Medieval history - research guide: Home

A. Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Joseph R. Strayer, editor in chief. New York : Scribner, c1982-1989.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D114 .D5 1982], 13 vols.

Dictionary of Medieval Civilization. Dahmus, Joseph Henry. New York : Macmillan, c1984.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: CB351 .D24 1984 ]

Medieval Germany: an encyclopedia. Edited by John M. Jeep. New York ; London : Garland Pub., 2001.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: DD157 .M43 2001]

Encyclopedia of monasticism. Edited by William M. Johnston. Chicago : Fitzroy Dearborn, c2000.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: BL631 .E53 2000]

Encyclopedia of Religion. New York : Macmillan, c1987.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: BL31 .E46 1987]

Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. New York: Scribner, 1951. 13 v. in 7.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: BL31 .E4 1951 ]

Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem, Encyclopaedia Judaica ; [New York], Macmillan, [c1972].

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: DS102.8 .E52], 15 vols.

Encyclopedia of Islam. Leyden, E. J. Brill ltd. Londoa, Luzac & co., 1913 - .

[Van Pelt Library Middle East Seminar (Rm. 523): DS37 .E5], 8 vols..

See also CD-ROM version [Van Pelt Library Reference Moelis CD Area: DS37 .E5232 1999]

New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967-.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: BX841 .N44 1967], 18 vols.

The 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia is not copyright protected and is available online.

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Alexander P. Kazhdan, editor in chief. New York : Oxford University Press, 1991.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: DF521 .O93 1991]

The Dictionary of Art. New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 1996.

[Van Pelt Library Reference: N31 .D5 1996], 34 vols.

Annotated Index of Medieval Women. Anne Echols and Marty Williams. New York : M. Wiener Pub. ; Oxford : Berg, c1992.

[Van Pelt Library Reference: CT 3220 .A56 1992]

B. Bibliographies

The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. General editor, Mary Beth Norton ; associate editor, Pamela Gerardi. 3rd ed. New York : Oxford University Press, 1995. 2 v.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: D20 .A55 1995]

Covers works between 1961 and 1992. See sections: 17 - Islamic World to 1500, 20 - Medieval Europe, and 21 - Medieval and Modern Jewish History. For additional earlier works, see the second edition [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: D20 . A55 1961], especially sections: K - Medieval Europe, L - The Byzantine Empire, and M - The Muslim World.

Paetow, Louis John. A Guide to the Study of Medieval History with errata compiled by Gray C. Boyce and an addendum by Lynn Thorndike ; prepared under the auspices of the Medieval Academy of America. Revised and corrected edition. Millwood, N.Y. : Kraus Reprint, 1980.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D117 .P29 1980]

Part I covers General Books, Part II covers the Middle Ages.

Boyce, Gray Cowan. Literature of Medieval History, 1930-1975. Millwood, N.Y. : Kraus International Publications, c1981. 5 vols.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D117 .P29 1980 Suppl]

Continues Paetow's A Guide to the Study of Medieval History.

Medieval Narrative Sources: a Chronological Guide: (with a list of major letter collections). Compiled by Janos M. Bak with the assistance of Heinz Quirin and Paul Hollingsworth. New York: Garland Pub., 1987.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D113 .B33 1987]

Crosby, Everett Uberto. Medieval Studies: a Bibliographical Guide. Amsterdam ; New York: North-Holland New York : Garland Pub., 1983.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: CB351 .C76 1983 ]

Arranged by topic and country. Includes entries for bibliographies, reference works, general works and surveys, and collections of sources.

Caenegem, R. C. van. Guide to the Sources of Medieval History. Amsterdam ; New York: North-Holland Pub. Co., 1978. xv, 428 p.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D117 .C2213]

Important guide to medieval publications, collections of primary sources, and reference works.

Bibliographie zur Geschichte der Kreuzz|ge. Hannover : Hahnsche Buchhandlung, 1960.

[Van Pelt Library Stacks: Z6207.C97 M39 1960] Lists more than 5,000 entries on the are of the Crusades to c. 1453. Includes books and articles published in Western languages.

