Primary Sources: Medieval and Renaissance Periods: General

This page of the project contains access to public databases; other information on the site is available for a fee.
"The Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL) is a cooperative enterprise of the Laboratoire ATILF (Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Division of the Humanities, and Electronic Text Services (ETS) of the University of Chicago."

The website includes: "A full transcription of the manuscript with sophisticated search facilities.A digital facsimile of the entire manuscript. Background information on the origins and importance of the manuscript."

"Search for photographs, textual documents, illuminated manuscripts, maps, works of art, and books from the Beinecke's collections. Some materials may be protected by U.S. or international copyright laws or by privacy and publicity rights. Please see Permissions and Copyright for more information." Some material is available only to Yale students.

"The Philadelphia region is home to a large number of libraries with truly outstanding special collections, most of whom are members of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) Fifteen of these libraries have catalogued and digitized 450 medieval Western European manuscripts with the generous support of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), via its Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives initiative. All images have been released into the public domain. "

This digital library for British historical resources was created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust. It provides "text and information about people, places and businesses from the medieval and early modern period." Users are encouraged to register with the site (for free) in order to use the available advanced features. A full-text search feature is available or the collections can be browsed. Some materials are available only to subscribers [CNU does not subscribe.]

"Use this website to view digitised copies of manuscripts and archives in the British Library’s collections, with descriptions of their contents."

"This website, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, makes available a database of thousands of prints and book illustrations from early modern Britain in fully-searchable form. It also offers ancillary facilities aimed to enhance users’ understanding and appreciation of the material it presents, such as various resources contextualising prints and printmaking, as well as original research on British prints to 1700..."

"Semi-official reports from the envoys of the Duke of Milan in England. They have
little knowledge of the geography of England and are generally thought to rely quite a
lot on rumour. For example, in 17 June 1471 they report that Edward IV had not only
ordered the murder of Henry VI, but also of Margaret of Anjou. However, these
reports give a sense of the concerns and opinions of the moment such as the
popular belief that Warwick was playing a bigger part in government than King
Edward himself immediately after 1461."
Using historical sources: A Guide for A-level Students
with particular reference to The Wars of the Roses by
Jonathan Cripps, Kirstie Murray, Helen Snelson

"The Carl H. Pforzheimer collection of English manuscripts contains nearly 2,000 items dating from 1485 to 1844. While most manuscripts in this collection are indeed in English, it is also home to 200 pieces of correspondence written in French and Latin and a few items in Dutch, Italian, and Spanish. Most letters are written by or to members of the English nobility and aristocracy but there are several letters by notable Continentals such as Philip II, King of Spain and husband to Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) of England; Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor; kings of France from Francis I through Henry IV; and Isabella and Albert of Austria."

"... is a single database providing unified access to over 250,000 records for medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, rare and reference books, literary and historical manuscripts, music scores, ancient seals and tablets, drawings, prints, and other art objects. About 95 percent of the Morgan's holdings are represented in the catalog."
Some materials can be accessed online.

"DIGITAL.BODLEIAN is an effort to make portions of the Bodleian's extraordinary library collections open to a wide variety of users from around the world for learning, teaching and research."

Choose from various options to search Getty's resources including digital collections, open content, and more. Some items may be only accessible to library users, but many of the items are provided for free to the general public.

"The Houghton Library's distinguished collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts represents a significant resource for the study of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Western Europe."

"Domesday is Britain’s earliest public record. It contains the results of a huge survey of land and landholding commissioned by William I in 1085. Domesday is by the far the most complete record of pre-industrial society to survive anywhere in the world and provides a unique window on the medieval world."

"The goal of the e-codices project is to provide access to all medieval and selected early modern manuscripts of Switzerland via a virtual library"

"The University of Michigan Library provides access to these keyboarded and encoded editions of the works for educational and research purposes. These transcriptions are believed to be in the public domain in the United States; however, if you decide to use any of these transcriptions, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact Library Information Technology."

