eBooks
98 Books foundAbout the Catalogue
The OQITE Public Domain Literature Library offers 98 books selected for readers interested in medieval history, kingship, crusades, and social change. Each book is a digital edition sourced from Project Gutenberg and presented with full bibliographic details, keywords, and editorial notes. The catalogue is curated by the catalogue project, based in Ireland.
How to Browse
Readers can navigate the collection through four thematic categories listed on this page, or use the site’s internal search. Each book record includes a title, author, publisher, keywords, target reader, and a catalogue note that provides editorial context. The About Us page explains the library’s mission, and the Editorial Standards page details our working methods.
Understanding Book Records
Every book entry includes the original title, author(s) with birth–death dates, the digital source (Project Gutenberg), a set of Library of Congress subject keywords, a target-reader note, and a supplementary catalogue note. The catalogue note highlights the work’s structure, themes, and editorial choices, drawing on excerpts from the preface or text. No book has been read in full; notes are based on representative passages and scholarly context.
Source Attribution
All books are public-domain texts from Project Gutenberg, which provides freely distributable electronic editions of works that are no longer under copyright. OQITE adds editorial notes, reading companions, and category organization. The original publisher and date are retained from the source edition.
Categories
The four categories group books by thematic affinity rather than rigid chronology or genre. “Middle Ages” covers political and spiritual authority; “Crusades” Catalogue maintenance uses source records and bibliographic context. Overlap exists, and readers are encouraged to cross-browse.
Three Reading Paths
- Introduction to the Middle Ages: Begin with Medieval Europe by H. W. C. Davis and Britain in the Middle Ages by Florence Bowman for a broad overview, then deepen with Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages by Edward Cutts.
- Crusade Narratives: Start with The Deeds of God Through the Franks by Guibert of Nogent, continue with Memoirs of the Fourth Crusade by Villehardouin, and explore Heroines of the Crusades by C. A. Bloss for a different perspective.
- Social and Economic History: Read Medieval People by Eileen Power, then Life on a Mediaeval Barony by William Stearns Davis, and finish with Town Life in the Fifteenth Century by Alice Stopford Green for urban contrasts.
Bibliographic dates and catalogue measurements
The catalogue distinguishes the Project Gutenberg digital release from a work’s original or first publication. Project Gutenberg is identified as the digital source for the edition available here; its release year is therefore shown as Gutenberg Release Year, not as the work’s original publication year.
When an explicit first-publication or issue date can be supported directly by the title or issue information, it may be shown separately as First Publication Year. When that date cannot be confirmed, the catalogue displays Not confirmed rather than guessing a year.
Where the source text can be measured reliably, the catalogue may provide word count and estimated reading time. These measurements describe reading scope and are not quality rankings.
The current catalogue contains 4 active subject categories: Middle Ages, Crusades, Medieval Society, and Kings Kingdoms. Categories are browsing aids and may overlap where a work reasonably fits more than one subject.
