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Medieval Studies—Encyclopedias & Subject Dictionaries

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Online reference sources

While the major biographical collections are listed elsewhere, most of the dictionaries and encyclopedias below often include extensive biographical information. Because religion is so much part and parcel of medieval history and culture, religion encyclopedias containing extensive material of general historical interest are found in this section. Not listed are the various print editions of the great national encyclopedias shelved in the Info Center, Larousse, Britannica, Meyers, Enciclopedia Italiana, etc., which are often enormously useful.

  • Dictionary of the Middle Ages. 13 v. 1982-1988. D114.D5, Info Center. A basic English-language reference work.
  • Enciclopedia dell'arte medievale. 12 v. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, c1991-2002.
  • Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages / edited by André Vauchez in conjunction with Barrie Dobson and Michael Lapidge ; English translation by Adrian Walford. 2 v. D114 .E53, Info Center.
  • Handbuch der europaeischen Geschichte. Hrsg. von Theodor Schieder. 1976-. D101 .H3, Lane Rm. Vol.1 covers the end of the Ancient world through the 11th century, vol.2 the late Middle Ages, the early chapters of vol.3 treat the transformations of church & state in the 15th and 16th centuries. Each volume includes a thorough person and subject index. Similar to the CMH in its chronological arrangement, encyclopedic articles and extensive bibliographies.
  • Lexikon des Mittelalters.Stanford only 1977-1998. D101.5 .L49, Lane Rm. Articles include a bibliography of primary and secondary works.
  • The New Cambridge Medieval History. 1995-. D117 .N48, Lane Rm.; Stack. The new edition of:
  • The Cambridge Medieval History. 8.v., 1911-1936, D117.C3 plus map supplements, which are still shelved in the Lane Rm. An encyclopedic survey from a traditional political historical viewpoint with substantial bibliographies. There is a new edition of the the Reformation volume (v.2 1990) of The New Cambridge Modern History, (1957, D208.C162); v.1 covers the The Renaissance: 1493-1520. Volumes 1-3 of the The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, 1966-, HC240.C3, survey the period from the beginning of the Middle Ages through the 15th century. The Cambridge illustrated history of the Middle Ages (edited by Robert Fossier) emphasizes contemporary social and economic historical approaches.
  • The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. 4 v. BR302 .8 .O93, Info Center. Covers most aspects of 16th century history. Reformation--Encyclopedias. Reformation--Biography--Encyclopedias. Theology, Doctrinal--Europe--History--16th century--Encyclopedias. Europe--Church history--16th century--Encyclopedias.
Du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis... (7 vols., 1840-1850 ed. PA2914.D8; 10 vols, 1883-1887 ed. PA2914.D81883) is a rich mine of information, especially for France. For a description of the several editions of Du Cange see Strecker (1957) Introduction to Medieval Latin, PA2816 .S713, Lane Rm.

There are numerous other scholarly encyclopedias useful to the medievalist. Among the most important:

Religion & Church History

As mentioned, there is extensive historical material in several important religion reference works. The Lane Room has the English version of Herzog's Realencyclopaedie fuer protestantische Theologie und Kirche: The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 13 v., 1908-14, BR95.S43. Contemporaneous with Schaff-Herzog is Hastings (ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 12v. and index, 1908-1927, which is both scholarly and represents a liberal Protestant viewpoint. We also have the revised Herzog: Theologische Realencyclopaedie, v.1-, 1977-, BR95.T4. Scholarly from a Protestant viewpoint. Another Protestant work is K. Galling (ed.), Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Handwoerterbuch fuer Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, 7 v., 1957-1965, BL31.R42.

The great set of Catholic encyclopedias published by Letouzey in Paris:

Other Catholic works:

Early Church to c.800

  • Augustinus-lexikon. 1986-. BR65 .A9 .A93, Lane Rm.
  • Dizionario patristico e di antichita cristiane, 2 v., 1983, BR66.5.D58; this excellent dictionary represents the contributions of an international panel of experts. Editions of works are listed for individuals and all articles include references to recent secondary works. Coverage generally extends through the 6th century. Translated into English with an updated bibliography as Encyclopedia of the Early Church, 2 v., 1992, BR66.5.D5813.
  • Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 1989, BR162.2.E53. Includes brief bibliographic references.
  • Dictionary of Christian Antiquities.Stanford only 2 v. 1875. BR130 .5 .S6, Lane Rm. Fine work covering church history in a broad sense from the time of the apostles to Charlemagne. A companion work:
  • Dictionary of Christian Biography.Stanford only 4 v. 1877. BR95 .S65.

National Churches

  • Diccionario de historia eclesiastica de Espana, 5 v., 1972, BR1022.D5. A scholary work covering both Iberia and a number of topics involving the western church generally.
  • A Dictionary of English Church History, 1912, BX5007.O5. Old but good, includes episcopal lists.

Theology

  • Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, 15 v., 1909-1950, BX841.D5. Includes much historical material.
  • Sacramentum mundi, 6 v., 1968, BR95.S23. A theological encyclopodedia including relatively extensive references for a popularizing work. Volume 6 includes a subject index. Catholic. The older 3 vol.:
  • A Catholic Dictionary of Theology, 1961, BR95.C27, also remains useful. Both contain substantial historical material.
  • The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1985, BR95.E87, covers similar ground from a Protestant viewpoint and in condensed form.
  • Lexikon fuer Theologie und Kirche. 3. völlig neu bearb. Aufl.12 v. 1993. BR95.L48, Lane Rm.

Other Religions

Shorter Works general & specialized, including dictionaries/encyclopedias by Garland, Greenwood Press, Routledge, Scribner and other serial reference book publishers:

Renaissance

Terminology

  • Bien. 1971-. Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie. Unter Mitwirkung von mehr als 700 Fachgelehrten, in Verbindung mit Guenther Bien [et al.] Voellig neubearb. Ausg. des Woerterbuchs der philosophischen Begriffe von Rudolf Eisler. Lane Rm.
  • Bumpus. 1910. Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Terms; being a history and explanation of certain terms used in architecture, ecclesiology, liturgiology, music, ritual, cathedral constitution, etc
  • Meyer. 1966. Clavis Mediaevalis: kleines Woerterbuch der Ma Forschung. D114.M4. Latin & German index.
  • Fuchs & Raab. 1972. Woerterbuch zur Geschichte. 2 v. D9 .S8. Introduction to the technical language of the historian. Pays attention to sources and to the ecclesiastical, social and economic history of the Middle Ages.
  • Purvis. 1962. Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Terms. BR95 .P8, Info Center. No bibliographical references, and tends not to include little used or antiquated terms. Try Bumpus, above; Theologisches Lexikon, 1981, BR95.T48; and Glossary of Ecclesiastical Terms, 1872, BR96.5.S5.
  • Ueding. 1992-. Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik / herausgegeben von Gert Ueding ; Redaktion, Gregor Kalivoda, Franz-Hubert Robling. Lane Rm.

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