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This series includes pioneering editions of medieval historical accounts by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, collections of source materials such as charters and letters and works that applied new historiographical methods to the interpretation of the European middle ages. The nineteenth century saw an upsurge of interest in medieval manuscripts, texts and artefacts, and the enthusiastic efforts of scholars and antiquaries made a large body of material available in print for the first time. Although many of the analyses have been superseded, they provide fascinating evidence of the academic practices of their time, while a considerable number of texts have still not been re-edited and are still widely consulted.

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211 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Medieval History

Page 4 of 11

Yorkshire Deeds
  • Volume 2
  • Edited by William Brown
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    14 February 2013
    First published in:
    1914
  • Published between 1909 and 1955, this ten-volume collection contains deeds relating to all of Yorkshire, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. The deeds are of local historical interest, and provide topographical, philological and genealogical information, as well as insights into daily life. The majority of the records here are presented as abstracts, while documents in the vernacular that are of greater interest or importance are printed in full. Where possible, the documents are dated. Thorough background information and discussion of the deeds is included, as are notable physical descriptions, in particular of the seals. Each volume concludes with an index of people and places. Edited by William Brown (1854–1924) and published in 1914, Volume 2 contains documents relating to all of Yorkshire, most notably Bolton Hall as well as Manston and Moor Monkton manors. In his introduction, Brown points out deeds which are of particular interest to women's history.

I libri commemoriali della Republica di Venezia
  • Regestri
  • Volume 8
  • Edited by Riccardo Predelli
  • Published online:
    05 August 2015
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1914
  • This eight-volume set of summaries of state documents (commemoriali) of the Republic of Venice, compiled and edited by Riccardo Predelli (1842–1909), appeared between 1876 and 1914 as part of a wider series, 'Monumenti Storici', devoted to publishing the content of the nine-hundred-year-old archives of Venice at a time when the original documents seemed in danger of being lost through decay. Predelli notes in his preface that a similar concern was expressed by Doge Iacopo Tiepolo, who in 1248 ordered a commission to sort and codify the legal statutes of the city, which were in complete confusion. The works, arranged roughly in chronological order, provide summaries (and sometimes complete documents) of the political, diplomatic, commercial and legal activities of the Republic. Volume 8, completed after Predelli's death by Pietro Bosmin and published in 1914, contains books 29–33 of the Commemoriali, covering the period from the 1570s to 1787.

Select Charters and Other Illustrations of English Constitutional History from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward the First
  • William Stubbs
  • Edited by H. W. C. Davis
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    22 March 2012
    First published in:
    1913
  • William Stubbs (1825–1901), one of the leading historians of his generation, pursued his academic research alongside his work as a clergyman. He was elected Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1866 and appointed a bishop in 1884. Stubbs was a major figure in medieval English historiography, with special interests in legal and constitutional history. This work was first published in 1870. It begins with an outline of English constitutional history, which he urged should be part of the curriculum, and then presents documents from Roman times up to the thirteenth century. Eight editions followed in Stubbs' lifetime, and it became a core textbook. The ninth edition of 1913, revised by H. W. C. Davis (1874–1928), is reissued here, and contains better editions and translations of Anglo-Saxon and French texts than were available in Stubbs' lifetime, as well as some then newly discovered material and an updated glossary.

British Borough Charters 1042–1216
  • Edited by Adolphus Ballard
  • Published online:
    12 April 2011
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1913
  • Adolphus Ballard (1867–1915) was an English historian specialising in the medieval history of the borough. This volume, first published in 1913, was the first major examination of borough charters from the early medieval period. Ballard analyses an extensive collection of municipal documents and charters dating from before 1216 to understand the stages in the origin and development of boroughs, their mercantile and jurisdictional privileges and the relationship of burgage privileges and finances to those in other boroughs. The first half of the book discusses these topics in detail, with three supplementary essays concerning the essentials of the borough, its development as a legal entity, and comparisons with borough developments in other European countries which provide additional historical context. The second half gives the Latin text and English translations of the collection of documents analysed in the first part.

Early Wars of Wessex
  • Being Studies from England’s School of Arms in the West
  • Albany F. Major
  • Edited by Charles W. Whistler
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    02 November 2010
    First published in:
    1913
  • This 1913 book was considered ground-breaking on first publication. While there are few documentary sources for Anglo-Saxon history, Major uses his intimate knowledge of the geography of the West County to re-interpret the surviving records. By examining physical and archaeological evidence, he sheds new light on the foundation and development of the kingdom of Wessex. He also uses modern boundaries, place names and local traditions, previously overlooked by scholars, to understand how Wessex history was shaped. He shows how the kingdom was first established, and its boundaries extended through warfare with its neighbours, between the late fifth to eighth centuries. Thereafter, famously led by Alfred the Great, Wessex fought and survived Viking invasions; but eventually fell to the Normans in 1066. Although much new archaeological evidence has been uncovered since the book was written, it continues to demonstrate the significance of landscape and folklore study to history.

