Library Guides: Literature in English: Middle Ages

Scholarship

International Medieval Bibliography (IMB) This link opens in a new window
Indexes over 4500 periodicals and 5000 conference proceedings, essay collections, Festschriften, edited volumes, conference proceedings, and exhibition catalogs covering all aspects of the Middleaages (400-1500 A.D.). Complements and can be searched simultaneously with the Bibliography of Medieval Civilization (BCM) for books. (Brepols) [1967 - present]
Covers Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
ITER: Gateway to the Renaissance This link opens in a new window
An index of articles, essays, books and reviews related to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (400-1700).
Includes a number of databases useful to the fields of classical, medieval, and Renaissance studies such as Iter Italicum, a catalog of Renaissance humanistic manuscripts found in libraries and collections around the world, International Directory of Scholars, International Directory of Renaissance and Reformation Associations and Institutes, and Scholars of Early Modern Studies (volume 34).
International Directory of Medievalists This link opens in a new window
A directory listing names and addresses of approximately 15,000 medievalists and scholars in fields relating to the Middle Ages in 70 countries. This online title continues the print edition.
Database can be searched with English or French interface.
Bibliographie de civilisation médiévale This link opens in a new window
The Bibliography of Medieval Civilization indexes monographs and miscellanies as well as book reviews. It complements and can be simultaneously searched with the International Medieval Bibliography (IMB) for periodicals. (Brepols) [1958 to present]
Originating in the printed bibliography published in the well-known Cahiers de civilisation médiévale between 1958 and 2009, it is sustained by the work of selection and indexing carried out at the Centre d’Études Supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale (CESCM) in Poitiers. Initially dedicated to the High Middle Ages, it has progressively broadened its scope, going from Late Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages (300-1500). Each bibliographical record is searchable by date, subject and place and provides a wealth of information.

Digital Texts

Acta Sanctorum This link opens in a new window
Contains complete texts of 68 printed volumes, from the two January volumes published in 1643 and the Propylaeum of December published in 1940.
Contains complete texts of 68 printed volumes, from the two January volumes published in 1643 and the Propylaeum of December published in 1940. Includes the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina (BHL) reference numbers widely used by scholars to identify hagiographical texts. Records details of life in early and medieval Europe, relying heavily on hagiographical literature, specifically on the texts published by the Societe des Bollandistes.
Aristoteles Latinus Database (ALD) This link opens in a new window
The complete corpus of medieval translations of the works of Aristotle. The Latin versions of these texts constituted the main tools for the study of science and philosophy in the Middle Ages. (Brepols)
Aristoteles Latinus has been published in print since 1961 with the aim of bringing attention to the ways in which Aristotle came to be read in the West through presentation of critical editions of Latin translations of his texts ranging from the 6th to 13th centuries. ALD includes all primary texts from the print edition, but excludes the critical apparatus, prefaces, and indices. In addition to an interface which allows browsable access to entire works, specific passages retrieved via search may be downloaded in PDF format. ALD is included in the Cross Database Searchtool (http://clt.brepolis.net/cds/pages/Search.aspx).

The Camelot Project
Database of Arthurian texts, images, bibliographies, and basic information. The project, begun in 1995, is sponsored by the University of Rochester.

Digital Scriptorium This link opens in a new window
Images of medieval and renaissance manuscripts.
A growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research. Among the participating institutions to this project are the Bancroft Library, the Robbins Collection, and the Hargrove Music Library at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and the New York Public Library.

Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
Online collection of Middle English texts from University of Michigan and the Oxford Text Archive, as well as works created specifically for the Corpus by the HTI. These are TEI documents.
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In 2006 new texts were added to the Corpus, many of them among the largest and most significant monuments of Middle English, including the Wycliffite Bible, both versions of Higden's Polychronicon, Cursor Mundi,, both versions of Guy of Warwick, the chronicles of Robert Mannyng and Robert of Gloucester, two versions of Mandeville's travels, Hoccleve's Regiment of Princes, the A, B, and C texts of Piers Plowman, the Pricke of Conscience, the Ormulum, and numerous saints' legends, including the Laud MS of the South English Legendary. The new texts also include the complete Chaucer Society '6-text' edition of the Canterbury Tales. The bulk of these additional texts, transcribed from modern editions, were produced during 2000 thanks to a generous grant from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
Global Medieval Sourcebook
The GMS spans one thousand years (600-1600) of literary production across the medieval world (Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia). It contains primarily short texts of broad interdisciplinary interest in a variety of genres, and many of the texts have not previously been translated into English. All texts in the compendium are downloadable as TEI-XML files to allow for computational or other analysis.
Parker Library on the Web (University of Cambridge)
Digitized rare medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and early printed books from the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Includes bibliographic references and scholarly annotations.
Piers Plowman Electronic Archive
The Piers Plowman Electronic Archive, a collaborative open-access project, presents the rich textual tradition of Piers Plowman, a fourteenth-century allegorical dream vision attributed to William Langland. Three distinct versions of the poem (A, B, and C) survive in more than 50 unique manuscripts, none in Langland's own hand. The Archive enables instructors, students, and researchers to explore late medieval literary and manuscript culture through the many variations of Piers Plowman.
TEAMS Middle English Texts
Texts which occupy an important place in the literary and cultural canon but which have not been readily available in student editions. The editions maintain the linguistic integrity of the original works but within the parameters of modern reading conventions. TEAMS is The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages.
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The focus is upon literature adjacent to that normally in print. Published for TEAMS (The Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) in association with the University of Rochester by Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The General Editor of the series is Russell Peck of the University of Rochester.
English Drama (Chadwyck-Healey)
A unique collection of more than 3,900 plays in verse and prose tracing the development of drama in English from the medieval mystery cycles to the comedies of Oscar Wilde.
English Poetry (Chadwyck-Healey)
The original ground-breaking Chadwyck-Healey collection, English Poetry contains essentially the complete English poetic canon from the 8th century to the early 20th. Over 160,000 poems by more than 1,250 poets are drawn from nearly 4,500 printed sources.
English Poetry, Second Edition (Chadwyck-Healey)
English Poetry, Second Edition contains over 183,000 poems, essentially comprising the complete canon of English poetry of the British Isles and the British Empire from the 8th century to the early 20th. Drawn from nearly 4,900 printed sources, more than 2,700 poets are represented. English Poetry, Second Edition redefines the English poetic canon for the 21st century, building on the achievement of the original English Poetry collection with the addition of more than 20,000 poems from several new categories.

