PROFESSOR WHALEN’S MEDIEVAL RESEARCH HOMEPAGE
At the start of a research paper, rather than “forming a thesis” or an argument, really what you’re doing is “asking a question.” After all, how can you form a proper argument before you’ve read the materials?
Let’s say that you’re interested in the First Crusade and Christian attitudes toward Muslims. What you are essentially asking is a basic research question: What was the importance of the First Crusade for Christian attitudes toward Muslims? How did the crusade change (or not) Christian views of Islam?
To find some answers, you might investigate some Christian
chronicles of the First Crusade. Unless you know Latin, you’ll need to
read them in translation. Thus the search begins.
REFERENCE WORKS (DAVIS LIBRARY REFERENCE SECTION)
To start, you often need to familiarize yourself with the “big picture” before you can frame your research project and search for materials. When was the First Crusade? Who wrote the chronicles about the crusade? What other historical factors were related to the emergence and development of crusading? What impact did crusading have on broader trends in medieval European politics, society, or spirituality? A good place to start is the reference section of the library. For example, large reference works such as these can get your rolling before your spent time on a frustrating search for primary sources:
Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Ed. Strayer. 13 vols. 1982-1988. D114 .D5 1982
Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Ed. Ferguson. 2 vols. 1997. BR162.2 .E53 1997
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Ed. Vauchez. 2 vols. 2000. CB351 .E53 2000
The Oxford Dictionary of Saints. Ed. Farmer. BR1710 .F34 2003 [also e-resource]
Women in the Middle Ages. Ed. Wilson and Margolis. 2004. HQ1143 .W643 2004
You might also start out by looking at a survey of your topic. In this case, for example, you could find a lot of basic information in Jonathan-Riley Smith, The Crusades:A Short History (New Haven, 1987).
MEDIEVAL SOURCES IN TRANSLATION (DAVIS LIBRARY STACKS)
Now that you’ve got some basic information, it’s time to look for primary sources. Finding Latin sources in English translation can be tricky. I’m a big believer in starting with a wide k - word search, then narrowing things afterwards. Here are some examples of possible combinations:
- Author’s name (Guibert of Nogent / Fulcher of Chartres / etc.)
- Genre (e.g. sermons / chronicles / theology / apologetics / polemics / etc.)
- Subject (e.g. crusades / predestination / resurrection / marriage / etc.)
- Series titles (Medieval Texts and Studies / Medieval Texts in Translation / Oxford Medieval Texts / Crusade Texts in Translation / etc.)
- Some helpful tags: early works to 1800 / sources / translated / translation / English
To return to our example about the First Crusade: After looking in some reference works, let’s say that you have found out that the twelfth-century abbot Guibert of Nogent wrote a chronicle of the First Crusade. You want to see if it is available in English.
If you do a k - word search on “crusades early works 1800,” you will find some sources in translation; if you do a k - word search “crusades sources translation” you will find additional ones (seventeen total). Many of these works are in English translation. Already, you have discovered a wealth of primary source materials on the First Crusade.
But guess what? Guibert’s chronicles does NOT appear when you do either search. I don’t know why, it’s arbitrary. Be patient and persistent: If you do a k - word “Guibert Nogent English crusade,” you come up with absolutely nothing. If you do a k - word “Guibert Nogent English crusades,” you will find a reference to Guibert’s crusade chronicle translated into English by Robert Levine!
If you follow some of the “subject” links from this reference, you will find still other primary sources (as well as relevant secondary literature). For example, once you find Guibert of Nogent’s chronicle in English, click on the subject line “Crusades -- First, 1096-1099.” This brings you to 55 more entries, including many sources in translation for the First Crusade. Some of those sources are part of the series “Crusade Texts in Translation,” which can be used to further refine your search.
Suddenly, you’ve got more chronicles for the First Crusade in English than you ever could have wanted. Please observe that the “language notes” section of the online Davis citation will often say things like “English translation from the Latin.” That way you know whether the text is in English or not. Once you’ve found a source in translation, investigate the notes and/or the bibliography: They may very well supply you with other authors’ names and other texts in translation to help you continue your search.
If you’re searching for primary sources, you might also try the following site at Fordham, the Medieval Sources Bibliography. Notice the “List of Authors” option on the left-hand side of the search page, which will let you know how to precisely spell authors’ names: http://medievalsourcesbibliography.org/index.html
SEARCH ENGINES FOR SCHOLARLY ARTICLES
Now that you’ve found your primary sources, you’ll want to further refine your grasp on the relevant scholarship. Finding books in the Davis library is relatively easy. Finding articles can be a bit more tricky. Of course, in many cases, the bibliography of a book will point you toward articles and essays. Another approach is to try some online search engines:
The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB): a top-notch search engine for secondary literature, updated to include all but the most recent articles. NOTE: unlike JSTOR, the site does not include actual articles, but provides citations that will need to be tracked down in Davis Library. In terms of content, this site is far superior to JSTOR. Access the IMB via the Electronic Resources section on the Davis Library homepage.
Bibliography of the History of Art: similar to the IMB, but for art history. Also accessed through the Electronic Resources section on the Davis Library homepage.