A History of the Eastern Roman Empire
  • From the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil I (A.D. 802–867)
  • J. B. Bury
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1912
  • The classical historian J. B. Bury (1861–1927) was the author of a history of Greece which was a standard textbook for over a century. He also wrote on the later history of the Roman empire, and, in this 1912 work, examines the Byzantine empire in the ninth century. The book is a continuation of his two-volume History of the Later Roman Empire of 1889, which covers the period from 395 to 800 (and is also reissued in this series), and reflects Bury's belief that the century-long so-called Amorian epoch 'is not a mere epilogue, and is much more than a prologue' between the better-known periods of Byzantine history that preceded and followed it. In this period, iconoclasm again became a cause of civil strife, and wars on the eastern frontier were a strain on the military resources of the empire, while at least two of the emperors were murdered.

The Abbot’s House at Westminster
  • J. Armitage Robinson
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    02 February 2011
    First published in:
    1911
  • In this 1911 work, J. Armitage Robinson uses architectural and documentary sources to discuss the history of the abbot's buildings at Westminster Abbey. The medieval monastic remains are extensive, but have been considerably modified over the centuries. The abbey muniments provide much information on the building's history, and Robinson includes many documents, both medieval and post-Reformation, to trace the development of the complex and how it was used. As dean of the abbey, Robinson had unprecedented access, and so was able to work out the architectural history more fully than had been possible in previous studies. As the abbey grew in importance and wealth, so the status of the abbot grew, necessitating grander buildings for entertaining. The medieval abbey must have been a continual building site, to judge by the frequent references to structural work in the accounts. This is a valuable study of an important surviving medieval building.

Gilbert Crispin Abbot of Westminster
  • A Study of the Abbey under Norman Rule
  • J. Armitage Robinson
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    26 August 2010
    First published in:
    1911
  • Gilbert Crispin (c. 1045–1117/18), fourth abbot of Westminster Abbey, was a scion of an important Norman family. Trained at Bec under St Anselm, later archbishop of Canterbury, he was a noted scholar and theologian. Under his rule, Westminster Abbey began to expand physically and grow in importance, making full play of its position as the chosen burial site of Edward the Confessor. The necessity to raise funds for the building work probably led to Crispin's association with the London Jewish community, and this was to inspire his most important theological work, Disputation with a Jew. In this 1911 book, J. Robinson Armitage, then dean of Westminster, mines the abbey archives to write both a biography and a discussion of Crispin's thirty-year administration of Westminster. He also includes the texts of all Crispin's known writings, together with a selection of charters. A significant work on a hitherto neglected Anglo-Norman churchman.

The Imperial Administrative System in the Ninth Century
  • With a Revised Text of the Kletorologion of Philotheos
  • J. B. Bury
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1911
  • The classical historian J. B. Bury (1861–1927) was the author of a history of Greece (also reissued in this series) which served as a standard textbook for over a century. He also wrote on the later history of the Roman empire, and, in this 1911 work, examines the text (of which he provides an edition) of the 'Kletorologion' of Philotheos, an otherwise unknown official at the court of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI in the late ninth century. The work is a guide to precedence and court hierarchy, which at this time were of great political and social importance. Bury uses it to throw light on an administrative process in a period from which few other administrative documents have survived, but also works backwards from it to the far better recorded period of the reign of Justinian, demonstrating the likely developments of the imperial system in the intervening three centuries.

The Royal Charters of the City of Lincoln
  • Henry II to William III
  • Translated by Walter de Gray Birch
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    26 August 2010
    First published in:
    1911
  • Lincoln was one of the wealthiest English cities from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, although it subsequently declined. This 1911 volume edited by Walter de Gray Birch contains transcripts and translations of the royal charters issued to the city of Lincoln between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries. The introduction discusses the physical condition, content, and importance of the charters, and the necessity for their preservation and publication as the foundations of modern civic democracy. The charters cover a wide range of topics, including protecting the guilds from outside competition, permitting the election of civic officers, allowing building work, and the holding of regular markets. The city authorities were diligent in getting charters and privileges confirmed by successive monarchs, which preserved the content of early, now lost, documents. Although the translations do contain some errors and misunderstandings of the original, this is a valuable collection of documents on city administration.

