Resources for Medieval Studies
A guide to library and web resources on the Middle Ages.
Research & Instruction Librarian
Ginny Moran
she/her
Contact:
Library, Room 303
vmoran@macalester.edu
vmoran@macalester.edu
651-696-6398
Subjects: Art & Art History, Asian Languages and Cultures, Classical Mediterranean and Middle East, English, French and Francophone Studies, German Studies, History, Media and Cultural Studies, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Russian Studies, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies, Theater and Dance, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Related Research Guides
Search the Library Catalog Using WorldCat
Finding Journal Articles and Books
In addition to searching the library catalog (above), you can look in a number of databases. Depending on the specific time period and topic of your research, check out appropriate databases below.
- International Medieval Bibliography This link opens in a new window Comprehensive and up-to-date interdisciplinary bibliography of the Middle Ages covering Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa during the period 400-1500.
- Annee Philologique This link opens in a new window A comprehensive index to scholarly work in in the Greek and Roman areas of Classical Studies, as well as on ancient Greek and Latin linguistics and language. Concerns the time period from the second millennium B.C. to roughly 500-800 A.D. Includes coverage of research collections and conferences.
- Index Islamicus This link opens in a new window Indexes worldwide literature in European languages on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covers Muslim life including history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages and literatures. Includes journals, conference proceedings, monographs and book reviews. Journals and books indexed o the article and chapter level.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Index covering world history (excluding the United States and Canada). It includes hundreds of history journals and books, plus useful features such as the ability to search by time period.
- MLA International Bibliography (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window The primary database for literary and film scholarship.
- Pase PASE is a website driven by a relational database which provides access to structured information relating to all the recorded inhabitants of Anglo-Saxon England from the late sixth to the late eleventh century. It is intended to serve as a research tool suitable for a wide range of users with an interest in this period: whether academics in various disciplines, or local historians, or students in schools and universities, or those exploring the past for reasons of their own. PASE enables its users to make different kinds of searches, to access information about particular individuals, relationships, and groups, and to move rapidly from the known into the unknown.
New E-Books in Medieval Studies
Reference Sources in Medieval Studies
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages by
"The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages is an essential new reference work covering all key aspects of European history, society, and culture from 500 to 1500 A.D., as well as the Byzantine Empire, Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples of the era. It is designed both for medievalists, who need a detailed and reliable reference tool, and for students and general readers seeking an accessible guide to the period. Over 800 scholars have assembled thousands of comprehensive entries, lavishly supplemented by hundreds of illustrations and dozens of maps."
Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780198662624Publication Date: 2010-07-29
Ancient Europe, 8000 B. C. to A. D. 1000 by
Examines the diverse peoples of early European civilization through a series of 212 essays, presented in chronological order. Coverage includes prehistoric origins through the early Middle Ages (8000 B.C. to A.D. 1000). Includes maps, photos, and chronologies. For the general reader.
Call Number: Ebook and MAC Reference D62 .A52 2004ISBN: 0684806681Publication Date: 2003-12-02
Women and Gender in Medieval Europe by Call Number: MAC Reference - Main Level: HQ1147.E85 W66 2006
The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History by Call Number: EbookISBN: 0230278167Publication Date: 2013-08-22
Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Medieval World, 4-Volume Set by Call Number: EbookISBN: 1438110170Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature by Call Number: MAC Reference - Main Level: PN669 .E53 2000ISBN: 9780313300547Publication Date: 2000
The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture by ISBN: 9780195395365Publication Date: 2012-11-09
Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine by Call Number: MAC Reference - Main levelQ124.97 .M43 2005
Primary Sources for Medieval Studies
By searching relevant topics in the library catalog (above) and adding the word <<sources>> to your search, you can find books that contain primary sources. Hint: you can further limit your search by language by selecting languages in the left-hand navigation of your search results.
Below are some other places to find primary sources online.
- Europeana This site allows you to search across the digital archives and holdings of many significant European galleries, archives, libraries, and museums, including Judaica Europeana, Bodleian Libraries, EuroPhoto, the Natural Europe Project, and Museo Galileo.
- World Digital Library Contains primary source materials (books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, journals, prints and photographs, sound recordings, and films) from around the world presented in a highly searchable manner.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window Digital facsimile page images of works printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700.
- British Library Images Online This link opens in a new window Holds the King's Library, manuscripts, rare books, musical texts, maps, illustrations, drawings, paintings and photographs spanning almost 3000 years.
- British Library Digitized Manuscripts Browse or search the British Library's digitized manuscripts.
- Parker Library on the Web Vast collection of medieval manuscripts and early books from University of Cambridge, digitized by Stanford University.
Saint Paul Public Library
St. Paul Public Library has more than 42,000 ebooks and 300 audiobooks that you can check out online, including an extensive fiction collection.
As a Macalester College student, you can use the college's address to sign up for an E-card to allow you to use online resources from the St. Paul Public Library at https://sppl.org/ecard. Once you've registered, you can borrow and download ebooks and audiobooks to view on an e-reader, computer, or mobile device.