LibGuides: History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic: Middle Ages, 476-1450

Online Reference Books

Though they are not primary sources, reference books can help you understand the context of primary sources and give you important names, dates and concepts for further research.

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
Articles on all aspects of life from the 5th through the 15th century.
Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World
Cumulative Bibliography of Medieval Military History and Technology
Women in the Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia
Rise of the Medieval World, a biographical dictionary
Historiography in the Middle Ages
Historiography in the Middle Ages
Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf
Brill, Leiden, NLD
2003
A handbook of Middle English studies
focus on Middle English literature

Reference Works in Lied (in the stacks)

International Medieval Bibliography
Call Number: In LASR
1967-2012 volumes in LASR.
Understanding Medieval Primary Sources by Joel T. Rosenthal (Editor)
ISBN: 9780415780742
Publication Date: 2011
Medieval society created many kinds of records and written material which differ considerably, giving us such sources as last wills, sermons, manorial accounts, or royal biographies.
The New Cambridge Medieval History by Paul Fouracre (Editor)
Call Number: D117 .N48 1995
ISBN: 9780521362917
Publication Date: 2005
The seven volume set represents both an invaluable conspectus of current scholarship and an expert introduction to the period.
Dictionary of the Middle Ages by Joseph R. Strayer (Editor)
Call Number: D114 .D5 1982
ISBN: 0684190737
Publication Date: 1989
Published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies Visit every aspect of medieval life in Western Europe, the Scandinavian north, the Byzantine and Slavic east, the Muslim south, and the ubiquitous world of Judaism from A.D. 500 to 1500. Here you can explore the conditions of daily life, major and minor figures, terms and concepts, countries and provinces, and movements, monuments, people, and events.

All primary source collections, to 1450

Actes royaux français, 1256-1794 (French Royal Acts, 1256-1794)
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Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America This link opens in a new window
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1400-1950s
Primary sources for American Indian history in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books from pre-contact through the mid-20th century.
Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
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1400-1500
Letters from the British Paston, Stonor, Cely, Plumpton and Armburgh Papers reveal the world of medieval family, business, relationships, trade, politics and community.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
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1200s-1500s
Manuscripts from journeys to central Asia and the Far East by European ambassadors, missionaries, and merchants like Marco Polo, Prester John, Sir John Mandeville, and Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo.
Routledge English Historical Documents This link opens in a new window
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476 -1914
Primary sources with editorial commentary representing significant British historical documents, like treaties, statutes, declarations, government and cabinet proceedings and more.

Books and eBooks reprinting medieval sources

Lost Letters of Medieval Life by Martha Carlin (Editor); David Crouch (Editor)
ISBN: 9780812207569
Publication Date: 2013
Everyday life in early thirteenth-century England is revealed in vivid detail in this riveting collection of correspondence of people from all classes, from peasants and shopkeepers to bishops and earls. The documents edited here include letters between masters and servants, husbands and wives, neighbors and enemies, and cover a wide range of topics: politics and war, going to fairs and going to law, attending tournaments and stocking a game park, borrowing cash and doing favors for friends, investigating adultery and building a windmill.

Microfilm research collections

All medieval microfilmed collections
Explorations from the Hakluyt society, Earls Colne records, English State Trials and more - many of these are now available online.
Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores; Or, Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland During the Middle Ages.
Also available online via Hathi Trust; see index with link to published volumes

UNLV Libraries Microform Collection Finder This link opens in a new window
Discover microform research collections at UNLV Libraries.
Browse or search brief descriptions of the research collections available on microform at Lied Library. Use a very broad search term (for example, try "women and history" instead of "Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention") because this tool searches short summaries of very large microfilmed collection. The Microform Collection Finder does not search the microfilm itself.

History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic

Online Reference Books

Reference Works in Lied (in the stacks)

All primary source collections, to 1450

Books and eBooks reprinting medieval sources

Microfilm research collections

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