A Formula Book of English Official Historical Documents
  • Volume 2, Ministerial and Judicial Records
  • Edited by Hubert Hall
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    29 July 2010
    First published in:
    1909
  • This 1909 work forms a second supplement to Hall's Studies in English Official Historical Documents. It gives examples of a wide range of English ministerial and judicial documents from the ninth to the seventeenth centuries. These are arranged according to type and purpose, the majority in Latin. The intention is to assist the user of such archival materials, by familiarising them with the format and language used in each kind of document, and explaining why and how they were written. The 80 transcriptions were made by palaeography students at the London School of Economics, and classified and edited with extensive notes by Mr Hall. They are not literal transcriptions, as contractions have been expanded, and the punctuation and capitalisation modernised. To save space standard formulas have not been repeated each time. Despite the lack of any illustrations of originals, the book filled a need long felt by students of history.

The History of Westminster Abbey
  • John Flete
  • Edited by J. Armitage Robinson
  • Published online:
    05 October 2013
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1909
  • The Dean of Westminster, J. Armitage Robinson (1862–1936), was responsible for the publication of several works about the history of the abbey (his Manuscripts of Westminster Abbey and Gilbert Crispin, Abbot of Westminster are also reissued in this series). This edition of a manuscript history in Latin, written by the monk John Flete (c. 1420–1465) was published in 1909. Robinson's introduction discusses the history of the text, the manuscript sources, the nature of the content (which contains Fleet's transcriptions of charters and other documents) and the reliability of Flete's chronology. The text itself is not translated, but side-notes in English provide an abstract of the narrative, which begins in legendary times with the foundation of the abbey by 'King Lucius' in 184 CE. Flete also describes the appearance of the abbey in his own day, and the ceremonies of national significance which took place in this ancient building.

Yorkshire Deeds
  • Volume 1
  • Edited by William Brown
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    14 February 2013
    First published in:
    1909
  • Published between 1909 and 1955, this ten-volume collection contains deeds relating to all of Yorkshire, from the twelfth to the seventeenth century. The deeds are of local historical interest, and provide topographical, philological and genealogical information, as well as insights into daily life. The majority of the records here are presented as abstracts, while documents in the vernacular that are of greater interest or importance are printed in full. Where possible, the documents are dated. Thorough background information and discussion of the deeds is included, as are notable physical descriptions, in particular of the seals. Each volume concludes with an index of people and places. Edited by William Brown (1854–1924) and published in 1909, Volume 1 contains 613 documents arranged alphabetically according to place name. Facsimile plates along with full transcriptions of several notable documents are found in the appendix.

A Formula Book of English Official Historical Documents
  • Volume 1, Diplomatic Documents
  • Edited by Hubert Hall
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    29 July 2010
    First published in:
    1908
  • This 1908 work supplements Hall's Studies in English Official Historical Documents. It gives examples of a wide range of English diplomatic documents from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries. These are arranged according to type and purpose, the majority in Latin, but others in French or English. The intention is to assist the user of such archival materials, by familiarising them with the format and language used in each kind of document, and explaining why and how they were written. The 211 transcriptions were made by palaeography students at the London School of Economics, and classified and edited with extensive notes by Mr Hall. They are not literal transcriptions, as contractions have been expanded, and the punctuation and capitalisation modernised. To save space, standard formulas have not been repeated each time. Despite the lack of any illustrations of originals, the book filled a need long felt by students of history.

Bibliographie Générale des Cartulaires Français ou Relatifs à l'Histoire de France
  • Henri Stein
  • Published online:
    12 April 2011
    Print publication:
    23 September 2010
    First published in:
    1907
  • In 1907, Henri Stein published his Bibliographie Générale des Cartulaires Français ou Relatifs à l'Histoire de France, a work quickly hailed by reviewers as an 'indispensable bibliographic tool' in the study of Francophone medieval history. More than 4,500 entries list extant cartularies found not just within the national boundaries of France but in medieval French-speaking and French-influenced regions - including present-day western Switzerland, Belgium, Germany west of the Rhine, and parts of Spain. Stein includes cartularies of religious as well as civic provenance, and for each entry provides detailed manuscript information, where known, and publication history, when applicable. Two extensive tables list all the foundations, ecclesiastic and civil, included. Meticulous in execution and ambitious in scope, Stein's Bibliographie Générale remains one of the most important and complete guides to the cartulary genre, and a central resource for scholars interested in the economic and political history of the region.

