Viking invasions, language, mythology, saints, clothing, craftsmanship, architecture—these are some of the many topics covered in this encyclopedia. The entries, centred on such themes as lineage, manuscripts, persons and scholarship, focus on the period 500 to 1600 A.D., and come with cross-references and bibliographies. There are alphabetical and thematic tables of contents.

Both online and in print, and containing more than 1,500 articles, this 5-volume set is the major encyclopedia for Celtic studies.

Up to date, and intended for both novices and specialists, this 4-volume set covers European history, society, religion, and culture between A.D. 500 to 1500. Articles number about 5,000. They range from brief to lengthy, include bibliographies, and often unearth material you can only find elsewhere with difficulty. Women and children, for example, get substantial attention. The set contains a thematic listing of entries, a general index, a list of medieval popes and antipopes, and an index of alternative place names.

The major English-language comprehensive history of the Middle Ages, this work is a completely new edition of the former standard work, The Cambridge Medieval History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1911; St. Michael’s 2nd Floor – D117 .C3).

The major English-language encyclopedia on Catholic topics, it contains some 17,000 articles, each with a bibliography emphasizing the primary sources. Unfortunately many of the articles in the 2003/online edition are reprints from the 1967 edition without any updating. Use this work to get an overview of a subject and to see how it can be divided into narrower topics for a paper.