Feminae - Medieval Women’s and Gender Index: search engine and resources with an emphasis on women’s and gender history: http://www.haverford.edu/library/reference/mschaus/mfi/mfi.html
L'Année philologique: search engine for secondary literature dealing with the patristic era and early Christianity, materials too early for the IMB. Also accessed through the Electronic Resources section on the Davis Library homepage. When using, start with the “full text” search mode (essential a k-word search option).
Again, be patient! If you search for “Guibert of Nogent” on the IMB in the “all index terms” line, you get zero hits. If you type “Nogent,” you get 134 hits. If you type “Nogent” and “crusade” in the subject line, you get 12 hits. If you look closely at the entries for those citations, you’ll see that the IMB generally lists his name as “Guibert de Nogent.” Now try that search in the “all index terms.” While “Guibert of Nogent” results in zero hits, “Guibert de Nogent” yields 105.
Please note: these sites do not include articles, just citations. Next you need to find the volume or journal in the Davis library. JSTOR, of course, can be helpful and includes actual Pdf files of the articles, but JSTOR only offers a limited selection of the possible scholarship. Trust me—JSTOR does not cover all of your bases for a research paper.
ONLINE RESOURCES
The Internet simply has not supplanted the library as a source for research projects, not yet anyway. That’s why I generally forbid my students from using Internet resources for their research papers. However, it would be foolish not to admit that the Internet provides a possible starting point and source of inspiration for formulating research questions and finding materials. Not to mention, it’s convenient. Some helpful sites:
UNC Green Library Medieval Studies Guide: If you want to explore resources beyond this homepage, this would be a good starting point.
http://www.lib.unc.edu/reference/hum/medieval.html
The Labyrinth: A vast online resource at Georgetown with links to numerous other websites, including secondary literature and sources in translation.
http://labyrinth.georgetown.edu/
Internet Medieval Sourcebook: An extensive site of sources in translation, often from older (frankly outdated) collections (with links to online Ancient History, Women’s History, Saints Lives Sourcebooks and more). Offers a starting point for research but NOT appropriate for your average research paper.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
The Douay-Rheims Bible: If you’re using a Bible for a medieval paper, use this one, which includes both English and the Vulgate Latin text.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Collection of sources in translation for early Christian history, many from the Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (see above under Early Christian Sources in Translation).
STYLE SHEET
This style sheet provides simplified examples of the format used for annotation and bibliographies in the Chicago Manual of Style.
Annotation Format:
Book (Primary Source):
Robert of Clari, The Conquest of Constantinople, trans. E. H. McNeal (New York: Columbia University Press, 1936).
Book (Secondary Source):
Peter Brown, The Cult of Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981).
Article, Journal:
Peter Brown, “A Dark-Age Crisis: Aspects of the Iconoclastic Controversy,” English Historical Review 88 (1973): 1-34.
Article, Edited Volume:
Robert Lerner, “The Medieval Return to the Thousand-Year Sabbath,” in The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, ed. Bernard McGinn (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002), pp. 234-55.
Note: Please use the “article, edited volume” format for a primary source that is translated and excerpted in a sourcebook or collection of primary source documents, including the medieval, author and the title of their work, along with the title of the source collection, the modern editor and/or translator, publisher, date, etc.
Citations should be in footnotes (not endnotes or internal citation). Footnotes should be consecutively numbered. Insert footnotes at the end of the sentence in question (using Microsoft Word, click on Insert – Reference – Footnote). Cite a work the first time that you make any reference to it (including but not limited to direct quotations), providing a full citation of the work. Subsequent references to that work such use an abbreviated form of citation. Provide page numbers when quoting a source, or even when summarizing an important point from the text (play it safe and cite more rather than less).
AVOID multiple notes per sentence, and place notes at the end of the sentence.
For example:
In his book The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity, Peter Brown argues that the sacred relics of holy men and women occupied a critical space in the piety of early Christians and their ideas about salvation.[1] As Brown declares: “This book is about the joining of Heaven and Earth, and the role, in this joining, of dead human beings.”[2]
Bibliography Format
When applicable, divide your bibliography into two sections, one for primary sources and one for secondary sources. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE FORMAT FOR ANNOTATION AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES.
Follow this example:
Primary Sources
Robert of Clari. The Conquest of Constantinople. Trans. E. H. McNeal. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1936.
Secondary Sources
Brown, Peter. The Cult of Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1981.
Brown, Peter. “A Dark-Age Crisis: Aspects of the Iconoclastic Controversy.” English
Historical Review 88 (1973): 1-34.
Lerner, Robert. “The Medieval Return to the Thousand-Year Sabbath.” In The
Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, ed. Bernard McGinn, 234-55. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002.
NOTE: As a rule of thumb, provide your reader with more and not less information: Include volume numbers, edition numbers, editors and translators etc. Precise formats for more complicated works can be found in the Chicago Manual of Style.
The Bible does not have to be included in your Bibliography. In your text, you can use standard biblical abbreviations and internal citation (2 Thess. 4:3; Gen. 14:13-25, etc.).
If you use JSTOR, please don’t include the link in your citation or bibliography: this is simply not necessary. The original journal is the “real” citation.