Archives aren't the only place to do medieval history research! Thanks to the hard work of archivists, librarians, historians, and translators, there is an abundance of medieval documents available online, many of them in English translation and free to access. Below, you'll find guides to and collections of medieval historical documents. These include great sources for teaching medieval history and for research.
Dr. Yvonne Seale's Handlist of Online Medieval Sources in Recent English Translation
This hand-selected list of sources focuses on readable modern English translations. It's a fantastic resource for sources to include in undergraduate teaching.
The Medieval Academy of America's Medieval Digital Resources
This comprehensive guide includes links to a wide range of medieval sources and reference works in a varietyof languages, including visual collections of art and material culture.
Medieval English Genealogy's Medieval Source Material on the Internet
This guide is dedicated to English sources, with a focus on land and legal records. Many of the sources are 19th-century editions.
Fordham University's Internet Medieval Sourcebook
This robust collection includes excerpts and full texts translated into English. It's organized by region and theme.
Columbia University's Epistolae
This website contains a collection of letters written to and by women between the 4th and 13th centuries. It includes the original Latin text and English translations.
Stanford's Global Medieval Sourcebook
A collection of medieval texts from around the world. This website features manuscript images, transcriptions, and translations side-by-side.
The Haskins Society's Documents and Articles
A small collection of translated administrative documents, narratives, and letters from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The Hill Museum and Manuscript Library's Online Resources for the Study of Manuscript Cultures
A collection of digital medieval manuscripts and tools for learning about paleography and manuscript study.
Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis's Manuscript Research Resources
A set of links and tools for learning about medieval manuscripts, identifying manuscripts, and analyzing their provenance.
This website, created by a group of medievalists, offers a variety of teaching resources, including video lectures, translated primary sources, and other teaching materials.
TARA: Teaching and Research Archive for the History of Christianity
A collection of teaching materials on the history of Christianity through the 20th century, including source materials, bibliographies, syllabi, and assignments, put together by the American Society of Church History.