I libri commemoriali della Republica di Venezia
  • Regestri
  • Volume 7
  • Edited by Riccardo Predelli
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1907
  • This eight-volume set of summaries of state documents (commemoriali) of the Republic of Venice was compiled and edited by Riccardo Predelli (1842–1909), and appeared between 1876 and 1914 as part of a wider series, 'Monumenti Storici', devoted to publishing the content of the nine-hundred-year-old archives of Venice at a time when the original documents seemed in danger of being lost through decay. Predelli notes in his preface that a similar concern was expressed by Doge Iacopo Tiepolo, who in 1248 ordered a commission to sort and codify the legal statutes of the city, which were in complete confusion. The works, arranged roughly in chronological order, provide summaries (and sometimes complete documents) of the political, diplomatic, commercial and legal activities of the Republic, and are a fascinating research resource. Volume 7 (published 1907) contains books 24–28 of the Commemoriali, covering the period from the 1560s to the 1640s.

Liber Memorandorum Ecclesie de Bernewelle
  • Edited by John Willis Clark
  • Introduction by F. W. Maitland
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1907
  • The Priory of St Giles and St Andrew, Barnwell, was among the earliest English communities of Augustinian Canons, founded by the Sheriff of Cambridge in 1092. Although little survives of its physical remains, the Liber Memorandorum, edited in 1907 by J. W. Clark, is a significant source for both Cambridge and Augustinian history. Although often referred to as a cartulary, its contents are more wide ranging than just a collection of legal documents. It includes a history of the foundation, and many items concerning the relations between Barnwell and the surrounding area, including disputes with the University. The text was compiled around 1296 from earlier records, although the calendar contains later obituaries. The edition includes a valuable explanation of the documents' legal content by the leading legal historian F. W. Maitland, and is an important resource for researchers in medieval legal or church history, as well as that of the Cambridge area.

A Late Eighth-Century Latin–Anglo-Saxon Glossary Preserved in the Library of the Leiden University
  • Edited by Jan Hendrik Hessels
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    16 June 2011
    First published in:
    1906
  • Prior to his 1890 publication of the Corpus Christi Latin–Old English MS, also reissued in this series, Jan Hendrik Hessels (1836–1926) had begun transcribing this equally important text, of which his edition was published in 1906. (He explains the delay by referring to 'work of another nature': his monumental edition of the archive of the Dutch Church in London (1887–1897), also now available in the Cambridge Library Collection.) Hessels again provides a thorough introduction, including a detailed physical description of the manuscript alongside its history, provenance, and a wealth of other information. The work contains extracts from various texts and treatises, and Hessels' cross-references to other glossaries demonstrate the importance of the Leiden MS for gloss-literature, and will be of use to philologists, scholars of Old English and medieval Latin, and historians of the medieval period.

Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen
  • Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Savigny-Stiftung
  • Volume 2, Wörterbuch, Rechts- und Sachglossar
  • Edited and translated by Felix Lieberman
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    30 April 2015
    First published in:
    1906
  • This edition of the laws promulgated by successive Anglo-Saxon rulers over a period of five centuries was published in three volumes between 1903 and 1916 by the German historian Felix Lieberman (1851–1925), and is still regarded as authoritative. This unique body of early medieval legal writing, unparalleled in other Germanic languages, provides valuable source material for scholars of Old English and of legal history, and Lieberman's thorough engagement with the manuscripts has never been surpassed. Volume 2 contains a dictionary of the Old English, Latin and French words found in the texts in Volume 1. The dictionary is presented in one alphabetical sequence, and is followed by a German glossary of legal terms listing references in the texts, other medieval works and later scholarship. Frederick Attenborough's The Laws of the Early English Kings (1922), providing a modern English translation of early Anglo-Saxon laws, is also reissued in this series.

Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield
  • Volume 2 , 1297 to 1309
  • Edited by William Paley Baildon
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    21 March 2013
    First published in:
    1906
  • The detailed records of the proceedings of the manorial court of Wakefield provide a unique insight into medieval life and commerce, the many legal disputes arising, and the mechanisms for resolving them. The manor court met every three weeks, as well as holding additional courts, or 'tourns', at various locations around the West Riding of Yorkshire. Recognising the historical significance of these court records, in 1901 the Yorkshire Archaeological Society began publishing them as part of its Record Series, continuing intermittently until 1945 and ultimately producing five volumes that span the years 1274–1331. Edited by William Paley Baildon (1859–1924) and published in 1906, Volume 2 contains the court rolls for the years 1297–1309. The editor's introduction provides an explanation of the workings of the court and the content of the rolls, the texts of which are in English.

Page 4 of 11