Medieval History
This page lists resources related to Medieval history in Europe and Great Britain. For the purposes of this Web page, the medieval period finished in 1485 (when Henry VII became king of England). Its beginnings are a bit murkier, but the Early Middle Ages in Europe started around the 5th or 6th Century AD.
This site has links to some extremely valuable Web sites with primary materials, so do visit them. Annotations indicate when sites linked to are not in English. (See also selected links for Medieval Middle East History.)
Web Sites | Books | Indexes (identify journal articles) | People
Those Who Pray, Work, and Fight
It is well known that in this world
there are three orders, set in unity:
these are laboratores, oratores, bellatores.
Laboratores are those who labor for our living;
Oratores are those who plead for our peace with God;
Bellatores are those who battle to protect our towns
and defend our land against an invading army.
Now the farmer works to provide our food,
And the worldly warrior must fight against our foes,
and the servant of God must always pray for us
and fight spiritually against invisible foes . . ..
Adalbero, bishop of Laon, Poem for King Robert, c.1025; edited by C. Carozzi, Poème au roi Robert.
Europe & Britain General Sites
Look for individual countries or regions within these sites. See sections on France, Spain, and Italy for country-specific resources.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Paul Halsall, ORB sources editor. Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies. The Internet Medieval Sourcebook is now part of ORB, the Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies.
Full text sources: Church Councils; Writings of the Church Fathers; Late Antiquity; Byzantium; Islam; Historiography; Modern Historiography; Literary Texts (Latin, French, Italian, Spanish/Portuguese, Celtic, German, Nordic, English); Medieval Thought; Medieval Spiritual Writing; Governmental, Administrative and Legal Documents; Renaissance Texts; Reformation Texts; Catholic Reformation Texts. Excellent Web site. A lot of material, but especially valuable are the Full Text Sources. If you only visit one primary source Medieval site on the Web, this is it.
The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies. Martin Irvine and Deborah Everhart. Georgetown University.
Poetry, prose, types of texts. Auctores et Fontes: Latin Texts; Old English Texts; Middle English Texts; French Texts; Italian Texts; Spanish and Iberian Texts (German to come). Scripta moderna, linked to from the main page, has citations to modern scholarly resources. Main page has materials by broad subject and by special topics (such as Arthurian Studies and Medieval women). Links to online course materials and professional organizations.
Recommended Texts. History 1A Medieval Europe 800-1500. Sam Cohn, Marilyn Dunn, Matthew Strickland, Andrew Roach, Stephen Marritt, Patrick Parsons, and Jean Charsley. University of Glasgow.
Possible reading list that covers the period. By time period and thematic. Check library catalog for ownership.
Medieval History. Theresa Mudrock. University of Washington Libraries.
Links to general sites, sites with manuscripts, early and medieval Christianity, and literary works. Annotated.
Medieval World. NM's Creative Impulse: The Development of Western Civilization: World History. Nancy B. Mautz. The University of Evansville.
Links to topics on Medieval History: History; People; Places; Maps; Events; Timelines; Warfare, Weapons and Armor; Resources; Art; Art and Architecture; Literature and Drama; Music and Dance; and Daily Life and Culture. Annotated.
Art of the Middle Ages. Art History Resources on the Web. Chris Witcombe, Professor of Art History, Sweet Briar College.
Links to art pages of Middle Ages: General; Early Christian; Byzantine; Islamic; Early Medieval; Romanesque; Gothic; Late Gothic Art in Italy; Medieval Manuscripts. Some of the links go to sites with popup/popback ads.
Medieval European Costume Links Page.
Links to information and images of many types of clothing: General Medieval Costume; Women's Dress; Men's Dress; Children's Dress; Occupational and Occasion Specific Dress; Weddings; Peasants and Proletarians; Theatre; Military Dress; Clergy; Regional Dress; Period Movement, Combat and Dance; Fashion Accessories; Wigs, Hair & Hats; Underwear; Jewelry; Pockets, Bags etc.; Shoes; Cosmetics; Textiles, Sewing and Needlework, etc. Many links. Some of the links bring up popup/back ads.
History of Medieval & Renaissance Europe: Primary Documents. Section of EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History: Selected Transcriptions, Facsimiles and Translations. Richard Hacken, European Studies Bibliographer. EuroDocs Weaver. Harold B. Lee Library. Brigham Young University.
Links to and descriptions of primary source materials. Materials are from assorted sites on the Web. Roughly chronological.
Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East.
Click on "Crusade links" on the left-hand side for a short list of links to Web pages with information about the Crusades. (Not all links are active.)
French Medieval History & Culture. TennesseeBob Peckham. The Globe-Gate Project. University of Tennessee-Martin
Multiple links to general sites, historical maps, and specific subjects. Many of the linked pages are in French.
Les Collections. Musée national du Moyen Âge. Cluny. Paris.
Images of some items found in the museum. Arranged by topic. In French.
Rois français du moyen âge. Robert D. Peckham. Professor of French, University of Tennessee-Martin. Globe-Gate Project.
