Aregnal list orking list is, at its simplest, a list of successivemonarchs. Some regnal lists may give the relationship between successive monarchs (e.g., son, brother), the length of reign of each monarch or annotations on important reigns. The list may be divided into dynasties marked off by headings. As a distinctgenre, the regnal list originates in theancient Near East. Its purpose was not originally chronological. It originally served to demonstrate the antiquity and legitimacy of the monarchy, but it became an important device for structuring historical narratives (as inHerodotus) and thus a chronological aid.[1]
In antiquity, regnal lists were kept inSumer,Egypt,Israel,Assyria andBabylonia. King lists have made it into sacred religious texts, such as thePuranas and theHebrew Bible, which contains anEdomite king list.[2]
Regnal lists were kept inearly medieval Ireland,Pictland andAnglo-Saxon England. The historian David Dumville regarded them as more reliable thangenealogies because they can be manipulated "in a smaller variety of ways than a genealogy". For example, some genealogies may have been fabricated from pre-existing regnal lists.[3] Inearly medieval Wales, the regnal list was unknown and one copyist, confronted with a merelist of Roman emperors, converted it into a pedigree.[4]