LibGuides: Medieval Studies : Home

Medieval Studies

A page from the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript created in the British Isles in the late 8th or early 9th century

ONLINE LIBRARY CATALOGS

Five College Catalog
Find books, journals, and media collections held by UMass Libraries and the Five Colleges.

WorldCat
The combined catalogs of most U.S. libraries.

Content is freely available for use by all.

OTHER RESOURCES

UMass Interlibrary Loan
Borrow books from libraries outside of the Five Colleges or request copies of articles and materials from any library.
Medieval Studies Certificate Program
A minimum of six courses; for undergraduates.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Art and Society in the Middle Ages by Georges Duby
Call Number: N5970 .D7813 2000
The Birth of Europe, 400-1500 by Jacques Le Goff
Call Number: D117 .L42 2005
Feudal Society by Marc Bloch
Call Number: D131 .B513 1961
Justinian's Flea by William Rosen
Call Number: DF556 .R67 2007
The Three Orders by Georges Duby
Call Number: HN425 .D78313

LIBRARY DATABASES

Academic Search Premier
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Scholarly journals from all academic disciplines - an excellent starting point for multidisciplinary research projects. 3,200 full-text journals. Coverage from 1975 to present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
ARTstor
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More than two million digital images of works of fine art, architecture and design.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password
International Medieval Bibliography
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Citations to journal articles, books and book chapters in all European languages, on medieval studies. Citations 1967-present on the historical period 400-1500.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
JSTOR
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Core scholarly journals from a range of disciplines, dating from the earliest issue of each journal to a few years before present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Project Muse
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Scholarly journals and books in the humanities and social sciences published by university presses; searchable by journal issue, author, and keyword, 1996-present.

Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

ONLINE REFERENCE SOURCES

Ancient Europe, 8000 BC to 1000: encyclopedia of the barbarian world by Peter Bogucki & Pam J. Crabtree (editors in chief)
Call Number: UM Reference e-resource E-Book D62
ISBN: 0684314215
Publication Date: 2004

Library of Latin Texts
Digital version of the majority of extant Latin texts, searchable by author, word(s) in text, period, and more. Before 200 B.C.E.–1965.

Medieval Art : a topical dictionary by Leslie Ross
Call Number: UMass N7850 .R67 1996
Publication Date: 1996
New Catholic Encyclopedia
ISBN: 0787676942
Publication Date: 2004-04-01
Ebook! Try the link. You may have to login with your Netid.
The Hutchinson dictionary of ancient & medieval warfare by Matthew Bennett (Editor)
Call Number: Five College E-Resources D25.A2 H88 2005
Publication Date: 2005
The late medieval age of crisis and renewal, 1300-1500 : a biographical dictionary by Clayton J. Drees (Editor)
Call Number: Five College E-Resources CB353 .L38 2001
Publication Date: 2001
The rise of the medieval world, 500-1300 : a biographical dictionary by Jana K. Schulman (Editor)
Call Number: Five College E-Resources CT114 .R57 2002
Publication Date: 2002

SELECTED INTERNET RESOURCES

British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts
Use this website to find and view descriptions and images of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the British Library, one of the richest collections in the world.
Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts
Designed to enable users to find fully digitized manuscripts currently available on the web.
Digital Scriptorium
An image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions.
Epistolæ
Epistolæ is a collection of letters to and from women in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 13th century. The letters include references and translations.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
The Internet Medieval Sourcebook is provided by Fordham University and is a large collection of internet resources.
The Labyrinth
An online collection of links provided by Georgetown University for the Medieval Studies.
Luminarium: Anthology of Middle English Literature
An anthology of Middle English Literature collected online and provided without subscription.
Monumenta Germaniae Historica Digital
Comprehensive series of carefully edited and published sources for the study of German history (broadly conceived) from the end of the Roman Empire to 1500. This collection, as well as the menus, are in German with no English translation.
Online Medieval & Classical Library
he Online Medieval and Classical Library is a collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization.
Online Resources for Medievalists
Although by no means comprehensive, this list offers a selection of websites that are highly useful for medievalists.
Orb: On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies
The ORB is an academic site, written and maintained by medieval scholars for the benefit of their fellow instructors and serious students.
Patrologia Latina
Extensive collection of early Christian Latin texts (from Tertullian 200 AD to the death of Pope Innocent III 1216 AD). The entire collection is in Latin with no English translation.
TEAMS Middle English Texts
TEAMS Middle English text series makes available to teachers and students Middle English texts which occupy an important place in the literary and cultural canon but which have not been readily available in student editions.

OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES

The Aberdeen Bestiary Project
The Aberdeen Bestiary is a 12th century English illuminated manuscript.
Bodleian Library Illuminated Maunscripts
About a thousand images of Illuminated Manuscripts in Oxford University's Bodleian Library can be reached from this page. Information about the manuscripts and the digital images can be found at the bottom of this page, and at the bottom of the pages with the images themselves.
Demons and Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves
This digital facsimile provides reproductions of all 157 miniatures (and facing text pages) from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves located at the Morgan Library and Museum.
Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilization
The Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilization provides Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to work with maps.
The Domesday Book
Domesday Book is a detailed survey of the land held by William the Conqueror and his people, and is one of the earliest surviving public records.
Islamic Heritage Project
Harvard’s collections of Islamic manuscripts, and maps from the 10th through 20th centuries.
MARGOT Project
MARGOT is a research project dedicated to publishing fully searchable editions of texts from the French Middle Ages and the Early Modern period.
The Medieval Academy

The Medieval Academy of America is the largest organization in the United States promoting excellence in the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the quarterly journal Speculum, and awards prizes, grants, and fellowships such as the Haskins Medal.

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The Medieval Academy supports research, publication, and teaching in medieval art, archaeology, history, law, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, social and economic institutions, and all other aspects of the Middle Ages.

Membership is open to all persons interested in the Middle Ages. The Academy holds an annual meeting each spring.
Regnum Francorum Online
Interactive maps and sources of Late Antique and Early Medieval Europe
Virtual Monastic Library of Lorsch
Bibliotheca Laureshamensis - digital, gathers 300 medieval manuscripts from 68 different libraries.

OTHER REFERENCE RESOURCES

Atlas of the Medieval World by Rosamond McKitterick
Call Number: D117 .M35 2004
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages by Robert Fossier (Editor)
Call Number: CB351 .M7813
A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases by Christopher Corèdon; Ann Williams
Call Number: DA129 .C67 2004
Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe by Michael Frassetto
Call Number: D135 .F73 2003
Encyclopedia of the Medieval World by Edward D. English
Call Number: D114 .E55 2005
Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood
Call Number: G1034 .H3 1995
The Worlds of Medieval Europe by Clifford R. Backman
Call Number: D131 .B33 2009

Revision History

Guide revised by Pablo Morales Henry (Summer 2012); Jason Fuller (Fall 2012); Rachel Good (Summer 2013); Kristin Cook (Spring 2015)