Doing Research

For the Investiture Controversy game, each student has a different series of concerns and topics they need to investigate. Unlike a course with a set reading list that every student reads, this course requires you to discover research which is specifically tailored to your specific character. Thus, the course expects you to do independent research.

  • To simplify this process, I have created folders on Perusall with key secondary sources (i.e. research books/ articles) and key primary sources in translation (some page-long, others book-length) on the Investiture Controversy. Instead of going out to look for academic studies, you could start there. This option is best for those students who like to browse.

  • I (the professor) am always happy to meet with students one-on-one in my office or via Teams

  • you can also seek research help from Susan Tudin, the history-subject specialist in the Library and there is an online research guide to Medieval History on the library website.

While many students are already accomplished historical researchers, some of you might be coming to class from outside the discipline of History, or are new to the medieval period. This page is a quick start guide to doing research about the Middle Ages.

Links are to the library catalogue.

Perhaps you have a specific topic that you need to examine. I strongly suggest that you do not want to jump straight into the most complex, narrow and detailed academic articles you can find (i.e. don't use Google scholar at first).

Where to start:

You might want to get a general historical background to the time period before you launch into a more detailed study. A good textbook is:

  • Rosenwein, Barbara H. A Short History of the Middle Ages. Fifth edition. Toronto, Ontario : University of Toronto Press, 2018. This book provides a quick overview to centuries of history of the medieval Mediterranean world. Good for an introductory student.

  • Fouracre, Paul., Rosamond. McKitterick, et al. The New Cambridge Medieval History. Cambridge [England] ;: Cambridge University Press, 1995. This is a multivolume history, which is pitched to an upper-year undergraduate (UK) readership. There are detailed lengthy overviews of national histories and thematic topics (such as history of the papacy). The volume key to our time period (abbreviated as NC) is on Perusall.

Your character might need to discuss key theological concepts or specific things about the Church which are novel to you. The best starting point is to find a dictionary or encylopedia which is focussed on the Middle Ages, and only later looking for book length studies.

  • Bjork, Robert E. The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2010. This is a searchable online reference work which allows you easily and quickly to find a concise academic entry on medieval topics. Entries have references to key individuals and academic works you can then track down afterwards. On the Key Ideas page, I've linked directly to this resource.

I continue to caution students about using Wikipedia when it comes to Church history. Generally I find wikipedia a useful starting point for many topics, but not about theological/ doctrinal/ church history because a large number of entries were batch imported from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia which is a SUPER problematic and ahistorical reference work.

Primary Sources

There are a number of primary sources already posted on Perusall for students, but if you wish to go further afield there are other resources to consider:

Deep Dives

Once you have gotten a sense of the field, if you need to be exhaustive in your searches, I recommend using:

  • The International Medieval Bibliography. This database compiles academic works in most European languages in print and available online. There is lots of stuff here, but most is too advanced to read unless you have done introductory reading first.

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