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Medieval History: Primary Sources

A guide to Moody Library's resources on Medieval History.

Primary Sources

 

A primary source is a document, recording or other source of information created at the time being studied, by an authoritative source, usually one with direct personal knowledge of the events being described.

Primary sources include diaries, letters, family records, statistics, speeches, interviews, or autobiographies.

Look for subject headings in the library catalog that use the following terms:

  • Correspondence
  • Diaries
  • Personal narratives
  • Sources

In general, published primary source material covers a wide range of publications, including first-person accounts, memoirs, diaries, letters,  government documents, court records, reports of associations, organizations and institutions, treatises and polemical writings, chronicles, saints' lives, charters, legal codes, maps, graphic material (e.g. photographs, posters, advertising images, paintings, prints, and illustrations), and literary works. Some of these materials were not published at the time of their creation (e.g. letters), but have subsequently been published in a book.

Primary Source Books--France

Below are some important primary source books for French medieval history.

Primary Sources--Italy

Below are some important primary source books for Italian medieval history.

Primary Sources--Germany

Below are some important primary source books for German medieval history.

Primary Sources -- Crusades

Below are some important primary source books on the Crusades.

Primary Sources -- Byzantine Empire

Below are some important primary source books for Byzantine medieval history.

Medieval History Websites

Many of these websites contain primary source materials.

Primary Source Books--England

Below are some important primary source books for English medieval history.