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

I very strongly suggest using our specialized US history database to find articles for this class.

This database is designed specifically for Historical research, and indexes all the major history journals.

Unlike GoogleScholar, it can also be used to only find high-quality peer reviewed articles.

Tips

• No need to use "history" as a search term when using a history database!
• Use the filters to find articles specifically about your time period.
• Start with basic searches and use the suggested subject terms in the results to narrow your field

Our Databases are also designed to help you:

• Find similar articles
• Identify correct keywords and subject terms
• Limit to peer reviewed articles only
• Limit to Discipline specific articles

Be sure to use Caps for AND, OR, NOT when searching.

AND - searches for books and articles containing both terms. Example: medieval AND midwives

OR - searches for one of the words. Example: orphans OR foundlings

NOT - exclude a term. Example:  Brit* NOT Brittany

Parenthetical notes () - excellent for OR or NOT searches. Like a math equation, the database will do this part first.
Example: (Concubines OR concubinage) AND women = articles about concubines or concubinages for women
Example: (conception NOT immaculate) AND science =  articles about science of conception, excluding works about the immaculate conception

Quotation Marks ""- Links words together in the search. Works best for phrases or proper names.
Example: "middle ages"
Example: "late antiquity"
Warning: You might exclude results. A search for "Henry II of England" will omit instances where he's just Henry II.  "High Middle Ages" will omit results where it's just "middle ages"

Asterisk * - Allows you to search several word endings at once, without using OR.
Example: widow* will cover widow, widows, widowhood, 
Example: wom* will cover women, woman, womens, womanhood.
Example: Brit* will give you British, Britain, Brits.
Warning: You may get unexpected results. Brit* will also yield Brittany, Britons, and Britches. Widow* brings up widowers.  Wom* will include wombat.

1. Start by writing out your question or topic.
2. identify key terms
3. identify potential synonyms
4. Use AND OR NOT to create search phrases. 
5. Conduct several searches, revising keywords backed on subject terms & commonly used language in the articles/books.

NOTE ON SEARCH TERMS:

If looking at a specific time period, include terms like:

• "Late Antiquity"
• Medieval OR "middle ages"
• "High Middle Ages"

Break down your topic into keywords, than use the boolean above to make them into search phrases
Examples:

• Abandonment and/or Infanticide
  • (Abandonment OR infanticide) AND children
• Adoption
  • Adoption
• Adultery
  • Adulter*
• Ancient Greece: Family Life
  • "ancient greece" AND family
• Ancient Greece: Childhood
  • "ancient greece" AND (childhood OR children)
• Ancient Greece: Marriage
  • "ancient greece" AND marriage
• Art and Depictions of the Family
  • Art AND depict AND family
• Baptism, Theology and/or Practice
  • Baptism AND (theolog* OR pratice*)
• Barbarian Europe and the Family, Fifth to Eighth Centuries
  • Barbarian* AND family AND ("late antiquity" OR "early middle ages")
• Celibacy/Clerical Celibacy
  • clergy AND celibacy 
• Celtic Europe and the Family
  • Celtic* AND family
• Clandestine Marriage
  • "Clandestine Marriages" OR "Secret marriages'
• Concubines and Concubinage
  • Concubine* OR Concubinage*
• Consanguinity and the Incest Taboo
  • (Consanguinity OR Incest) and Taboo
• Conception, Scientific Theories of
  • Conception AND (science OR scientific)
• Contraception
  • Contraception OR "birth control"
• Courtly Love
  • "Courtly Love" 
• The Dati Family
  • "Gregorio Dati" OR ("Renaissance Florence" AND families)
• The Divorce of Lothar II
  • Divorce AND "lothar II"
• The Divorce of Henry VIII
  • Divorce AND "Henry VIII"
• Domestic Violence
  • "Domestic Violence"
• Ending Marriage: Annulment, Divorce, Separation
  • Annulment OR Divorce OR Separation
• Family Life in Barbarian Europe (Fifth to Eighth Centuries)
  • family AND barbarian AND europe AND ("late antiquity" OR "early middle ages")
• Family Life in Carolingian Europe (Eighth-Tenth Centuries)
  • Carolingian AND family AND "early middle ages"
• Fatherhood in Theory and in Practice
  • Fatherhood AND (theor* OR practice*)
• Foundling Hospitals
  • "Foundling Hospitals" OR (foundling* AND hospital*)
• Godparenthood
  • Godparent*
• Infant Mortality and Death
  • infant AND (mortality OR death)
• Inheritance Practices
  • Inheritance AND (practice* OR laws)
• Jewish Family Life
  • "Jewish family"
• Marriage: the Law
  • "marriage laws"
• Marriage: Ceremonies and Rituals
  • Marriage AND (ceremon* OR ritual*)
• Midwives
  • Midwives OR midwifery 
• Motherhood
  • Motherhood
• Naming Patterns and Family Names
  • "family names" OR naming OR "naming patterns"
• Orphanages and Foundlings
  • Orphanage* AND foundling*
• The Paston Family
  • "Paston Family" OR "William Paston"
• Polygyny and Monogyny
  • Polygyn* AND monogyn*
• Property Transfers at Marriage (Dowry, Morning Gift, Brideprice)
  • Dowries OR "morning gifts" OR prideprice*
• The Protestant Reformation and Family Life
  • ("family life" OR family) AND "protestant reformation"
• Renaissance Florence and the Family
  • (Florence AND renaissance)  AND family
• Scandinavian Europe and the Family
  • Scandinavia* AND family
• Servitude (Slavery. Serfdom) and the Family
  • (Servitude OR slave* OR serf*) AND family
• Wet nurses and wet-nursing
  • "Wet Nurses" OR "wet-nursing"
• Widowhood
  • Widowhood OR widows