Subject Guides: English and Related Literature: Medieval

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Early English Text Society

All the titles can be searched for individually using the library catalogue. Within the catalogue record you will find the number of the volume and which series it belongs to.

Most of the works attributed to King Alfred or to Aelfric, along with some of those by bishop Wulfstan and much anonymous prose and verse from the pre-Conquest period, are to be found within the Society's three series; all of the surviving medieval drama (with the exception of the York Plays, due for publication within the next three years), most of the Middle English romances, much religious and secular prose and verse including the English works of John Gower, Thomas Hoccleve and most of Caxton's prints all find their place in the publications.

Camden Society Series

This series comprises of 325 volumes in 5 series. The volumes are kept in the following locations in the JBM and RBL Libraries:
- Old Series, Vol. 1 (1837)-v.104 (1871) = RBL Special Collections
- New Series, Vol. 1 (1871) – v.61 (1899), = Q journal section in the JBM Library
- Third Series, Vol. 1 (1900) – v. 94 (1963) = Q journal section in the JBM Library
- Fourth Series, Vol. 1-44(1964-1992) = Q journal section in the JBM Library
- Fifth Series, Vol.1 (1993) - onwards = Q journal section in the JBM Library
The volumes of the Camden Society Series which are shelved in the journal section of 'Q' can be borrowed as an ordinary loan items. The Old, New and Third series are shelved under 'Camden'. The Fourth and Fifth series are shelved under 'Royal Historical Society'. All the titles can be searched for individually using the library catalogue.

Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts in microfiche facsimile
Contains:
v. 1. Books of prayers and healing
v. 2. Psalters
v. 3. Anglo-Saxon gospels
v. 4. Glossed texts, Aldhelmiana, psalms
v. 5. Lantin manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon glosses
Garmonsway microfilms
Chartulary of the abbey of Melsa, or Meaux, in the County of York
Meaux Abbey. British Library, MS. Lansdowne 424.
Cronica monasterii de Melsa, 1150-1400
Meaux Abbey. British Library, MS. Egerton 1141.

Mirfield Collection
Contains much valuable early material. All the pre-1800 books, plus a few sets of the publications of historical record societies, such as the Royal Historical Society, and the Surtees Society, were deposited here on permanent loan in 1973.

There are several incunabula, including an edition of St. Augustine's De civitate Dei, printed by Nicolas Jenson in Venice, 1475. Although the books are predominantly theological, there are many interesting works in other subjects: for example, the first collected edition of the works of Sir Philip Sidney (1598).
Wormald Collection
Consists mainly of books on the history of art, mediaeval history, and mediaeval English literature.

Databases

The following databases and websites can be used to find primary sources, secondary sources and journal articles.

Primary sources

Acta Sanctorum (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Brings together materials on the lives of the saints from the beginning of the Christian era to the end of the sixteenth century, in critical editions with commentaries on the source documents. This database version currently contains the volumes for the ecclesiastical months from January to June.

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The Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources (DMLBS) The Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources (DMLBS) is the most comprehensive dictionary of Medieval Latin to have been produced and the first ever to focus on British Medieval Latin. It covers the period from Gildas (fl. 540) to William Camden (1600) and is based on the close reading of thousands of Medieval Latin texts and systematic searches within computer databases. This online version includes the complete text of the printed volumes and allows searching by headwords, Latin word-forms, non-Latin word-forms, textual references and the full text.

Dictionary of Old English: A to Le This link opens in a new window
Defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (600 - 1150 A.D.) of the English language drawing on as wide a range of texts as possible. For details of those texts see the Dictionary of Old English Corpus.
Dictionary of Old English Corpus This link opens in a new window
A complete record of surviving Old English, except for some variant manuscripts of individual texts.
Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new window
Images and descriptive data documenting medieval art from early apostolic times to the sixteenth century. The focus is primarily on Christian iconography but secular subjects as well as a growing number of subjects from medieval Jewish and Islamic culture are also included.
Library of Latin Texts (Brepolis) This link opens in a new window
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Full texts in Latin of Church fathers and others from antiquity into the Middle Ages. It contains texts from the beginning of Latin literature (Livus Andonicus, 240BC) through to the texts of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Texts are taken from the Corpus Christianorum and many other sources.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.
Loeb Classical Library This link opens in a new window
With over 530 volumes of Latin and Greek texts with English translations this resource gives online access to the full text of every Loeb volume in print including epic and lyric poetry; tragedy and comedy; history, travel, philosophy, and oratory; the great medical writers and mathematicians; and the Church Fathers who made particular use of pagan culture.

Loeb Classical Library is fully searchable and includes a Greek keyboard, it also allows single- and dual-language reading modes. With a My Loebs account you can manage bookmarks and annotations and save searches; you can also share these with other users.

The resource is regularly updated with new and revised volumes.

