Medieval Studies

Edited by Frank N. Magill. Routledge, 1998.

Each volume of the Dictionary of World Biography contains 250 entries on the lives of the individuals who shaped their times and left their mark on world history. This is not a who's who. Instead, each entry provides an in-depth essay on the life and career of the individual concerned. Essays commence with a quick reference section that provides basic facts on the individual's life and achievements. The extended biography places the life and works of the individual within an historical context, and the summary at the end of each essay provides a synopsis of the individual's place in history. All entries conclude with a fully annotated bibliography.

Edited by Richard K. Emmerson. New York: Routledge, 2006.
[St. Michael’s 1st Floor Reference Area – D115 .K492 2006]
Those seeking an introduction to mediaeval movers and shakers will find this encyclopedia helpful. Nearly 600 biographical articles on such people as Dante, Thomas Aquinas, Henry I of Saxony, Margrethe I, and Jean de Mandeville come minted with cross-references and bibliographies arranged into primary and secondary source lists. Alphabetical and thematic tables of contents, along with an index, make the book easy to use.
[Print copies available in the UofT Catalogue.]

By Judson Knight. Detroit: UXL, 2001.
[Victoria University E.J. Pratt Library Reference Area – CT114 .K65 2001]
Biographies of fifty famous people in the Middle Ages, such as Marco Polo, William the Conqueror, St. Patrick, El Cid, and Saladin.

By John Fines. London: Anthony Blond, 1970.
[St. Michael’s 1st Floor Reference Area – D115 .F5 1970]
Lengthy articles with brief bibliographies on 100 medieval persons (largely English).

By Anne Echols and Marty Williams. New York: Markus Wiener, 1992.
[St. Michael’s 1st Floor Reference Area – CT3220 .A56 1992]
Brief biographies of some 1,500 women who lived between 800 and 1500. Includes women engaged in a variety of activities from some thirty countries and from different social classes.

Edited by Willem P. Gerritsen and Anthony G. van Melle. Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell, 1998.
[St. Michael’s 1st Floor Reference Area – PN682 .C5 V3513 1998]
Articles on ninety characters from mediaeval tales. Each entry gives an outline of the story, how it spread through Europe, its modern retellings and appearances in art, and a selective bibliography.

By Richard Sharpe. Belgium: Brepols, 1997.
[Robarts Library Stacks – Z6605 .L3 S53 1997]
[Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Library (Reference Only) – Z6605 .L3 S5 1997]

Edited by Jorge J.E. Gracia and Timothy B. Noone
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
[St. Michael’s 1st Floor Reference Area – B721 .C54 2003]
This book offers 138 biographies of mediaeval philosophers, devoting 2 to 3 pages per person, as well as a few short essays on selected topics in this field.

By Ulysse Chevalier. New York: Kraus Reprint, 1960. 2 volumes.
[St. Michael's 1st Floor Reference Area – Z6203 .C53]
The most complete listing of persons living in the Middle Ages with very brief identifications. Includes bibliographical references. Although in French, the book is reasonably accessible to the English-only student.