"The Original Series began in 1864 and continues to the present. In 1867 an Extra Series was started, of texts already printed but not in satisfactory or readily obtainable editions. In 1921 the Extra Series was discontinued and all publications were subsequently listed and numbered as part of the Original Series. In 1970 the Supplementary Series was initiated: volumes in this series are issued only occasionally and as suitable texts become available." https://users.ox.ac.uk/~eets/publications.html

A site from Oxford University that is created of more than eighty manuscripts from seven separate libraries. Images of the manuscripts are provided for personal use, please read the copyright information for further details.

Documents available through the EuroDocs project at BYU.

Provides access to eyewitness accounts from the middle ages and renaissance time periods. Part of the EyeWitness to History site.

"Books printed in the 15th century, alternately referred to as fifteeners or incunabula, comprise the earliest examples we have of the mass production of books by mechanical means during the late medieval period. Derived from the Latin word for cradle or swaddling, incunabula are books printed between 1450 and 1501, the first 50 years of printing in Europe. "

"... both maintains an index of all URLs currently active, which in any way pertain to St. Francis, the religious orders he founded, Franciscan Saints, Spirituality, History, Art, Architecture, Theology, etc., and provides a place for the publication of original texts, translations, and articles on Franciscanism."

This sites presents the catalog of digital collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale de la France. It contains approximately 70, 000 digital documents, 1200 full-text documents, and 80, 000 images. Content can be browsed or searched.

A site sponsored by Georgetown University designed to provide organized access to internet sites for Medieval Studies. The site can be searched or browsed by category. The search can be limited to type of materials, such as primary texts, maps, images, videos, etc.

A site from The Philological Museum

"... provides free on-line access to a collection of out-of-print monographs, essays and editions relating to the history of medieval Iberia. " Some primary source documents are included.

Description from site:

• Luminarium is the labor of love of Anniina Jokinen. The site is not affiliated with any institution nor is it sponsored by anyone other than its maintainer and the contributions of its visitors through revenues from book sales via Amazon.com, poster sales via All Posters, and advertising via Google AdSense.


• For all materials, authorities in a given subject are consulted. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, and The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English are some of the general reference works consulted for accuracy of dates and details.


• Many of the materials collected here reside elsewhere. Quality and accuracy are concerns, and all materials are checked regularly. However, "Luminarium" cannot be held responsible for materials residing on other sites. Corrections and suggestions for improvements are encouraged from the visitors.

"... contains 215 medieval or Renaissance manuscripts that date between the 11th and 17th centuries. This database contains item-level descriptions for each of the manuscripts and enables keyword searching as well as several different ways to browse the collection contents... Complete digital images are provided for some manuscripts." Part of the Digital Collections available from the Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

"More than 2,000 manuscript pages and associated illuminations dating from the 9th through the 16th centuries give vivid testimony to the creative impulses of the often nameless craftsmen who continually discovered new ways of animating the contents of hand-produced books. " A New York Public Library Digital Collection

Contains links to translated primary documents on late antique, medieval, Byzantine, and Renaissance history.

Documents available through the Avalon Project at Yale.

"The Medieval Manuscript collection is designed to showcase a range of texts and images over centuries of transmission, illustrating the art of the manuscript during the period of its greatest development and influence. Together, these images exemplify the cultural and historical contexts of literacy in the medieval period. Represented are Bibles, Books of Hours, and sermons, as well as other notarial and musical books, historical, philosophical, scientific, and theological books, among others."

"This collection of manuscript fragments, mainly from early bindings, are yet to be fully described and researched. Around 6 items are thought to have derived from the medieval university of Bologna, and the collection has been found to contain rare examples of early musical notation. Some were purchased in the early 20th century by subscription amongst UCL staff, an initiative led by UCL Professor Robert Priebsch, to develop the study of palaeography at UCL."

Includes the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse; Middle English Dictionary and a hyperbibliography of sources.

