在这项创新的研究中，尼娜·罗研究了一种奇特的带插图书籍类型，这种书在中世纪晚期的城市中的新兴中产阶级中大受欢迎。这些装饰华美的《世界纪事》大约在1330年至1430年期间在巴伐利亚和奥地利地区出版，是当时流行的历史书，以活泼的白话诗的形式讲述了《圣经》中的故事、古代神话和帝王的生活，并辅以生动的图像。罗威对这些研究不足的书籍的评价呈现了一个丰富多彩的关于讲故事模式的世界，对一个变革时代的非贵族社会阶层发表了前所未有的深刻见解。通过多学科的方法，Rowe还展示了装饰华美的《世界纪事》挑战了人们普遍持有的一个观点，即认为中世纪的社会停滞不前，人们普遍虚伪。本书插图精美，并用大量通俗易懂的社会、经济和政治状况分析为支撑，突出了中世纪晚期世俗文学的吸引力，以及带插图的书籍与社会多元化和充满活力的城市领域的关系。

A look into an enchanting, underexplored genre of illustrated manuscripts that reveals new insights into urban life in the Middle Ages

In this innovative study, Nina Rowe examines a curious genre of illustrated book that gained popularity among the newly emergent middle class of late medieval cities. These illuminated World Chronicles, produced in the Bavarian and Austrian regions from around 1330 to 1430, were the popular histories of their day, telling tales from the Bible, ancient mythology, and the lives of emperors in animated, vernacular verse, enhanced by dynamic images. Rowe’s appraisal of these understudied books presents a rich world of storytelling modes, offering unprecedented insight into the non-noble social strata in a transformative epoch. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Rowe also shows how illuminated World Chronicles challenge the commonly held view of the Middle Ages as socially stagnant and homogeneously pious. Beautifully illustrated and backed by abundant and accessible analyses of social, economic, and political conditions, this book highlights the engaging character of secular literature during the late medieval era and the relationship of illustrated books to a socially diverse and vibrant urban sphere.