Medieval Studies: an Introduction. Edited by James M. Powell. 2nd ed. Syracuse, N.Y. : Syracuse University Press, 1992.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D116 .M4 1992]

C. Historians

Great Historians from Antiquity to 1800: an International Dictionary. Lucian Boia, editor-in-chief. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D14 .G74 1989]

Chapters by region/topic include: Byzantine, Islamic, Jewish. See also: Great Historians of the Modern Age: an International Dictionary. [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D14 .G75 1991]

Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing. Kelly Boyd, editor. London ; Chicago : Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D14 .E539 1999], v.1-2.

Sections on Byzantium, Crusades, Islamic Nations and Cultures, Jewish History.

Medieval Scholarship: Biographical Studies on the Formation of a Discipline. New York : Garland Pub., 1995-.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D116.5 .M43 1995], v. 1-3.

D. Chronologies

Chronology of the Medieval World: 800 to 1491. [1st American ed.] New York : D. McKay Co. [1973]

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D118 .S855 1973b]

E. Atlases

Historical Atlas of the Middle East. G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville ; [cartography, Lorraine Kessel]. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1993.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: G2206.S1 F7 1993]

The Atlas of the Crusades. New York : Facts on File, 1991, c1990.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: G1034 .R5 1991]

A. Franklin and the Old Card Catalog

Franklin lists books, journals titles (but not articles within journals), conference proceedings, and other library materials at the Penn Libraries. When looking for works on a topic in Franklin, try searching both by subject heading and by keyword(s).

Franklin includes most of the Library's holdings.

Use Subject Heading searches based on the formal subject headings listed in the four printed volumes of the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Some sample headings are listed below. Note: LC headings range from the very broad to the very specific.

Keyword Expert searches look for the search terms anywhere in the record, i.e. the author, subject, title fields, etc. Once you have found a record of interest, look at the subject headings assigned to that work to identify other words that may be useful to use in searching.

martyr? AND spain
"popular culture" AND medieval

There are many printed volumes that are collections of primary source materials. To locate these, try subject searches and look for the keyword "sources" within the subject field.

Crusades--First, 1096-1099--Sources
Crusades--Sources

Or add the word "sources" to a Keyword Expert search. Also try adding other words such as: "historiography," "chronicle?", "letter?" OR lettre?

skey crusades AND sources
skey crusades AND (letter? OR lettre? OR chronicle?)

B. Beyond Penn (InterLibrary Loan)

BorrowDirect+.

Two services that enable searching of combined library catalogs and direct placement of requests for books not available at Penn.

-  BorrowDirect: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Yale.

-  E-ZBorrow: Over 40 academic and research libraries in Pennsylvania and nearby states, including: Rutgers, Penn State, Temple, and Pittsburgh.

 

WorldCat

A bibliographic catalog of books, serials, archives and manuscripts, musical scores, visual materials, maps, and data files held in over 180 large research libraries. Many Philadelphia-area libraries are included. Request items not held by Penn through BorrowDirect or Interlibrary Loan.

Indexes and abstracts are used to locate journal articles. Franklin lists journal titles subscribed to by Penn, but does not list articles within journals, newspapers, or other collected works. The Library offers journal article indexes online, and in CD-ROM and print formats.

History

International Medieval Bibliography. (online)

Indexes articles on all aspects of Medieval Studies.

See also the printed version at [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D 111.I684], last five years in Reference; earlier volumes in regular stacks.

 

ITER: Gateway to the Renaissance. (online database)

Medieval (400-1500) and Renaissance (1300-1700) studies. ITER indexes articles in over 300 scholarly journals. Coverage begins with 1965.

 

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Previously known as the Medieval Feminist Index, the Index aims to become a reliable guide to the scholarship on women and gender during the Middles Ages, providing timely coverage, a wide range of publications indexed on a regular basis, and a thorough description of each item (in addition to the usual author, title, subjects, and source, MFI includes century, geographic area, descriptions of illustrations and tables, and primary evidence used).

 

C.R.I.S.: the Combined Retrospective Index Set to Journals in History, 1838-1974. (print index)

Washington : Carrollton Press, 1977-1978.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D 1 .C18], v.1-11.

Indexes articles on the history of the world. Volumes II & III cover Europe. Useful for finding important articles published before most database coverage begins.

