A Source Book for Mediæval History Selected Documents illustrating the History of Europe in the Middle Age — A Reader’s Guide

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In Category - Middle Ages

Authors: Thatcher, Oliver J. (Oliver Joseph), 1857-1937, McNeal, Edgar Holmes, 1874-1955 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2013 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Middle Ages -- Sources; Europe -- History -- 476-1492 -- Sources Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 223,587

Reading time 973 min

Text sections 27

For A Source Book for Mediæval History Selected Documents illustrating the History of Europe in the Middle Age — A Reader’s Guide, the stored edition analysis reports 223,587 words, 16 hr 13 min estimated reading time, and 27 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 23.9 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Middle Ages -- Sources,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #42707

A curated collection of translated medieval documents, from papal bulls to imperial decrees, with editorial notes that prioritize accessibility over completeness, focusing on key events, institutions, and conflicts across Europe.

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Thatcher and McNeal's A Source Book for Mediæval History opens with a frank admission: the scarcity of student-accessible original sources justifies yet another collection. The editors aim not to compile every important document but to select those that 'illustrate or illumine one particular thing,' warning teachers not to 'deduce from these few documents the whole history and life of the Middle Age.' This self-imposed limitation shapes the entire volume. The preface also reveals deliberate omissions—English political history is excluded because 'there are already several excellent collections,' and French history is sacrificed to keep the book within size limits. These choices reflect a pragmatic, teaching-oriented approach rather than an encyclopedic ambition.

The Editors' Selective Method

The preface lays bare the compilers' reasoning. They acknowledge that 'many of the documents here given are clearly essential,' but for the rest, they admit that 'hundreds of documents would serve our purpose quite as well.' This candor is unusual in a sourcebook. The editors do not claim to have chosen the best documents, only satisfactory ones. They also explain why English sources are absent: existing collections by Lee, Colby, Adams, and Stephens already cover that ground. French political history was dropped to control the book's size, a practical constraint that shaped the final selection. The result is a volume that focuses on the Holy Roman Empire, the papacy, and other regions less served by contemporary English-language collections.

A Document's Dual Purpose: The Example of Brandenburg

The excerpt concerning Sigismund's appointment of Frederick of Hohenzollern as governor of Brandenburg illustrates how a single document can serve multiple illustrative functions. The text records the king's explanation that he cannot personally govern the mark because he 'had been chosen king of the Romans' and must 'restore unity to the church.' This reveals the tension between imperial duties and local governance. The aldermen's relief and joyful return home hint at the political instability the region faced. The subsequent order from Sigismund commands the people to receive Frederick and render homage, confirming liberties and customs. The document thus illuminates not only a specific succession but also the mechanics of delegation, the role of representative bodies, and the language of authority in the early 15th century.

The Church's Legal Machinery Against Heresy

Nicholas III's bull of 1280 is a dense legal instrument that systematically strips heretics and their supporters of civil and ecclesiastical rights. The document enumerates eighteen specific penalties: excommunication, delivery to secular judges, life imprisonment for repentant heretics, proscription for those who remain excommunicated a year and a day, and disqualification from holding office, making wills, or serving as witnesses. Clergymen are to be degraded before punishment. The bull also targets those who 'receive, defend, or aid heretics,' extending the net of suspicion. Notably, it denies the right of appeal and forbids clergy from administering sacraments to the condemned. This text shows how papal authority sought to coordinate secular and ecclesiastical power to suppress dissent, using precise legal language to define and punish deviation.

Readers should approach this collection as a deliberately curated sampler, not a comprehensive archive. The editors' notes and selections reward attention to what is included and what is omitted. Comparing documents—such as the Brandenburg decrees and the anti-heresy bull—reveals how different authorities (imperial, papal, local) wielded written instruments to assert control. The book is best used as a starting point for discussion, not as a definitive reference.

I keep thinking about those old imperial decrees, the weight of their certainty. It made me wonder about the lives they quietly erased, the whispers beneath the page. That feeling led me to La Sorcière: The Witch of the Middle Ages — Themes and Context, and it lingered the same way—not as history, but as a haunting presence I couldn’t quite shake.