European Medieval Research Law Guide

Purpose

This page serves as a gateway to scholarly resources on the European Middle Ages law only. Many literate cultures flourished at approximately the same time as Medieval Europe — most notably in East Asia (China), South Asia (India), the Muslim World (North Africa and Southwest Asia), and Mesoamerica (modern Mexico and Central America). For scholarly resources on one contemporaneous literate civilization, please see the Classic Maya Research Guide.

Associations and Societies

• CARA Data Project (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies): Through ACMR’s web site, The Medieval Academy of America provides an online directory of “all Medieval centers, programs, committees, and regional associations in North America”.
• De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History: “An international scholarly association established to foster and develop interest in the study of pre-modern military affairs”.
• Delaware Valley Medieval Association
• Early Medieval Forum (College of New Jersey): “An association of scholars and students in the humanities and social sciences whose work focuses on Europe and the Mediterranean ca. 500-1200 C.E.”
• Medieval Academy of America (Georgetown University): “Promotes research, publication, and teaching in Medieval art, archaeology, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, social and economic institutions, and all other aspects of the Middle Ages”. Membership is open to any individual with an interest in Medieval scholarship.
• Medieval Institute (Western Michigan University): The Medieval Institute publishes a range of scholarly monographs and serials, and sponsors the International Congress on Medieval Studies.
• Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship (University of Oregon): “Promoting the interest and activity of scholars in feminist issues connected with the Middle Ages and Renaissance.” Membership is open to any individual with an interest in gender or feminist issues in Medieval scholarship.

Find Books about European Medieval History, in General

Circulating Books

Search a library’s online catalog, to find books and theses on Medieval history. Begin with the following Library of Congress Subject Headings:
•Civilization, Medieval
•Crusades
•Europe — History — 476-1492
•Europe — History — 392-814
•Feudalism
•History — Temple University Theses
•Kings & Rulers — Medieval
•Middle Ages — History
•Middle Ages — Maps

Book Databases

ABC-Clio eBooks (full-text resource):This database consists mostly of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works. Many titles of interest to history researchers can be found.

ACLS History E-Book Project (full-text resource): Access over 1,000 full-text history books. The idea behind the E-Book Project is to provide undergraduate researchers with a core group of classic, secondary texts in all areas of history.

Early English Books Online (full-text resource): From the first book published in English through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare, this collection contains over 96,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue (1475 – 1640), Wing’s Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), and the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661). Of must use to graduate students and senior scholars in the fields of English literature and history.

English Short-Title Catalog: Describes English-language letterpress materials printed in Great Britain or its colonies from 1473 to 1800, as well as material printed in English anywhere in the world during that period. The database offers access to holdings of over 1,600 libraries worldwide. Coverage is from the beginnings of print to 1800, including all recorded English monographs between 1475 and 1700. Complements Early English Books Online.

netLibrary: The premier source for electronic books; search by keyword or try the same LC subject headings suggested above.

Find Articles about European Medieval History, in General

Finding journal articles at TU Libraries typically consists of two distinct steps: 1) Use a database (below) or print index to find article citations; 2) With citations in hand, use Journal Finder to locate full-text articles online or in the physical library. Journal Finder provides direct links to the appropriate full-text database(s) and/or Diamond.

The available databases have been divided into two broad categories based upon relative importance to the study of Medieval European History.

• Important Databases
• Related Databases

Important Databases

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index (Haverford College): This database indexes over 300 serial titles and other sources, including “journal articles, book reviews, and essays in books about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages”.

Historical Abstracts: This database provides access to article abstracts from periodical literature on the history and culture of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Of interest to Late Medievalists and those studying the Renaissance.

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages & Renaissance: “Iter’s bibliography covers all literature pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). Citations for journal articles, reviews, review articles, bibliographies, catalogues, abstracts and discographies are included. Also included are citations for monographs, and material published in monographs and collections of essays.” Also available, among other specialized projects and resources, is “Kristeller’s Iter Italicum, the most comprehensive finding list available of previously uncatalogued or incompletely catalogued Renaissance humanistic manuscripts found in libraries and collections all over the world.” For comprehensive coverage of the periodical literature, conference proceedings, and exhibition catalogs, consult International Medieval Bibliography, Paley Reference Stacks (Call #Z6203 .I66, 1967-1996).

