LibGuides: Resources for HIST 330: Medieval to Renaissance Europe: Primary Sources

Because each research topic is so different, this page offers only a few starting places to search for primary sources. The links here lead to digitized collections that cover aspects of Medieval to Renaissance European history. Think of this as a sample of what is available online. Perhaps you will something that inspires your research in a different direction. If so, I've shared some tips and tricks for your own internet searches. If you would like a personalized round-up of a handful of primary source collections relevant to your topic, your librarian is available to provide that upon request.

A Selection of Primary Sources Online

National and Regional Libraries

BNF Gallica
The French National Library offers over 4 million digitized items. Some of the material on their website is in English.
British Library Digital Archives & Manuscripts
Use this website to view digitised copies of manuscripts and archives in the British Library’s collections, with descriptions of their contents.
British Library Digital Collections
Use this website to access collections, often curated by subject, digitized by the British Library.
National Library of Scotland
Access documents, photographs, maps, moving images, and more from the National Library of Scotland.
Vatican Digital Library
DigiVatLib is a digital library service. It provides free access to the Vatican Library’s digitized collections: manuscripts, incunabula, archival materials and inventories as well as graphic materials, coins and medals, printed materials (special projects).

Language & Literature

Digital Scriptorium
Digital Scriptorium is a growing consortium of American libraries and museums committed to free online access to their collections of pre-modern manuscripts.
French and British Medieval Manuscripts
Explore 800 medieval manuscripts
of France and England.
Wellcome Library Medieval Manuscripts
These medieval manuscripts come in a range of formats, from bound volumes to scrolls and folding almanacs. They include key theoretical works on medicine, collections of recipes and healing charms, and practitioners’ manuals. Some manuscripts are vividly illustrated with diagrams such as the zodiac man, while others have intriguing sketches and notes in the margins.
Epistolae - Medieval Women's Letters
Collection of letters to and from women in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 13th century. In Latin with English translations. Includes biographical material.

Religion

The Cornell University Witchcraft Collection
Cornell’s Witchcraft Collection contains over 3,000 titles documenting the history of the Inquisition and the persecution of witchcraft, primarily in Europe.
Byzantine Collection at Dumbarton Oaks
The Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Collection comprises more than twelve hundred objects from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries. The collection includes coins, seals, and manuscripts. Select "Browse the Collection" on the homepage to view the digitized items.
Scala Archives - The Crusades
The Scala Archives in France has a collection centered around the crusades. This link leads directly to that collection. From the archives homepage you will find other topics are covered.
National Institute of Historical Research (London)
Find out more about the Crusades History Collections in the IHR Wohl Library. They collect historical sources and guides to finding and using sources. This page shows examples from the collections.
British National Archives - The Reformation
This collection of documents introduces students and teachers to the English Reformation through the original State Papers held at The National Archives

Art & Music

Oxford Art Online
NOTE: You must log in using PUC credentials (same info as Canvas) to access this material.
The gateway to Oxford’s art reference works, including the peer-reviewed, regularly updated Grove® Dictionary of Art and the Benezit Dictionary of Artists
Includes over 200,000 articles that span ancient to contemporary art and architecture, as well as over 19,000 images of works of art, structures, plans, and artist signatures
The British Museum
The British Museum's digitized artworks can be searched by keyword or by artist name.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met in New York has digitized many items in its collection. Search by keyword and then filter for artwork with images available.
Medieval Music Manuscripts Online Database
MMMO database is an international virtual library of music sources, and gathers notated manuscripts of Western language from the medieval period up to 1600. For example, within seconds this database will find all antiphonaries or the twelfth century or all Dominican manuscripts, etc.

Warfare

De Re Militari - Your Portal to Medieval Military History
Provides a variety of primary and secondary resources on medieval military history, created and maintained by the Society for Medieval Military History, publisher of the Journal of Medieval Military History (JMMH).
The website hosts translated primary sources sorted by period, each of which is furnished with a brief introduction and information about the edition from which it is taken. Also included are secondary sources contributed by scholars of medieval military history, including book introductions, articles, and MA and PhD theses, many of which are downloadable in .pdf format; book reviews on recent military history titles; and syllabi for university-level courses on medieval military history.

Other & General Topics

Corsair Online Collection of Medieval to Renaissance Material
Named after Pierpont Morgan's yacht, CORSAIR is a single database providing unified access to over 330,000 records for medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, rare and reference books, literary and historical manuscripts, music scores, ancient seals and tablets, drawings, prints, and other art objects. Records continue to be added for new acquisitions.

Tips for Finding More Primary Sources

I am about to reveal my secrets to you. This is my magic Google move that finds collections of primary sources that have been digitized and made available freely online.

I pick some broad keywords that seem central to my topic. For the sake of this example, I will chose "Weimar Republic."
I combine those keywords with one of the following additional keywords:
- archives
- museum
- collection
- digitized
- primary sources
- Please note that each of these keywords will turn up different kinds of results. Many are useful, but in different ways. For example, "archives" often gets the best results in terms of digitized documents, whereas "primary sources" will usually turn up guides just like this one made by other librarians that contain round ups of trustworthy links I can check out.
I search Google with my keywords. I've tried other search engines like DuckDuckGo and they do not work as well for this purpose.
I assess my search results. Even with these good keywords, I still need to click into the links that turn up and check the "about" section to see who is providing these primary sources. Do I trust them? Do they have an agenda? Using your good judgement gained from years of research, you should have a feel for which results are credible. If you hit a wall at any point, a librarian is always more than happy to help (email reference@puc.edu or chat from the homepage at library.puc.edu).

For visual learners, here is the process I just described.

1. I choose broad keywords.

2. I add another keyword like "archives."

3. I search Google and begin to assess my results.

4. I continue to assess my results, selecting a link to study further. I choose the third link here, because I see that the URL ends with byu.edu, which means it is a page hosted by Brigham Young University. Although universities can have agendas and biases, they are also known for academic freedom and generally unbiased research, so if this page looks alright once I open it, I can probably trust it. As you can see from the screenshot below, this page is a roundup of links to digital collections that BYU recommends to its students. I will click the first one to see if it contains a trustworthy online collection worth browsing.

5. The first link here belongs to a library and archive dedicated to the history of German-speaking Jews. I know this because I visited the About page. I trust that this repository will share digital collections that have reliable and correct metadata (descriptions of the documents, photographs, etc.). I am willing to search this source with more targeted keywords to see if I can find primary sources relevant to my project.