Tips
Encyclopedias are great for:
- choosing a topic
- quick self-education
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, vocabulary, terminology
- bibliography
Cambridge Histories Online
Excellent resource. Full text. Chapters as pdfs. Extremely high quality essays with rich footnotes and bibliography.
OED
- Oxford English Dictionary OnlineThe OED Online contains the complete A to Z sequence of the Second Edition, its three-volume Additions Series, and also draft material from the revision programme, which represents the latest progress towards the Third Edition.
Recommended Medieval Encyclopedias
- Oxford Classical Dictionary. 5th edition.Much more than a dictionary. An excellent source for sources on all aspects of the Classical World.
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlineOffers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the Middle Ages.
- Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research ReviewsThe complete texts of the Oxford handbooks in Archaeology, Business and Management, Classical Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics and Finance, History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Religion online.
- Brill's Medieval Reference LibraryA collection of scholarly encyclopedias focused on the Middle Ages.
- Ancient History EncyclopediaArticles on Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Project of the European Union.
- Oxford Art OnlineOxford Art Online enables access and cross-search functionality to Grove and Oxford reference content in one location. Provides access to Grove Art Online, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes image partnerships with ARTstor, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Images for College Teaching, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society and numerous international art galleries and artists.
Medieval Encyclopedias
The Oxford Handbook of Late AntiquityPublication Date: 2012Excellent overview chapters on a variety of topics.
A Companion to Ostrogothic ItalyPublication Date: 2016Syntheses of recent scholarship on key topics, from the Ostrogothic army and administration to religious diversity and ecclesiastical development, ethnicity, cultural achievements, urbanism, and the rural economy, the Ostrogothic provinces beyond the Italian lands, gender and the Ostrogothic court, and Ostrogothic Italy's environmental history.
Medieval Islamic Civilization: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2005Online:
Volume I : A-K, Volume II : L-Z Two volumes, illustrated. Covers fields such as Arabic languages, Arabic literature, architecture, art history, history, history of science, Islamic arts, Islamic studies, Middle Eastern studies, Near Eastern studies, politics, religion, Semitic studies, theology, and more.
The Oxford Dictionary of ByzantiumPublication Date: 1991Three-volume, comprehensive dictionary of Byzantine civilization.
Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2000Covers the peoples, places, technologies, and intellectual concepts that contributed to trade, travel and exploration during the Middle Ages, from the years A.D. 525 to 1492.
Medieval France: an EncyclopediaISBN: 0824044444Publication Date: 1995Covers the political, intellectual, literary, and musical history of the country from the early fifth century to the late 15th.
Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2006
The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval EuropePublication Date: 2013
Medieval Iberia: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2002Focuses on the Iberian kingdoms from the fall of the Roman Empire to the aftermath of the Reconquista.
Medieval Jewish Civilization: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2002Medieval Jewish civilization, from the fall of the Roman Empire to about 1492.
New Catholic EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2002
The Oxford Dictionary of SaintsConcise accounts of the lives, cults, and artistic associations of over 1,400 saints. Excellent bibliography.
Encyclopedia of Early ChristianityPublication Date: 1997
Medieval Scandinavia: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 1993Religion, education, politics and law, culture and material life, history, literature, and art. A valuable and absorbing volume for students of the Norse sagas, the Viking age, and Old English history and literature, and more.- Medieval Archaeology: an EncyclopediaCall Number: Olin Reference D125.M42x 2001+
Medieval England: An EncyclopediaPublication Date: 1998All aspects of life and culture in medieval England-art, architecture, law, literature, kings, commoners, women, music, commerce, technology, warfare, religion, and many others.
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle AgesPublication Date: 2010Four volumes. Key aspects of European history, society, religion, and culture from 500 to 1500. Since neighbouring areas of Asia and North Africa impinged on and helped shape the civilization of the West, relevant aspects ofthe Byzantine Empire, the Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples such as the Avars and the Mongols are included.