Links to biographical and historical information about French kings. Arranged generally or by dynasty, and by individual. In French.
Textes et Musique du Moyen Age. Christian Brassy.
Texts and musical excerpts of Middle Age music. RealOne player needed to hear music. Page author asks browser indulgence for small errors. Files are copyrighted. A nice collection with information about the authors (when known). In French.
Libro: The Library of Iberian Resources Online. American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain.
Full text books online on Medieval Spain. "The Library of Iberian Resources Online (LIBRO) is a joint project of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain and the University of Central Arkansas. Its task is to make available to users the best scholarship about the peoples and nations of the Iberian peninsula. Consequently, the book list is principally drawn from recent, but out-of-print university press monographs. In addition, the collection includes a number of basic texts and sources in translation. These are presented in full-text format and reproduce all the matter included in the original print version. The collection focuses upon peninsular history from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries." Author catalog and title catalog list authors and titles alphabetically. The Search (all or any) looks for word(s) within texts.
Italian Medieval History. Italian History Index. WWW Virtual Library.
"The Italian History Index provides Internet resources on the History of Italy, whether from Italy and abroad, in both Italian and other languages. If the description of the resources are in Italian, this can be taken as indicating that no English equivalent of the pages is available." Annotated links to a lot of material. Most of the links are to Italian language resources. Categories are General, Gateways, Journals, Sources, Bibliographies and Databases, Institutions and Research Centers, Monographical Sites, and Amateurish Sites.
Medioevo Italiano. Angelo Gambella 1999-2005. Medioevo Italiano.
Click on "portale" for links to various topics. Choose culture, science, etc. (in Italian)--pop forward window will then provide list of sites with brief annotations. Some of these links include pop-back windows. English subset of information appears scanty (from main page). "Ingles" link on inner page not particularly relevant to medieval history. In Italian.
Books are a key resource for information about the Medieval period. The subject headings listed in this section can be used to find books related to European Medieval history topics in any library catalog which uses Library of Congress Subject Headings, including CSU's SAGE (it is not an exhaustive list). Do a subject search using the terms below to identify books in SAGE and Prospector (the Colorado Regional Catalog). Books may be requested from Prospector by CSU affiliates (establish a PIN in SAGE first).
Architecture Medieval |
Great Britain History Medieval Period 1066 1485 Sources Great Britain History Military 1066 1485 Great Britain History Norman Period 1066 1154 Great Britain History To 1485 Heresies, Christian -- History -- Middle Ages, 600-1500 Holy Roman Empire History 843-1273 Italy History 476-774 Italy History 476-1268 Italy History 1268-1492 Knights and knighthood Marriage Customs And Rites Medieval Middle Ages Middle Ages Bibliography Middle Ages Historiography Middle Ages History Middle Ages History Sources Middle Ages In Literature Military Art And Science History Medieval 500-1500 Monasticism and Religious Orders History Middle Ages, 600-1500 Mysticism England History Middle Ages, 600-1500 Religious thought Middle Ages, 600-1500 Spain History Gothic Period 414-711 Social History Medieval, 500-1500 Social History Medieval, 500-1500 Spain Church History Spain History 711-1516 Theology, Doctrinal History Middle Ages, 600-1500 Theology History Middle Ages, 600-1500 Women England History Middle Ages, 500-1500 Women Europe History Middle Ages, 500-1500 Women France History Middle Ages, 500-1500 Women History Middle Ages, 500-1500 |
*While there are different schools of thought, the author of these pages is in the group that believes that "feudalism" never existed in Europe or England.
Most Medieval history research is done in books (and now the Web for primary sources). There are journal articles, but they are more easily identified in the bibliographies of books or via book-length bibliographies. That said, there are useful journal articles which must not be neglected! Use the bibliographies of these articles as resources for additional sources.
These indexes may also be accessed by CSU affiliates via the "Databases" pages.
JSTOR. Full text articles at least 3-5 years old (varies by journal).
A useful index for Medievalists. Full text or linked to full text for more recent articles (most of them). Select "History" journals after typing in search term(s). Also select other groups of journals, depending upon the topic being researched: Art & Art History, Language & Literature, Philosophy, etc.
Humanities International Index. Varies. Different publisher, similar subject coverage: Humanities Index. AI 3 .I495 Reference South 1974-98.
Core journals dealing with history, literature, and other humanities. Good coverage of humanities topics such as: Medieval period, 1066-1485.
Full text articles (view in PDF), with a nice cross section of Medieval history topics.
Historical Abstracts. 1954- .
Covers 1450 to the present, so medieval coverage is minimal, but can be very helpful.
Geoffrey Chaucer. Naomi Lederer. Colorado State University.
Literary focus with links to primary sources. Includes links to biographical information. Recommendations on how to identify additional resources. Has section on related materials which includes the Internet Medieval Sourcebook also listed on this Web page.
Le roi Charles V et son temps (1338-1380). La Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Introductory text, themes, and manuscripts (texte introductif; thèmes; manuscrits). Assorted topics related to Charles V of France's life and times. In French.
Content: Naomi Lederer