Defining Gender, 1450-1910 This link opens in a new window
Includes a broad range of digitized documents sourced from 21 libraries. The manuscripts, printed works, and illustrations are grouped thematically and address key gender issues from both masculine and feminine perspectives.
The collection includes ephemera, pamphlets, college records and exam papers, commonplace books, diaries, letters, ledgers, account books, educational practice and pedagogy materials, government papers, personal journals, and receipt books. These are supplemented with a selection of original essays from historians. The thematic areas addressed include: Conduct and Politeness, Domesticity & the Family, Consumption & Leisure, Education & Sensibility, and The Body.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook This link opens in a new window
Provides access selected excerpts of Medieval Studies. Also includes medieval sources and a section on ancient, medieval and Byzantine hagiographical sources.
Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
Digitized manuscripts that reveal the details of medieval life in the areas of business and trade, politics, community, family affairs, and relationships.
A collection created from source material from the British Library, Chetham's Library, the National Archives, and the West Yorkshire Archives, consisting of the Paston Family Papers, the Celys Family Papers, the Plumpton Correspondence, the Stonor Correspondence, and the Armburgh Family Papers (represented by the "Armburgh Roll," a single parchment roll written on both sides in ink). These include the only surviving family letter collections from the medieval period in England.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
Manuscripts of important works of European travel writing from the later medieval period. The chief focus is on journeys to central Asia and the Far East, including accounts of travel to Mongolia, Persia, India, China and South-East Asia.
The core of the material is a collection of medieval manuscripts dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The main focus is accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China. The manuscripts are sourced from the British Library; Bodleian Library; Bibliotheque nationale de France; Cambridge University Library; Trinity College, Cambridge; Universitatsbibliothek Heidelberg; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek; Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen; the Beinecke Library at Yale University, Trinity College, Dublin, and about 15 other libraries and archives.

CantApp: Chaucer's General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
A reading of the General Prologue with translation and manuscript. Includes a new biography of Chaucer by Richard North (UCL), a new text edited by Barbara Bordalejo (USask), Terry Jones’s translation of the General Prologue, additional materials about the Tales by Peter Robinson (who created the app), images of the Hengwrt manuscript form the National Library of Wales. Also available on Android or Apple.

Encyclopedias and Reference

Brill's Medieval Reference Library This link opens in a new window
The MRLO contains over 4,000 entries and 200 plus illustrations covering pre-modern European history and culture.
The database includes complete coverage of four medieval studies encyclopedias: Encyclopedia of Medieval Chronicle, Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles c. 450-1450, Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, and Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Searches can be performed across encyclopedias or limited to one title.

Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050-1500
Scholarly summaries and bibliographies for texts in Middle English. Pub. by the MLA's Middle English Group. Print, with some versions available online through HathiTrust.

Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources (DMLBS) This link opens in a new window
Online version of the most comprehensive dictionary of Medieval Latin produced and the first ever to focus on British Medieval Latin. It is not included in the Database of Latin Dictionaries (DLB). (Brepols)

Middle English Compendium
Access three major Middle English electronic resources: an electronic version of the Middle English Dictionary, a HyperBibliography of Middle English prose and verse, based on the MED bibliographies, and a Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. (UMich)
Middle English Dictionary
15,000 pages offer a comprehensive analysis of lexicon and usage for the period 1100-1500 (UMich)
Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain
600 entries on key figures, texts, critical debates, methodologies, cultural and historical contexts, and related terminology in the literatures of the British Isles from the fifth to the sixteenth centuries.
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Represents all the literatures of the British Isles including Old and Middle English, Early Scots, Anglo-Norman, the Norse, Latin and French of Britain, and the Celtic Literatures of Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall.

Art

Related Library Research Guides: UK History

British and Irish History Research Guide
Find the best databases, resources, and primary texts related to the history of the UK and Ireland. Created by the UC Berkeley history librarian.
Medieval History Research Guide
Find the best databases, resources, and primary texts related to the European medieval period. Created by the UC Berkeley history librarian.

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Encyclopedias and Reference

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Related Library Research Guides: UK History