Law and Legal Sources
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Avalon ProjectDigital documents, including more than two dozen medieval sources, relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government.
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English Medieval Legal Documents: A Compilation of Published SourcesExtensive bibliography of English law sources. Links to full-text are included wherever available but you may need to consult section 9 of the guide ('Online Sources') to learn which databases provide access to which documents.
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Medieval Legal HistoryThis portion of the Internet Medieval Sourcebook collects various online texts related to the history of law.
Primary sources in the Library
Find primary sources in the library catalog or WorldCat:
- Using an advanced search, change the field to subject and enter "sources" as pictured below.
- You can also search for particular kinds of sources, including: correspondence, diaries, early works to 1800, interviews, pamphlets, periodicals, personal narratives, and speeches.
Remember to scan the bibliographies of secondary sources! Follow the paper trail to primary sources on your topics.
Sources on Medieval Life
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Internet Medieval SourcebookCompiled from public domain sources (19th-c. translations), the Sourcebook provides" texts which address elite governmental, legal, religious and economic concerns," and "a large selection of texts on women's and gender history, Islamic and Byzantine history, Jewish history, and social history."
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Epistolae: Medieval Women's LettersEpistolae is 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. Biographical sketches of the women and descriptions of the subject matter or the historic context of the letter is included where available.
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Florilegium UrbanumPrimary source texts culled from larger collections that illustrate various aspects of medieval urban life. The lifecycle section has several documents pertaining to death.
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De Re MilitariMaintained by the Society for the Study of Medieval Military History, DRM hosts many primary sources, articles, dissertations, and resources for the study of military actions, technology, and topics from the fall of Rome to early seventeenth century.
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Wives and Wenches, Sinners and Saints: Women in Medieval Europe"The documents included in this collection do not attempt to represent the full range of medieval women’s experiences. Instead, they focus more narrowly on representations of women within the Christian tradition in manuscripts and books produced in Flanders (now a province of Belgium), France, and England."
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Legacy of the Middle Ages in the Renaissance and Beyond"Medieval Europe bequeathed a legacy to the Renaissance and beyond that continues to influence our thought, art, institutions, and culture. Writings and book illustrations from the Middle Ages demonstrate the vitality of the period."
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The Crusades: Motivations, Administration, and Cultural Influence"The following documents offer insight into the religious and social motivations and benefits for undertaking a crusade, as well as a glimpse into the more mundane administrative details required to make this transcontinental excursion to the Holy Land. They also suggest how the Crusades were both commemorated and criticized in literature and history for centuries after they had ended."