Period Documents, Books, Codecies & Treatises

The Collection of Parchments (Fund No 101) of the Rare Book and Manuscript Department of Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. The largest group of documents are from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, dated 1465 to 1818.

Seals on letters intended to be broken off as a simple security measure, but also acted as authentica tion of the sender. Seals affixed to the surface of a page of a public document as authentica tion of the writer had a tendency to fall off, which was a problem when the seal was the a major means used to prove a document was genuine, which was a concern in a rapidly bureaucrat ising society making the transition from verbal to written agreements .

Images and detailed descriptions of the collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. The descriptions, compiled by several generations of curators, often contain information not available elsewhere, such as complete lists of texts and illustrations within a manuscript and bibliographies.

A collaborative database on the published sources of English medieval legal documents, with links to the growing number of online sources currently being developed. The guide has been created for the use of scholars and students of English medieval law, and it is our expectation that it will continue to grow and take off in new directions, based on the contributions of legal scholars, librarians, and information specialists throughout the world.

These links connect to Western European primary historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. They shed light on key historical happenings within the respective countries and within the broadest sense of political, economic, social and cultural history. The order of documents is chronological wherever possible. These open access sources are readily available to all -- without fees or subscriptions.

High-quality images from the Gutenberg Bible.

Includes an archive of links to historical manucripts.

Asnapium: An Inventory of One of Charlemagne's Estates, c. 800 from the Medieval Sourcebook. Examples of included items are: bed clothes, kitchen ware, farm implements, measures of dry goods and harvests, cattle and fowl, specific garden herb and trees.

Photograph s of documents with seal tags, both open and folded up, and (at the bottom of the page) an example of how to replicate the look.

The complete fascimile of the "Monumenta Germaniae Historica" online. This contains numerous documents from 500-1500AD in German history, such as a Carolingian estate inventory. It is entirely in Latin.

A searchable bibliography of texts -- from private letters, wills, and household accounts to literary works, philosophical treatises, chronicles, court proceedings, church records, and a host of other documents -- that were written in the Middle Ages and are now available in printed or online editions and translations. The aim is to provide annotated entries that include information on the genre, contents, archival reference and original language of the text, as well as whether the publication includes a translation, introduction, appendices, glossary, and index. Where appropriate, the bibliography also includes hyperlinks to sources that are online.

Preliminary report, on the medieval runic inscriptions from Bryggen in Bergen, Norway. Includes both photographs of inscised objects, and transcriptions.

A series of blog posts, with photos and descriptio ns of documents with seal tags.

Russian language site, with photos of almost 1000 birch bark letters from XI-XV centuries. Text is written in the dialect of Old Novgorod, and translated into modern Russian.

A central index for pre-1600 books, both books directly on the web, and information for finding interesting books in libraries.

Home of the Book of Kells

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

The principal objectives of the WDL are to:
Promote international and intercultural understanding;
Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.