LibGuides: GU-Q HIST-007: Introduction to Early History: Europe I: Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary sources are documents, images or artifacts that provide firsthand testimony or direct evidence concerning an historical topic under research investigation.

Primary sources are original documents created or experienced contemporaneously with the event being researched.

A secondary source is a work that interprets or analyzes an historical event or period after the event has occurred and, generally speaking, with the use of primary sources.

Source: UCI Libraries

Books - with Primary Sources

The Renaissance and Reformation by Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Call Number: CB359 .W44 2012
At first glance, the Renaissance and the Reformation - two movements (one cultural, one religious) that defined Europe from 1400 to 1600 - may appear to be polar opposites.
The German Reformation and the Peasants' War by Michael G. Baylor
Call Number: DD182 .B22 2012
The Protestant Reformation, begun with Martin Luther's posting of The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, rapidly escalated into an evangelical reform movement that transformed European Christianity.
Louis XIV and Absolutism by William Beik
Call Number: DC125 .B455 2000
This unique collection of documents with commentary explores the meaning of absolute monarchy by examining how Louis XIV of France became one of Europe's most famous and successful rulers.

Primary Sources

Archives Unbound
Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Collections in Archives Unbound cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history.
Bibliotheque virtuelle des manuscrits medievaux
A digital library of medieval manuscripts from French libraries across the country (but not the National Library), made available by the IRHT (Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes) .
Byzantium
Byzantine studies on the Internet

Cambridge Histories This link opens in a new window
This unique historical reference compendium allows instant access to the renowned texts of the Cambridge Histories series. Providing full-text access for all collection content published up to the year 2015, Cambridge Histories Online is an invaluable resource, for undergraduates, graduates, lecturers and researchers alike.

Crusades: Selected Sources (Fordham University)
Read selected full-text from the period of Urban II's 1095 CE speech to the lesser known expeditions of the late 13th century.

Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation This link opens in a new window
Full-text collection of 16th- and 17th-century Catholic papal and synodal decrees, catechisms and inquisitorial manuals, biblical commentaries, theological treatises and systems, liturgical writings, saints' lives and devotional works.

Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Reproduces books, pamphlets, and broadsides on a variety of topics, created from 1475 to 1700.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
Digital reproductions of every page of significant English- and foreign-language titles printed in Great Britain during the 18th century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas and elsewhere. Searches the full text of books, pamphlets, essays, and other non-periodical materials including the complete works of major 18th-century writers.
Epistolae
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.
EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History Selected Transcriptions, Facsimiles and Translations
Links to European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. They shed light on key historical happenings within the respective countries and within the broadest sense of political, economic, social and cultural history.
Europeana
Online access to paintings, music, films and books from Europe's galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
European History Primary Sources
Index of scholarly websites that offer online access to digitized primary sources on European history.
Intenet Medieval History Sourcebook from Fordham
This is an online source book of copy-permitted, although not necessarily copyright-free, source material for Medieval Studies. It is the largest online resource of medieval and Byzantine textual sources.
International Medieval Bibliography
Indexes articles published in journals and in miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, collected essays, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues) published worldwide. All subjects relating to the Middle Ages are included, within the date range 400 to 1500 AD. Geographical areas covered are Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook from Fordham
Now with almost as many online texts as the Medieval Sourcebook, this also constitutes a "classroom usable" sourcebook of copy-permitted material for Modern European history and Modern Civilization courses. North American and Latin American documents are located within its structure.
Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
A bibliography of scholarship drawn from Medieval and Renaissance books, dissertations, and journal materials (articles, reviews, review articles, bibliographies, catalogues, abstracts and discographies). Covers the years 400 to 1700. Indexes publications from the mid-1800's to the present.
The Labyrinth
A diverse collection of Medieval studies resources hosted by Georgetown University.

Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window
Collection of digital facsimile images of 61,000 works of literature on economics and business published from 1450 through 1945. Covers commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade and transport.

Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online
Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online (MEMSO) is an essential resource for the study of Britain and its place in the world during the medieval and early modern period (c. 1100-1800).
Medieval Travel Writing
Provides an extensive collection of manuscript materials for the study of medieval travel writing in fact and in fantasy. The main focus is accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China. The core of the material is a magnificent collection of medieval manuscripts from libraries across Europe and dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries.
The Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL) is a collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization.
The Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL) is a collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization.
Parker Library
Digitized manuscripts spanning from the sixth-century Gospels of St. Augustine to sixteenth-century records relating to the English Reformation.
Past Masters
Provides scholarly complete editions of classics (or selections from classics) in philosophy, literature, political science and economics. Examples of authors include Aristotle, Machiavelli, Shelley, Mill, Hume, Nietzsche, Bronte and Adam Smith. In English translation and/or the original language.
Perseus Digital Library
Originating out of the Classics Department at Tufts University, this Website now includes primary and secondary resources in Classics, the English Renaissance, and more.
Welcome to Medieval Family Life
Medieval Family Life contains full-color images of the original medieval manuscripts that comprise the Paston, Cely, Plumpton, Stonor, and Armburgh family letter collections, along with full-text searchable transcripts from printed editions. Also includes family trees, chronology, a map, and a glossary.
WessWeb
The Western European Studies Section (WESS) is a section within the Association of College and Research Libraries and contains sources originating in or related to Western European countries.