This primary source reader contains a multi-part pedagogical framework to guide the student through the process of historical inquiry and explanation. Its unique structure promotes critical thinking, sharpens analytical skills, and builds student interest in the subject matter. The text features the latest scholarship in the field of Medieval history emphasizing historical study as interpretation rather than memorization of data.

Table of Contents:
Note: Each chapter includes "The Problem," "Sources and Method," "The Evidence," "Questions to Consider," and "Epilogue." 1. Slave Law in Roman and Germanic Society The Evidence: Theodosian Code Digest of Justinian's Code The Burgundian Code Salic Law Lombard Laws Laws of the Alamans Laws of Anglo-Saxon kings 2. The Domesday Book and Medieval Statistics The Evidence: Three versions of an extract from the Domesday Book Statistical data on population, area, and potential agricultural productivity in five medieval English counties 3. The Development of the Medieval State The Evidence: Ordericus Vitalis's Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy Photographs and a ground plan of medieval castles Map of locations of castles built during the reign of William the Conqueror The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Assize of Clarendon Constitutions of Clarendon Descriptions of the coronations of Frederick Barbarossa and Richard the Lionhearted Portrait of Emperor Otto III Bayeux tapestry showing Harold's coronation Photograph of a tomb sculpture of Duke Henry of Brunswick and his wife, Matilda 4. Life at a Medieval University The Evidence: Royal privileges granted to the University of Paris by the king of France, 1200 Statutes for the University of Paris issued by Robert Courcon in 1215 and by Pope Gregory XI in 1231 Robert de Sorbon's regulations for his college Introduction to Peter Abelards Sic et Non St. Amselm's Monologium Odofredus's announcement of his law lectures at Bologna, ca 1255 Emperor Justinian's Digest Extracts from the letters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Anonymous account of a student riot at Oxford in the 13th century Jacques de Vitry's description of student life at Paris ca 1225 An Oxford student's plea to his father for money and a father's letter to his son at Orleans Three anonymous student poems, 12th century 5. Two Faces of "Holy War": Christians and Muslims The Evidence: Muslims on Christians: Usamah ibn-Mungidh on the Franks; Ibn al-Athir on the capture of Jerusalem; Imad ad-Din's History of the Fall of Jerusalem Europeans on Muslims: Peter Tudebode's Historia de Hierosolymitano Itinere (History of the Jerusalem Journey); William of Tyre's A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea 6. The "Commerical Revolution" The Evidence: Six Italian notarial contracts Letters from an Italian merchant Merchants' account books Letter from a merchant to a church official Letter from a 13th-century Norwegian merchant Advice to fellow businessmen from three 14th-century merchants 7. Medicine and Reproduction in the Middle Ages The Evidence: Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine Constantine the African's treatise on impotence Pseudo-Trotula of Salerno's The Diseases of Women Moses Maimonides Ethical Conduct and The Regimen of Health Pseudo-Albertus Magnus's On the Secrets of Women Eucharius Rosslin's Rosegarden for Midwives and Pregnant Women Manuscript showing scenes of uroscopy, childbirth, caesarian section. 8. Facing the Black Death The Evidence: Excerpts from Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History; Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron; Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354; Ioannes Cautacuzenos, Historarum; The chronicle of Jean de Venette Lieferinxe's St. Sebastian Interceding for the Plague-Stricken A prayer to St. Sebastian Citations from the Hadith An Arab doctor's perspective on the Black Death Cryptograms Ibn al-Wardi, "An Essay on the Report of the Pestilence" A 15th-century treatise on the pestilence A report of the Paris medical faculty, October 1348 "A Wholesome Medicine Against All Infirmities " Excerpt from Petrarch, Letters on Familiar Matters" 9. The Family in Medieval English Villages The Evidence: Court roll of village Gnossal, 1492 Court roll from Ramsey, 1460 Court rolls from South Elmham, Wymondham, and Winterborne Court roll from Bromsgrove and King's Norton, 1496 Bylaws from Wistow, 1410 Bylaws from Hitchin, 1471 Three wills from Cranbrook, 1476-1483 The number of offspring over the age of twelve in families, reconstituted from Halesowen court rolls, 1350-1400, by economic status The socioeconomic status of lessors, lessees, vendors, and buyers of land in Halesowen, 1350-1400 10. Craft Guilds: Economic Change and Social Conflict The Evidence: Ordinances of the spurriers' and white-tawyers' guilds of London Ordinance of the silk spinsters in Paris, 1254-1271 Tailors' ordinance from Memmingen, Germany, 1543 Ordinances of ringmakers' and needlemakers' guilds of Nuremberg, 16th century Ordinance for all guilds in Nuremberg, 1543 Goldsmiths' guild ordinance, Nuremberg, 1535 Petition from the silk women of London to Parliament, 1455 Two widows' supplications to the Frankfurt city council, late 16th century Judgment against a draper in Flanders, mid-14th century Dispute between master fullers and their apprentices in Flanders, 1345 Two decisions by the Nuremberg city council, 1577 and 1581 11. Lay Piety and Heresy in the Late Middle Ages The Evidence: Sermon stories about the Virgin Mary and relics, 13th century The Golden Legend, the life of St. Nicholas Two visions of Bridget of Sweden, 1370s The autobiography of Margery Kempe Six testimonies from the Bishop of Pamiers's inquisition From a Norwich heresy trial, 1428-1431 Photographs of German religious carvings from the 14th and 15th centuries