 

Historical Abstracts. (online database)

Covers the history of the world (excluding North America) from 1450 to the present. Although 1450 is the general starting date, there are many articles in Historical Abstracts that survey topics from the 12th-15th centuries. Indexes books and journals published since 1973. Excludes book reviews.

Religion

ATLA Religion database. (online database)

Evanston, Ill: American Theological Library Association. Combines: Religion Index One: Periodicals (1949-), Religion Index Two: Multi-author Works (1960-), Index to Book Reviews in Religion (1949-), Research in Ministry (1981-), Methodist Reviews Index (1818- 1985).

 

Index Islamicus. (CD-ROM, use in Van Pelt Library)

[Van Pelt Reference Moelis CD Area: BP166.2 .I5342]

Covers articles written between 1906-1997, but not book reviews.

You may use the Index Islamicus on most of the Moelis workstations except #4. Ask for assistance from the reference staff if you have trouble. Also available in print [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: BP166.2 .I534].

 

RAMBI, the Index of Articles on Jewish Studies. (online database, unrestricted).

Coverage from 1966 to the present. Updated annually.

Indexes articles mainly from the holdings of the Jewish National and University Library (JNUL). Topics covered include the Bible, post-Biblical literature and early Christianity, Rabbinic literature and Jewish Law, philosophy and religion, and Jewish history.

Philosophy

The Philosopher's Index. (online database)

Major index to scholarly literature in philosophy. Indexes books and journal articles. Coverage begins with 1940 and extends up to the present. Quarterly updates. Also available in print: [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: B1 .P456]

Art History

 

Bibliography of the History of Art.

Covers European and American art from the fourth century to the present. Areas addressed are painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, decorative and applied arts, architecture and industrial design, and popular and folk art. Abstracts in English or French.

 

Avery Index.

Covers works on architecture, archaeology, city planning, and the history of architecture. Covers 1977 to the present.

 

Art Index. (online database)

Indexes articles from more than 285 art-related periodicals published throughout the world. Online version covers articles published from 1984 to the present.

 

Art Index Retrospective. (online database)

Art. Coverage (1929-1992) includes materials in English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. Reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed materials are included. .1929-1992.

History of Science

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. (online database)

International bibliography on the history of science and technology from pre-history to the present. The file comprises four bibliographies: the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science (HSS), the Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, the Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Most citations are in English. Indexes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations. Abstracts are included in some records. Indexing begins with 1975. Updated annually.

For articles published earlier, see the print title: ISIS Cumulative Bibliography, a Bibliography of the History of Science which starts in 1913 [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: Q 125.I85 1971]

Multidisciplinary

EBSCO MegaFILE. (online database)

Provides indexing and abstracting for several thousand scholarly and general interest journals.

 

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. (online database)

IBSS provides bibliographic citations and subject indexing for the international periodical literature in anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology. Covers approximately 3700 periodicals from 105 countries in 95 languages, from 1951 to the present. The IBSS is a good source for book reviews of both new and older titles.

 

Periodicals Contents Index. (online database)

A retrospective file covering publications from 1770-1993.

Includes citations to many journals in the humanities and social sciences. A good resource for finding older journal references and book reviews.

Indexes and abstracts are used to locate journal articles. Franklin lists journal titles subscribed to by Penn, but does not list articles within journals, newspapers, or other collected works. The Library offers journal article indexes online, and in CD-ROM and print formats.

History

International Medieval Bibliography. (online)

Indexes articles on all aspects of Medieval Studies.

See also the printed version at [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D 111.I684], last five years in Reference; earlier volumes in regular stacks.

ITER: Gateway to the Renaissance. (online database)

Medieval (400-1500) and Renaissance (1300-1700) studies. ITER indexes articles in over 300 scholarly journals. Coverage begins with 1965.

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Previously known as the Medieval Feminist Index, the Index aims to become a reliable guide to the scholarship on women and gender during the Middles Ages, providing timely coverage, a wide range of publications indexed on a regular basis, and a thorough description of each item (in addition to the usual author, title, subjects, and source, MFI includes century, geographic area, descriptions of illustrations and tables, and primary evidence used).

C.R.I.S.: the Combined Retrospective Index Set to Journals in History, 1838-1974. (print index)

Washington : Carrollton Press, 1977-1978.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: D 1 .C18], v.1-11.

