, and it had a profound influence on the way history was written and understood for centuries to come.