Reference Books for Medieval Research
Projects
Up
through the late twentieth century, a central feature of any academic library
was its reference room, staffed by reference librarians and filled with dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographies,
etc. Institutes such as medieval studies centers also had their own
reference rooms containing the major search tools of their specialties (these
have tended to survive better). Today computers offer access to search
engines able to locate search terms quickly and conveniently. Libraries
have downsized reference rooms,eliminating some types
of reference books and banishing others to the stacks, filling the space
gained with banks of computer terminals and new coffeee bars.
To some
extent the decline of the reference room is justified. Information can be stored
more compactly in electronic form. Some reference aids, especially serial
bibliographies, are easier to maintain and update in electronic form. But
old-style reference books, when well planned and edited, can still provide levels of
quality control, convenience, and specialization not always matched by online
resources.
Be aware that almost every specialization has its own reference books. The
number of reference books is so great that scholars have facetiously championed
the need for a
Cambridge Guide to Cambridge Guides. If for a particular project you
need research orientation, begin by
imagining what kind of reference book you would like to have in hand and then go
look for it--often it will actually exist. For medieval historians certain
reference books remain useful (though some of these are now also available in electronic
format). Among the most useful are:
General Guides:
The Cambridge History of Christianity. 9 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006-2010.
The New Cambridge Medieval History, edited by Rosamond
McKitterick (and other very scholarly editorial board members). 7 vols.
Cambridge: Cambrdige University Press, 1995-2004.
Bibliographical Guides:
L’Annee philologique. 86- vols. Paris: Les
belles lettres, 1924-.
Chronicon: Medieval Narrative Sources: A
Chronological Guide with Introductory Essays, edited by
János M. Bak & Ivan Jurković.Turnhout : Brepols, 2013.
Clavis
Patrum Latinorum,
edited by Eligius Dekkers.
3rd edition. Corpus Christianorum
Series Latina. Turnhout: Brepols, 1995. Treats Latin
patristic writing, century by century, placing hagiographic works of known
authorship under their authors and grouping anonymous works by century.
The text numbers as updated in this 3rd edition are keys for searches in
the electronic CETEDOC Library of Latin Christian texts.
Clavis Patrum Graecorum, ed. Maurice Geerard. 5 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 1974-83. Treats Greek patristic writings, century by century, placing hagiographical works of known authorship under their authors and grouping anonymous works by century. Excellent listing of editions and evaluation of authorship and authenticity. It has been cross-indexed in the BHL Novum Supplementum (pp. 913-14).
Repertorium Fontium Historiae Medii Aevi Primum ab Augusto Potthast Digestum, Nunc Cura Collegii Historicorum e Pluribus Nationibus Emendatum at Auctum [the "new Potthast"]. 11 vols. Rome: Istituto storico italiano per il medio evo, 1962-2006. The first volume lists source collections; subsequent volumes are alphabetically arranged treatments of medieval authors and sources.
Encyclopedias:
Dictionary of the Middle Ages. 13 vols. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982-89. Perhaps the best starting place for
discovering what a topic is and whether there might be sufficient material in
English for a monolingual student to write a research paper. To get full value
from this reference, look up your subject in the index volume (vol. 13).
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Edited by
Alexander P. Kazhdan. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. THE
authoritative reference for things Byzantine.
The Annotated Index of Medieval Women, edited by Anne Nichols and Marty Williams. New York: Marcus Wiener Pub., 1992.
Bibliotheca Sanctorum. Rome: Istituto Giovanni XXIII della Pontificia Università Lateranense, 1960-1970. 12 vols. and index. Contains more than 20,000 articles in Italian on saints and other celebrated holy persons, listed alphabetically with BHL refs, editions, and bibliography. The articles vary wildly in quality and sophistication. Readers unfamiliar with Italian name forms should use the index, which cross-references the names used in other major Western languages. Vol. 14 (Rome: Città Nuova Editrice, 1987) is an appendix which remedies some omissions but which is largely devoted to current canonization processes.
The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity, edited by Ken Parry, David J. Melling, Dimitri Brady, Sidney H. Griffith, and John F. Healey. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1999
Dizionario degli Instituti di perfezione.
Edited by Guerrino Pelliccia and Giancarlo Rocca. 10 vols. Rome:
Edizioni Paoline, 1973-2003.. This is the most complete encyclopedia of
religious orders and associated topics.
Medieval Archaeology: An Encyclopedia, edited by Pam
J. Crabtree. New York / London: Garland Publishing, Inc. 2001.
Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, edited by William
W. Kibler and Grover A. Zinn. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities 932.
New York: Garland Pub., 1995.
Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia, edited by John M.
Jeep. New York: Garland Pub., 2001.