Finding Primary Sources: Time Periods
Medieval
De Re Militari: Society for the Study of Medieval Military History
Primary (and secondary) sources on medieval and renaissance military history. Includes the Crusades, Hundred Years' War, Anglo-Norman Warfare, and the Vikings and Norse.
Epistolae: Medieval Women's Letters
A collection of letters to and from women dating from the 4th to the 13th century AD. These letters from the Middle Ages, written in Latin, are presented with English translations and are organized by the women participating.
EuroDocs: History of Medieval and Renaissance Europe - Primary Documents
Sources for European history primary documents, with selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations. Presented by the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.
Presents a selection of primary source texts illustrative of various aspects of medieval urban life. Texts are grouped under four headings: community (various aspects of social life), economy (the conduct of commercial and industrial activities, locally, regionally, and internationally, and the regulation of commerce and labour), government (constitutional development and political activities in towns, and the key functions of government) and lifecycle ( the individual and aspects of personal life, and women's rights and roles in society).
Global Middle Ages Project—G-MAP
Online web portal for the Global Middle Ages Project (GMAP) based out of the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. It links to a series of Digital Humanities projects by scholars from around the world about people, places, and objects from the period of roughly 500–1500 CE.
Texts from Fordham University's History Sourcebook project, covering the period from late antiquity to the Age of Exploration. Includes the end of the classical world, Byzantium, Renaissance, and the Reformation, and has translations of many texts.
Perseus Collection: Renaissance Materials
Includes English translations for many of the documents; from the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University.
Kariye Camii, a Late Byzantine church, underwent a massive restoration in the first half of the thirteenth century. It was a mosque in the nineteenth century, resulting in a rich and beautiful combination of interior and exterior architecture. This site offers many resources including photographs of artwork, before-and-after images, and extensive bibliographies.
- Avalon Project
Digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government from ancient times to the 21st century.
- English Medieval Legal Documents A.D. 600-A.D 1535
A "collaborative database on the published sources of English medieval legal documents." Links to online sources are provided when available.
- Exploring Ancient World Cultures: Medieval Europe
Offers primary sources such as the Magna Carta, works of Thomas Aquinas, and literary works of Medieval Europe.
- Guide to Early Church Documents
Canonical information, apostolic fathers, texts, creeds and canons, and other miscelleaneous texts related to the development of the early Christian church.
- Hanover Historical Texts Project: Middle Ages
http://history.hanover.edu/project.html#ma
- Internet History Sourcebooks
This is the place to start. Huge collections of well-organized primary texts, divided into: Ancient History, East Asian History, Global History, History of Science, Indian History, Jewish History, Medieval History, and Women's History
- Internet Sacred Text Archive*i
Archive of primary texts relating to all major world religions and many other spiritual practices, including all major scriptures.
- Islamic Medical Manuscripts
Here you can learn about Islamic medicine and science during the Middle Ages and the important role it played in the history of Europe.
- Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
Provides subject-oriented links to other websites offering primary sources of the medieval period.
- Late Medieval Illustrated Manuscripts from the Bibliotheca Palatina
A Cooperative Digitization Project of Heidelberg University Library and the Institute for Art History of Heidelberg University - supported by German Research Foundation.
- Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Collection
This is a work in progress from the University of Texas at Austin. When complete, the database will provide full digital access to 215 manuscripts dating from the 11th to 17th centuries. As of May 2010, 27 of these are viewable. The database offers searching and browsing capabilities.
- Monastic Matrix
Excellent site dedicated to the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600CE. Includes a separate section of primary sources, which can be browsed by title/author/community/region/century. Search function also available.
- Online Medieval and Classical Library
A collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization. Browse by author/title/genre/language.
- Primary Source Material in Religion and Politics
Primary source documents on issues relating to the interaction of religion and politics, categorized by era from ancient times to the present.
- Silk Road Narratives
Historical texts and maps that "explore cultural interaction across Eurasia from the beginning of the Common Era (A. D.) to the Seventeenth Century."
- TEAMS Middle English Texts
Collection of medieval literature.
- Travels of Marco Polo
An account of Polo's travels to Asia in the late 13th century.
- World Digital Library: Browse by Time
Collection of manuscripts, books and visual resources. Select a date range of interest, then use limiters to focus search on a specific geography, date range, topic or type of resource.
Ancient History
Websites with primary sources
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Ancient History SourcebookAncient history resources in the Sourcebook cover: Human origins, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Israel, Greece, Hellenistic world, Rome, late antiquity, Christian origins. Contains,translations of many texts.
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Antigone
An open forum journal with articles devoted to all aspects of the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds. Topics covered include: Ancient Religion, Greek Language, Greek Literature, History, Latin Language, Latin Literature, Material Culture, Philosophy, The Classical Tradition, and The Future of Classics.
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Eurodocs: History of Prehistoric and Ancient EuropeSources for European history in prehistoric and ancient times, with selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations. Presented by the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University.
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Perseus Collection: Greek and Roman MaterialsIncludes English translations for many of the documents; from the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University.