JSTOR: JSTOR is the premier scholarly journal database. The Arts and Sciences I and II Collections offer full-text access to 43 core titles in the field of history.

Project MUSE: Project MUSE is a joint venture of the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. This initiative makes possible worldwide networked access to the full text of the Press’s scholarly journals. Coverage is from 1995 to the present. History titles include French Historical Studies, Journal of Women’s History, Reviews in American History and many more.

Related Databases

Academic Search Premier (access via EbscoHost): The Libraries’ most comprehensive, multi-disciplinary journal database; It provides full-text access to more than 3,500 peer-reviewed journals, many of which are relevant to the study of history.

American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES): Find bibliographic records for journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and selected government publications that cover North American scholarship on Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former republics of the Soviet Union.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (access via ISI’s Web of Science): A multi-disciplinary index to over 1000 arts and humanities journals. This database does not include abstracts, but does allow searching by “cited author” and “cited work”. In other words, find out who’s citing whom.

Cobett’s Parliamentary History of England (1066-1803) via 19th Century Masterfile: One of a core set of indices for pre-1920 studies.

Digital Dissertations: The definitive guide to more than 2 million doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. Digital Dissertations help you identify more than 90 percent of the doctoral dissertations accepted each year in North America. The database also covers thousands of dissertations and theses from around the globe. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master’s theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1861, and more than 55,000 new citations are added to the database every year. Full-text Temple University dissertations from 1997 on are available for free download along with 24-page previews of thousands of other recent dissertations.

GenderWatch: “GenderWatch is a full text database of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas, [including history]. Publications include academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, NGOs and special reports. GenderWatch contains archival material, in some cases as far back as the 1970s with additional archival material continually added, making this the repository of an important historical perspective on the evolution of the women’s movement and the changes in gender roles and understandings over the last fifteen to twenty years.”

The Gerritsen Collection: Women’s History Online, 1543-1945: “In the late 1800s, Dutch physician Aletta Jacobs and her husband C.V. Gerritsen began collecting books and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and women’s rights. By the time their successors finished their work in 1945, The Gerritsen Collection was the greatest single source for the study of women’s history in the world, with materials spanning four centuries and fifteen languages.”

Humanities Abstracts (access via EbscoHost): Provides indexing and abstracting for more than 300 key humanities publications (e.g. journal articles, book review articles, interviews, obituaries, bibliographies, original or primary works of fiction, drama, and poetry, and reviews of plays, operas, ballets, dance, musicals, movies, and television and radio programs.) Potentially relevant to those undertaking history research.

History Cooperative Journals: Created by a consortium of academic publishers and professional history associations, this database provides full-text access to the Journal of American History and thirteen other academic journal titles.

PapersFirst: Contains citations of papers presented at worldwide meetings, conferences, expositions, workshops, congresses, and symposia. The Proceedings database contains records for the meetings that relate to the papers described in PapersFirst. Covers October 1993 to the present. Adds new records monthly

Periodical Abstracts: More than 800,000 records describing significant articles from more than 1,500 top general and academic journals. Contains records for transcripts of significant segments of more than 80 news and lifestyle oriented television and radio programs. Covers January 1987 to the present. Adds new records weekly.

ProceedingsFirst: Over 19,000 citations of publications from worldwide meetings, conferences, expositions, workshops, congresses, and symposia. Covers 1993 to the present. (Updated twice weekly)

Reference Universe: Covers back-of-the-book indices and article titles in subject encyclopedias and reference works held by Temple and other libraries. As of March 4, 2004 there are more than 2,900 titles online. Additional titles are added weekly.

Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies: “The Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies covers the social sciences and humanities with topics as diverse as archaeology, economics, history, law, linguistics, literary criticism, philosophy, political science, religious studies, and much more. The database includes citations and abstracts of journal articles, books, manuscripts, and dissertations published primarily in Russia, the republics of the former Soviet Union, and countries in Eastern Europe. The Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies covers from 1986 to the present, with two to three updates per year.”.

Generate a List of Medieval History Journal Titles: Researchers often wish to see a list of available journals in a particular subject area. A number of Medieval Studies journals are available in both print and online formats at Temple Libraries. Examples include Early Medieval Europe, Journal of Medieval History, Renaissance Quarterly, and Speculum. Generate a list including these and other, related journal titles by doing a subject search in Diamond. Begin with the following subject headings.
•Civilization, Medieval — Periodicals
•Middle Ages — History — Periodicals
•Middle Ages — Periodicals
•Renaissance — Periodicals

Access Note: Some of the above resources are restricted to use by students, faculty, and staff. In such cases off-campus users will be prompted for an Accessnet username and password.

Selected Internet Resources

Epact: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Glossary of Medieval Art & Architecture (University of Pittsburgh): The glossary is a subset of the Medieval Art & Architecture image archive. Each entry is accompanied by an illustration or image of the architectural element in question, as well as an audio file (.au format) that provides the correct pronunciation.

Internet Medieval Sourcebook (Fordham University): Highly recommended collection of primary sources divided into three sections: Selected Sources, Full-Text Sources, and Saints’ Lives. Useful for exposing undergraduates to authentic texts. Highly recommended.

•Byzantium – Byzantine Studies on the Internet: Track the history and art of the Byzantine Empire from the founding of Constantinople in 330 CE to the city’s fall at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE.
•Selected Sources – The Crusades: Read selected full-text from the period of Urban II’s 1095 CE speech to the lesser known expeditions of the late 13th century.
•Women Writers of the Middle Ages: “A bibliography of works by and about women writers of the Middle Ages.” In addition to a list of the best reference and secondary works, the bibliography treats 37 individual authors, from Angela of Foligno (Italy, 1248-1309) to Trotula of Salerno (Italy, 1040-1090). Check Diamond for title availability within Temple Libraries.

The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Texts (Georgetown University): Annotated directory of primary and secondary sources covering all aspects of medieval scholarship. Highly recommended.

Luminarium: Anthology of Middle English Literature (1350-1485)

Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts (National Library of the Netherlands): Search or browse one of the finest collections of medieval manuscripts currently available online.

Medieval & Renaissance Europe: Primary Historical Documents (Brigham Young University): Part of “EuroDocs: Primary History Documents from Western Europe,” this excellent, frequently updated site serves as a tool for locating primary documents from a variety of scholarly web sites.

netSerf – The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources: The value of this Yahoo!-style subject directory lies in its well organized and easily searched hierarchical structure. The directly currently lists over 1,800 web sites of interest to medievalists.

Medieval Technology Pages (New York University): This site consists of a series of short, referenced articles gleaned primarily from secondary sources. Topics covered include agricultural tools, cannons, grindstones, mirrors, soap, stirrups, windmills, and much more. Best used as a brief introduction to the history of technology during the European Middle Ages.

NEMDB – Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank: “The Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank is a project established at Rutgers University and originally cosponsored by the Research Libraries Group (RLG), Inc. Its aim is to provide scholars with an expanding library of information in electronic format on the medieval and early modern periods of European history, circa 800-1815 C.E.” A good site for finding statistical data on historical currency exchanges and product prices (e.g. on barley, oats, wheat, and rye).

The ORB – On-Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies: “The ORB is an academic site, written and maintained by medieval scholars for the benefit of their fellow instructors and serious students. All articles have been judged by at least two peer reviewers.” The site includes an encyclopedia, directory of links to primary documents, instructor resources, and more. Highly recommended.

Included in the ORB: Medieval Celtic Fringe: Link to sites that explore the shrinking “Celtic fringe” of Northwest Europe during the early Middle Ages. Discover sources under the headings Primary Resources, Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Arthurian Studies, among others. Continue your research in the library with an extensive bibliography of print resources.