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HIST 150: The Family in Premodern Europe (Spring 2024)

Primary Source Databases

William & Mary Libraries have over 250 databases of primary sources materials, not including another ~150 digitized newspaper databases with historic content. It can be overwhelming, so below are some databases of especial interest.

Of especial interest to this class is the Medieval Family Life Database, which contains five major letter collections from fifteenth century England and they are all available online for the first time in this digital resource - the Paston, Cely, Plumpton, Stonor and Armburgh Papers. Coverage: 1400-1490

TIPS FOR SEARCHING PRIMARY SOURCE DATABASES

  • Keep is simple, and only use one or two works at a time.
  • Use database filters to narrow results.
  • Read database descriptions to determine which database is best
  • Use the secondary readings to identify primary sources
  • There are library materials called "source books" that are translated collection of historic documents. See link below:

Some Notable Primary Source Databases