Research Guides: Medieval Resources: Primary Resources

Medieval Digital Collections

18th Century Collections Online, Parts I & II (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Digital images of significant English-language and foreign-language titles printed in the United Kingdom, along with select works from the Americas. Includes books, pamphlets, parliamentary papers, parish registers, sheet music, and more. Coverage: 1701-1800
Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
Facsimiles of books, pamphlets, broadsides, and other materials published in the English language. Search by title, author, or subject, or use advanced search to look for specific types of works (prose, recipes, songs, etc.), including illustration types (portraits, maps, etc.). Coverage dates: 1473-1700.
Early English Books Online: Text Creation Partnership This link opens in a new window
Transcriptions of books, pamphlets, broadsides, and other materials published in the English language. Search by title, author, or subject, or use advanced search to look for specific types of works (prose, recipes, songs, etc.), including illustration types (portraits, maps, etc.). Coverage dates: 1473-1700.
HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
Contains books and scholarly journals digitized from libraries around the world covering many topics and languages. Choose University of New Mexico for full access to restricted content and log in with NetID
Choose University of New Mexico for full access to restricted content and log in with UNM NetID.
Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
This resource contains full color images of the original medieval manuscripts that comprise family letter collections from The Paston, Cely, Plumpton, Stonor, and Armburgh Papers along with some searchable transcripts from the printed editions.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
Manuscripts 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. Coverage: 1200s to 1500s
Patrologia Latina This link opens in a new window
Covers the works of the Latin Fathers from Tertullian to the death of Pope Innocent III. Covers most major and minor Latin authors, and contains the most influential works of late ancient and early medieval theology, philosophy, history, and literature.
Parker Library on the Web This link opens in a new window
An interactive, web-based workspace designed to support use and study of the manuscripts in the historic Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new window
Information about North America, Central America, South America, the Arctic, Antarctica, and the West Indies, published across the globe.This collection of many hard-to-find primary sources covers society, politics, culture, religious beliefs, and contemporary opinions, at home and abroad.
As well, included are original accounts of exploration, pioneering, settlement, the Western movement, military actions, Native Americans, slavery, and abolition. Coverage: 1500 to 1926.

Open Access Primary Resources

Digital Bodleian
Discover over a million images of rare books, manuscripts, and other treasures from the Bodleian Libraries and Oxford college libraries.
The France and England Project: Medieval Manuscripts between 700 and 1200
Explore 800 medieval manuscripts of France and England.
British Library Medieval Manuscripts Blog
The British Library is home to world-class collections of manuscripts including papyri, medieval illuminated manuscripts and early modern state papers.
Epistolae: Medieval Women's Letters
Epistolæ is a collection of letters to and from women in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 13th century. The letters, written in Latin, are linked to the names of the women involved, with English translations and, where available, biographical sketches of the women and some description of the subject matter or the historic context of the letter.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Excellent resource.
Use the left hand navigation to pinpoint your subject area.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Selected Sources. Crusaders
Sub-section of the IMS
History of Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Primary Documents [Euro Docs]
Euro Docs is open access sources to selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations covering European history. In addition to this section on Medieval and renaissance Europe, you can go to the Main Page of the site to see the full range of countries covered
EyeWitness to History - The Middle Ages and Renaissance
This website has primary sources along with some explanatory notes. Primary sources appear in RED. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to look at the citation for the primary source. There is a search box at the top right where you can search keywords for your topic.
Please ignore the ads!
The British Museum
Lots of digitized artifacts!

Art as Primary Sources

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Includes images across the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with tools to view, present, and manage images for research and teaching. Related: JSTOR - now includes ARTstor content.
Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new window
Index to medieval iconography and works of art, including manuscripts, metalwork, and paintings. Includes provenance information, bibliographical references, and photographic reproductions. Coverage: early apostolic to 1500s.

Lists of Digitized Collections

Archival Resources

ArchiveGrid This link opens in a new window
Index of over 1,000 archival institutions and their collections.