Primary sources and research tools

English government records

The English Crown produced an extraordinary volume of administrative records during the medieval period. Many of these have been calendared (summarised in English) and digitised for public access.

• Calendar of the Patent Rolls — Summaries of letters patent issued by the English Crown, covering grants, appointments, and royal commands.
• Calendar of the Close Rolls — Records of letters close — sealed instructions sent to specific individuals on the king’s behalf.
• Calendar of the Fine Rolls — Records of payments owed to the Crown for grants, privileges, and licences.
• Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem — Inquiries into the lands held by deceased tenants of the Crown, essential for tracing landholding and feudal obligations.
• Rolls of Parliament (Rotuli Parliamentorum) — The official record of proceedings in the medieval English Parliament.

Chronicles and narrative sources

Medieval chronicles are indispensable for understanding how contemporaries perceived and recorded the events of their time. Many are now available in English translation or in their original Latin and Anglo-Norman.

• Froissart’s Chronicles — Jean Froissart’s vivid account of the Hundred Years War and the political upheavals of fourteenth-century Europe.
• Knighton’s Chronicle — Henry Knighton’s chronicle covering English history from the twelfth century to 1395, particularly valuable for the reign of Richard II.
• Thomas Walsingham’s Historia Anglicana — A major narrative source for late-fourteenth-century England by the St Albans chronicler.
• Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon — A widely circulated universal chronicle extending from creation to the fourteenth century, with continuations by John of Trevisa and others.

Digital archives and databases

• British History Online — A digital library of primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland.
• Internet Medieval Sourcebook — Fordham University’s comprehensive collection of translated medieval texts and source materials.
• The National Archives (UK) — Discovery — Search engine for the holdings of The National Archives at Kew, including medieval chancery, exchequer, and judicial records.
• Medievalists.net — News, articles, and links related to medieval studies from around the world.

This page is updated periodically. If you know of a resource that should be included, please get in touch.