A&M-SA Research Guides: HIST 3312: Europe in the Middle Ages History Research Guide: Primary Sources &amp; Videos

Primary Sources

Internet Medieval Sourcebook from Fordham University
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly for educational use.
The Labyrinth
Georgetown University's site for Medieval Studies resources. Contains links to both primary and secondary source sites.
University of Washington, Links to Primary Medieval Sources
This page contains numerous links to primary medieval sources on the web.

Early English Books Online (EEBO) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Early English Books Online contains digital facsimile page images of most English language books printed from 1473-1700. Includes works printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, British North America, and more.

Christian Classics Ethereal Library
A digital library of hundreds of classic Christian books maintained at Calvin College.
De Re Militari
This is the site of the Society for the Study of Medieval Military History. It contains a large collection of primary sources in translation.
Epistolae: Medieval Women's Letters
This Columbia University site is a collection of letters to and from women in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 13th century. The letters, written in Latin, are linked to the names of the women involved, with English translations and, where available, biographical sketches of the women and some description of the subject matter or the historic context of the letter.

Using the Web

Generally, you should use library databases to find your articles, and the web to supplement your arguments with statistics, demographic information, reports or even to find digital collections. Things to keep in mind when searching the web:

Use websites only when appropriate and question their credibility. Remember, almost anyone can publish something online because it doesn't go through the same review process like books or articles.
Generally .gov, .edu, .org sites tend to be the most credible, though there are still exceptions. To limit your Google search to these domains, type in your search term followed by a colon with the domain name. Ex. population trends:.gov
When in doubt, ask your instructor if it’s okay to use a particular web source.

DVDs/Videos

Middle Ages
A list of films on the topic of Middle Ages
European Middle Ages Videos (Master Academic Collection)
This collection contains over 3100 full length videos and clips that cover various historical topics from the European Middle Ages.

Primary versus Secondary

Primary Sources

Primary sources are records of events as they are first described, usually by witnesses or people who were involved in the event. Many primary sources were created at the time of the event but can also include memoirs, oral interviews, or accounts that were recorded later.

Visual materials, such as photos, original artwork, posters, and films are important primary sources, not only for the factual information they contain, but also for the insight they may provide into how people view their world. Primary sources may also include sets of data, such as census statistics, which have been tabulated but not interpreted. However, in the sciences or social sciences, primary sources report the results of an experiment.

Why are primary sources important?

Primary sources serve as the raw material to interpret the past, and when they are used along with previous interpretations by historians, they provide the resources necessary for historical research.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Secondary sources offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources. They often attempt to describe or explain primary sources. Some secondary sources not only analyze primary sources, but also use them to argue a contention or persuade the reader to hold a certain opinion. Examples of secondary sources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, books, and articles.