The+Middle+Ages+(Ackerman)

David Ackerman World History The Low Middle Ages

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 * Books:**
 * Archambault, Paul J. trans (2006). //A Monk’s Confession: The Memoirs of Guibert of Nogent//. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park.
 * o Possibly the first autobiography ever written, the book provides an insight into the medieval mindset that students might find interesting if stark.
 * Bede. //The Ecclesiastical History of the English People//. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
 * o One of the first great post-Roman histories it details the decline of Rome in Britannia and then the rise of the Germanic kingdoms. From a literary stand point, also one of the first secular text in which biblical forms and archetypes begin to emerge.
 * Bennett, Matthew, Bradbury, Jim, DeVries, Kelley, Dickie, Iain, and Jestice, Phyllis G. (2005). //Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World: AD 500-1500//. Metro Books, New York.
 * o Indispensible for a select type of student. Fantastic illustrations, explanations, and maps of medieval battles and warfare in general.
 * Brown, Peter (2003). //The Rise of Western Christendom, Second Edition//. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Malden.
 * o A fantastic book written by a great historian. It follows the rise of Christianity across the West lending continuity between the Roman Empire and the complex world that followed its fall.
 * Dutton, Edward Paul, ed (2004). //Carolingian Civilization: A Reader, Second Edition//. Broadview Press Ltd., Peterborough.
 * o A collection of primary sources from the Carolingian Empire. You can never go wrong with having a book full of primary sources around, especially since this period is fairly straightforward.
 * Jones, Daniel (2012). //The Plantagenets//. Penguin Books, London.
 * o An excellent book that chronicles a huge chunk of English history and does an excellent job of describing various esoteric concepts and institutions within medieval history.
 * Jordan, William Chester (2002). //Europe in the High Middle Ages//. Penguin, London.
 * o Very informational and picks up almost exactly where Brown’s book stops.
 * Norwich, John Julius. (2011). //Absolute Monarchs//. Random House Trade Paperbacks, New York.
 * o The most concise history of the Papacy I’ve encountered. It’s a good thing to know about when studying this time period, so more information is helpful. Plus, Norwich is a very engaging writer, which more then makes up for his willingness to believe the sensational.
 * Treadgold, Warren (2001). //A Concise History of Byzantium//. PALGRAVE, New York.
 * o Holden holds the place of primacy among Byzantine historians, but this is the most concise history out there and does a great job of explaining major issues along side the fascinating characters that dealt with them.
 * Treadgold, Warren (1995). //Byzantium and Its Army: 284-1081//. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
 * o A fantastic book for geeks like me who are intrigued my questions like, “How much was a chiliarch in the Anatoliac Theme paid annually?” For students, however, it serves as a magnificent example of how to use sources as Treadgold walks his reader step by step through his methodology: find sources, evaluate them, compare them, come to a conclusion.
 * Websites:**
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 * o Digitally rendered books through the British Library. It takes some digging, but you can find a lot of old books, see their actual pages and flip through them like you would a regular book. They also have translations (helpful when you’re trying to look through Baybar’s Qur’an) and notes that display as you read.
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 * o Fordham University’s Primary Source Collection. I’ve used it before for different units, but for medieval history it is especially helpful. They have an excellent selection of materials, all of which are translated!
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 * o A site dedicated exclusively to medieval manuscripts. There are few actual manuscripts here, but what they do have is extensive information about manuscripts in general, how to read them, how they were made, what you need to know to decipher them. Interesting stuff and very approachable here.
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 * o This is a fun little website that addresses medieval history in an entertaining format. They have a slew of articles about every subject imaginable that answer a variety of questions that student would likely have about the time period. They also have fun little quizzes about various periods, people, and countries.
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 * o Like the Medieval warfare book above this would be an interesting site for a certain type of student. Basically it’s a collection of all the most recent scholarly information compiled about medieval warfare. Dryer then the book and with fewer illustrations, it is also a great deal more substantive and I was shocked at the amount of information I was able to find just by looking around for a few minutes.
 * Jean Campbell: http://history-world.org/middle_ages.htm Includes information about the time divisions within the middle ages.