Search

for

Live Help - Ask a Librarian Print Page

Additional Guides in the Area of History

• African History ­ • Ancient Near Eastern History ­ • Canadian History ­ • East Asian History ­ • European History ­ • Latin American History ­ • Medieval History ­ • Middle Eastern History ­ • South Asian History ­ • Teaching Social Studies ­ • The American West ­ • U.S. History ­

Medieval History Subject Guide

Introduction

The following are some of the most useful reference resources for the study of medieval history, with a particular emphasis on Western Europe.

Research Databases


(Consult this list for interdisciplinary databases)

Historical Abstracts


Published since 1954, Historical Abstracts is the leading electronic bibliography for historical study with indexing for more than 2,000 journals. In addition to key historical journals from virtually every major country Historical Abstracts includes a selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history.
View:  Online

History of Science, Technology, and medicine


HSTM is the definitive international database for the history of science, technology, and medicine. It reflects the influences of these fields on society and culture from prehistory to the present and offers outstanding value for interdisciplinary research. It contains citations from nearly 10,000 sources.
View:  Online

IMB: International Medieval Bibliography


IMB surveys approximately 1000 journals, festschriften, collections of essays, conference proceedings and exhibition catalogs.  IMB contains over 300,000 records with a focus on the European Middle Ages from 400-1500 AD. with some material realting to the Middle East and North Africa.
View:  Online

ITER Gateway to the Middles Ages & Renaissance


The ITER bibliography includes literature pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. (400-1700) Citations for books, journal articles, reviews, bibliographies, catalogs, abstracts and discographies are included along with citations for essays in books, conference proceedings, festschriften, encyclopedias and exhibition catalogs.


View:  Online

JSTOR


JSTOR is a database consisting of only full-text articles from interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journals. Journals are included on the basis of number of subscribers the journal has, citation analysis, recommendations from experts in the field, and the length of time that the journal has been published. Coverage for each title begins with the first publication, with most titles ending coverage between three and five years ago.
View:  Online

Medieval Feminist Index


The Medieval Feminist Index covers journal articles, book reviews, and essays in books about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages.
View:  Online

RAMBI - Index of Articles on Jewish Studies


A selective bibliography of articles in the various fields of Jewish studies and in the study of Eretz Israel. Material listed in Rambi is compiled from thousands of periodicals and from collections of articles - in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages- mainly from the holdings of the Jewish National and University Library, a world center for research on the Jewish people and Eretz Israel. The main criterion for inclusion in the bibliography is that the article be based on scientific research, or contain important information for such research.
View:  Online

Reference Materials



Dictionary of the Middle Ages

- D114 .D5 1982
Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. 12 vols. (1982-1989) + Supplement (2003). The bibliographies can be supplemented by looking at the more recent Lexikon des Mittelalters (see below).
View:   In Print

Dictionnaire de théologie catholique

- BX841 .V3
A massive 15-volume encyclopedia (published between 1909 and 1950) of Catholic history and thought, with exhaustive articles and good (though dated) bibliographies.
View:   In Print

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages

- D114 .E53 2000
A translation of a French encyclopedia, but expanded and revised for English readers. Over 3000 entries with bibliographic suggestions for further study. Available in both print and online versions.
View:  Online  In Print

Lexikon des Mittelalters

- D101.5 .L49 1999
This work covers the history of Europe and the Mediterranean from about 300 - 1500 AD, with detailed entries on persons, places, concepts and practices, each with a multi-lingual bibliography.
View:   In Print

Medieval England: An Encyclopedia

- DA129 .M43 1998
Entries cover the political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, literary and artistic history of England, with bibliography listing primary and secondary materials.
View:   In Print Annotation

Medieval France: An Encyclopedia

- DC33.2 .M44 1995
View:   In Print

Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia

- DD157 .M43 2001
View:   In Print

Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia

- DP99 .M33 2003
View:   In Print

Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia

- DG443 .M43 2004
View:   In Print

Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia

- DL30 .M43 1993
View:   In Print

New Cambridge Medieval History

- D117 .N48 1995
A 7-volume successor to the Cambridge Medieval History (1911-1936).
View:   In Print

Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church

- BR95 .O9 1997
The standard one-volume reference work on Christianity, with over 6000 entries, covering biography, church history, and theology, with bibliographies for most entries. Edited by F. L. Cross, updated 3rd edition by E. A. Livingstone.
View:   In Print

Useful Print Bibliographies for Medieval Studies -


Bibliographies of Bibliographies:

  • R. C. van Caenegem. Introduction to the Sources of Medieval History (French). Turnholt: Brepols, 1997. BR60 .C492 V.0 (4th floor)
  • Louis John Paetow. A Guide to the Study of Medieval History. Rev. and corr. ed. Millwood, NY: Kraus Reprint [1980] c 1917. Ref Z6203 .P19 1980

Periodicals with Important Bibliographies:

  • Revue d'histoire ecclesiatique. BX940 .R5 (4th floor)
  • Revue d'ascetique. BV5015 .R4 (4th floor)

Topic-Specific Bibliographies:

  • F. A. C. Mantello and A. G. Rigg, eds. Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1996. PA2802 .M43 1996 (5th floor)

  • Toronto Medieval Bibliographies Series -
    • Andrew Hughes. Medieval Music: The Sixth Liberal Art. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974. Ref ML114 .H8

    • Leonard E. Boyle. Medieval Latin Palaeography: A Bibliographical Introduction. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984. Ref Z106 .B69 1984
    • Robert Earl Kaske. Medieval Christian Literary Imagery: A Guide to Interpretation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988. Ref Z6517 .K38 1988
    • Richard William Pfaff. Medieval Latin Liturgy: A Select Bibliography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1982. Theo Ref Z7813 .P42
    • Giles Constable. Medieval Monasticism: A Select Bibliography. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976. Ref Z7839 .C8

Web Sources



Intute: Arts and Humanities


A major UK web portal for the finest Arts and Humanities web resources for education and research. More than 18,000 sites have been selected and evaluated by a network of subject specialists and made available through an intuitive search interface. 
View:  Online

Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies


A Web site sponsored by Georgetown University providing organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies.
View:  Online

NetSERF


A Web site which organizes available Medieval history web resources by category. Also contains a "Research Center" with links to associations, bibliographies, discussion lists, etc.
View:  Online

ORB: On-Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies


Web site maintained by medieval scholars which contains the "Orb Encyclopedia," an index of original essays on medieval studies arranged by topic, a dictionary of medieval terms, online bibliographies and timelines, and links to medieval Internet resources.
View:  Online

Periodicals



ejournal locator (SFX)


The Hekman Library ejournal locator provides title and subject access to all the electronic journals subscribed to by the Hekman Library.
View:  Online Annotation

WebCat Search Hints

- Subject-specific hints for searching the library catalog

For a general guide to searching WebCat, the library's online catalog, see the library's guides Searching WebCat - Basic or Searching WebCat - Advanced . Some important broad subject headings for medieval history are:

  • Middle Ages 600-1500
  • Europe History 476-1492
  • Civilization, Medieval

 A good way to find LC Subject Headings is to look up the bibliographical record of a book on your topic in the catalog, and then read the description and information that is provided for it in the online record. Towards the end of the information several LC Subject Headings will be given as links. If you click on these, the catalog will call up other books on that topic in the collection.

You may want to start with a keyword search, then read the information provided in several of the bibliographical records for several books, and locate the subject headings given there. Then click on the subject heading link to discover other books on that topic.

History Subject Guide Librarian


Schemper, Lugene

Theological Librarian

Contact Info:
Hekman Library L423 (616) 526-6121 lschempeATcalvin.edu

Help is also generally available from a research specialist at the Research Assistance Desk on the main floor.
gov doc logo

Contact us with any questions or suggestions.
1855 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 Phone: (616) 526-7197 Fax: (616) 526-6470