Indexes articles on the history of the world. Volumes II & III cover Europe. Useful for finding important articles published before most database coverage begins.

Historical Abstracts. (online database)

Covers the history of the world (excluding North America) from 1450 to the present. Although 1450 is the general starting date, there are many articles in Historical Abstracts that survey topics from the 12th-15th centuries. Indexes books and journals published since 1973. Excludes book reviews.

Religion

ATLA Religion database. (online database)

Evanston, Ill: American Theological Library Association. Combines: Religion Index One: Periodicals (1949-), Religion Index Two: Multi-author Works (1960-), Index to Book Reviews in Religion (1949-), Research in Ministry (1981-), Methodist Reviews Index (1818- 1985).

Index Islamicus. (CD-ROM, use in Van Pelt Library)

[Van Pelt Reference Moelis CD Area: BP166.2 .I5342]

Covers articles written between 1906-1997, but not book reviews.

You may use the Index Islamicus on most of the Moelis workstations except #4. Ask for assistance from the reference staff if you have trouble. Also available in print [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: BP166.2 .I534].

RAMBI, the Index of Articles on Jewish Studies. (online database, unrestricted).

Coverage from 1966 to the present. Updated annually.

Indexes articles mainly from the holdings of the Jewish National and University Library (JNUL). Topics covered include the Bible, post-Biblical literature and early Christianity, Rabbinic literature and Jewish Law, philosophy and religion, and Jewish history.

Philosophy

The Philosopher's Index. (online database)

Major index to scholarly literature in philosophy. Indexes books and journal articles. Coverage begins with 1940 and extends up to the present. Quarterly updates. Also available in print: [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: B1 .P456]

Art History

Bibliography of the History of Art.

Covers European and American art from the fourth century to the present. Areas addressed are painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, decorative and applied arts, architecture and industrial design, and popular and folk art. Abstracts in English or French.

Avery Index.

Covers works on architecture, archaeology, city planning, and the history of architecture. Covers 1977 to the present.

Art Index. (online database)

Indexes articles from more than 285 art-related periodicals published throughout the world. Online version covers articles published from 1984 to the present.

Art Index Retrospective. (online database)

Art. Coverage (1929-1992) includes materials in English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. Reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed materials are included. .1929-1992.

History of Science

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine. (online database)

International bibliography on the history of science and technology from pre-history to the present. The file comprises four bibliographies: the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science (HSS), the Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, the Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Most citations are in English. Indexes journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations. Abstracts are included in some records. Indexing begins with 1975. Updated annually.

For articles published earlier, see the print title: ISIS Cumulative Bibliography, a Bibliography of the History of Science which starts in 1913 [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: Q 125.I85 1971]

Multidisciplinary

EBSCO MegaFILE. (online database)

Provides indexing and abstracting for several thousand scholarly and general interest journals.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. (online database)

IBSS provides bibliographic citations and subject indexing for the international periodical literature in anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology. Covers approximately 3700 periodicals from 105 countries in 95 languages, from 1951 to the present. The IBSS is a good source for book reviews of both new and older titles.

Periodicals Contents Index. (online database)

A retrospective file covering publications from 1770-1993.

Includes citations to many journals in the humanities and social sciences. A good resource for finding older journal references and book reviews.

Early Church Documents - ECOLE Initiative

http://www2.evansville.edu/ecoleweb/

It contains a purely alphabetical listing of historical texts up until c. 1300. It is especially good for varied links to various works of each of the Church Fathers.

Internet Medieval Sourcebook - Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

Includes a Selected Sources section, full text sources, and information about the Saint's Lives.

Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies

http://the-orb.net/

Academic site. Includes an Encyclopedia and a Library of primary sources.

The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies - Georgetown University

http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/labyrinth-home.html

Includes primary and secondary sources. Has sections on particular national cultures and topics (e.g., Sciences, Religious History).

Medieval & Renaissance Europe: Primary Historical Documents

http://www.lib.byu.edu/estu/eurodocs/medren.html

From Brigham Young University. Links to translations and transcriptions of primary source materials.

Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies

http://www.crrs.ca/new/

Comprehensive site with links to texts, databases, associations, libraries, and secondary/background materials.