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Manchester Medieval Sources Online This link opens in a new window
Thirty-four titles from the Manchester University Press Medieval Sources series providing translations of key medieval texts accompanied by introductory and explanatory material. Titles in the series focus on the diverse cultural and social as well as political conditions that affected the functioning of all levels of medieval society.
Middle English Compendium This link opens in a new window
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Consists 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.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Middle English Compendium help.
Parker Library on the Web This link opens in a new window
The Parker Library on the Web is an interactive, web-based workspace designed to support use and study of the manuscripts in the historic Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It gives access to almost 200,000 manuscript page images, page images of secondary sources, manuscript descriptions, and extensive bibliographic data. Bibliographic records are linked to page images wherever possible. The manuscripts date from the 6th to 16th centuries and include works on various subjects such as theology, music, history, travel, alchemy and politics.
Patrologia Latina (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
The Patrologia Latina Database contains 221 volumes and represents a complete electronic version of the first edition of Jacques-Paul Migne's Patrologia Latina (1844-1855 and 1862-1865).

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Secondary sources

Bibliography of British and Irish History (Brepolis) This link opens in a new window
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Previously known as the Royal Historical Society Bibliography this is a comprehensive guide to historical writing about the history of Britain, Ireland, and the British overseas from 55BC to the present.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.
Brepols Miscellanea Online - Essays in Medieval Studies This link opens in a new window
The full text of over 300 miscellany volumes with over 5,000 essays covering a wide range of subject areas in Medieval Studies.

The Library currently has access to volumes published between 1998 and 2012.
International Medieval Bibliography Online (Brepolis) This link opens in a new window
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This is an interdisciplinary bibliography of the Middle Ages, covering Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the period 400-1500.

The publication years covered by this resource are from 1967 onwards.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.
Iter Bibliography (EBSCO) [accessible until 31st December 2024] This link opens in a new window
A bibliography of more than 1.53 million citations for secondary source material about the Middle Ages and Renaissance, 400–1700. Citations for books and journal material (articles, reviews, review articles, bibliographies, catalogues, abstracts and discographies) are included, as are citations for dissertation abstracts and essays in books (including entries in conference proceedings, festschriften, encyclopedias and exhibition catalogues).
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Iter Gateway This link opens in a new window
A gateway to electronic resources for the study of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (400-1700).
LION - Literature Online This link opens in a new window
This resource is a searchable, online library of over 300,000 works of English and American poetry, prose and drama. It also provides access to a growing collection of online journals, reference works, author biographies and the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL).

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

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Oxford Bibliographies Online: Medieval Studies This link opens in a new window
An up-to-date and authoritative guide to the literature across a wide range of topics in medieval studies. Sources covered include journal articles, reference works, monographs and book chapters.

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Oxford Scholarship Online: Literature This link opens in a new window
Titles from Oxford University Press covering a wide range of topics, themes and periods in literature.

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Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Web of Science provides access to the Science Citation Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

For help using this resource for bibliometrics see Bibliometrics: a practical guide.

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Journals

Chaucer Review Studies of language, sources, social and political contexts, aesthetics, and associated meanings of Chaucer's poetry, as well as articles on medieval literature, philosophy, theology, and mythography relevant to study of the poet and his contemporaries, predecessors, and audiences.
Exemplaria; a Journal of Theory in Medieval & Renaissance Studies Providing a forum for different terminologies and different approaches, it has included symposia and special issues on teaching Chaucer, women, history and literature, rhetoric, medieval noise, and Jewish medieval studies and literary theory. Providing a forum for different terminologies and different approaches, it has included symposia and special issues on teaching Chaucer, women, history and literature, rhetoric, medieval noise, and Jewish medieval studies and literary theory. Providing a forum for different terminologies and different approaches, it has included symposia and special issues on teaching Chaucer, women, history and literature, rhetoric, medieval noise, and Jewish medieval studies and literary theory. Providing a forum for different terminologies and different approaches, it has included symposia and special issues on teaching Chaucer, women, history and literature, rhetoric, medieval noise, and Jewish medieval studies and literary theory. Providing a forum for different terminologies and different approaches, it has included symposia and special issues on teaching Chaucer, women, history and literature, rhetoric, medieval noise, and Jewish medieval studies and literary theory.
Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies Fosters rigorous investigation of historiographical representations of European and western Asian cultural forms from late antiquity to the seventeenth century. Its topics include art, literature, theatre, music, philosophy, theology, and history, and it embraces material objects as well as texts; women as well as men; merchants, workers, and audiences as well as patrons; Jews and Muslims as well as Christians.
Journal of Medieval History Meets the need for a major international publication devoted to all aspects of the history of Europe in the Middle Ages. Each issue comprises around four or five articles on European history, including Britain and Ireland, between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Mediaeval Studies Most volumes are divided into three sections: "Texts" includes extensive editions with substantial introductions; "Articles" includes studies based on unedited or edited documents and texts and also includes studies of other monuments of medieval culture; "Mediaevalia" consists of notices or short articles on specific documents or topics.
Medium Aevum Contains articles, notes, review articles and reviews on a range of medieval linguistic and literary topics in all major European languages.
Speculum: a journal of mediaeval studies Any and all aspects of the Middle Ages, including art, history, literature, philosophy and theology, music, science, law, and economics.

English and Related Literature

Medieval

Medieval Resources

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Medieval

Renaissance

Eighteenth Century

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Twentieth Century - Present

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Databases

Databases and Online Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Journals