"... handles the digitization and online publication of the cultural heritage preserved by the Bavarian State Library and by other institutions. It provides one of the largest and fastest growing digital collections in Germany, now comprising 777,490 titles available online. Access is free of charge!"

"The Library is where electronic versions of classic books about individual liberty are stored. These texts go back some 4,000 years and cover the disciplines of economics, history, law, literature, philosophy, political theory, religion, war and peace." Items are provided free of charge for educational use.

"This database provides a searchable bibliography of texts - from private letters, wills, and household accounts to literary works, philosophical treatises, chronicles, court proceedings, church records, and a host of other documents - that were written in the Middle Ages and are now available in printed or online editions and translations. The aim is to provide annotated entries that include information on the genre, contents, archival reference and original language of the text, as well as whether the publication includes a translation, introduction, appendices, glossary, and index. Where appropriate, the bibliography also includes hyperlinks to sources that are online. " Created by the Center for Medieval Studies at Fordham University

"Corpus Christi College and the Stanford University Libraries welcome you to Parker Library on the Web, a digital exhibit designed to support use and study of the manuscripts in the historic Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The Parker Library is a treasure trove of rare medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, as well as early printed books. Almost all manuscripts in the Parker Library collection have been fully digitised and are available in this exhibit, along with associated bibliographic references and annotations made by scholars from around the world."

Primary and secondary sources in early modern English literature.

"... is a select database that organizes the vast array of publicly available digital sources on the development of theology and philosophy during the early modern era (late 15th-18th c.). ... The PRDL does not directly host digital copies of sources, but rather assembles links to publicly available sources from permanent collections."

From the British Library, this site provides access to digitized versions of 253 Renaissance festival books. The books described festivals and ceremonies that took place in Europe The Texts section allows users to read the books in their original languages. The Experts Views area provides access to "high-level analysis and opinion from acknowledged experts, drawing on established scholarship." The Background Information section provides information about festival books. There is also a Basics section providing a brief overview on festivals, festival books, and what can be learned from them.

"The Gordon Collection comprises some 1200 volumes of French books dating from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century. Over 600 were printed before 1600, and many retain their original bindings. The collection, which came to the University of Virginia in 1986, was the bequest of the late Douglas Huntly Gordon of Baltimore, a prominent Maryland attorney, former president of St. John's College in Annapolis, and recipient of the French Légion d'Honneur and Palmes Académiques. A Francophile since his undergraduate days at Harvard, Mr. Gordon was one of the most distinguished American bibliophiles of the 20th century."

An Online Repository of Works Printed in English Between the Years 1477 and 1799. Provided for non-profit purposes by the University of Oregon.

"The basis of the collection is In the Bigynnyng, a project started in October 2008, to digitise and describe our collection of over forty Middle English manuscripts. The collection illustrates progress so far, including a medieval cookery book, a copy of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, several copies of the Wycliffe Bible and a richly illuminated copy of John Lydgate's poem The Siege of Troy." Rylands Library, University of Manchester

"The SDBM continuously aggregates and updates observations of pre-modern manuscripts drawn from over 13,000 auction and sales catalogs, inventories, catalogs from institutional and private collections, and other sources that document sales and locations of these books from around the world. "

"The initial Scriptorium website provided unrestricted public access to the manuscript images, and included a set of online pedagogical and research resources supporting late medieval and early modern manuscript studies. By gathering examples of different kinds of miscellany and commonplace book, it enabled users to explore and compare these distinctive and intriguing products of late medieval and early modern culture.

The images, now available in higher-resolution formats owing to the continued support of the partner libraries, are now part of the Cambridge Digital Library. Also included here are the detailed descriptions of the manuscripts, and other supporting information featured in the original site."

Provides the access to the Middle English text series for use by teachers and students. "The on-line texts provided here are meant for individual use only. To download and make multiple copies for course use, you must have permission from the managing editor of Medieval Institute Publications."

Various (mostly medieval) manuscripts digitized from the University of Glasgow's special collections department.