A SOURCE BOOK OF MEDIAEVAL HISTORY
Edited by FREDERIC AUSTIN OGG, A.M., Assistant in History, Harvard
University, and Instructor in Simmons College.
In this book is provided a collection of documents illustrative of European life and institutions from the German invasions to the Renaissance. Great discrimination has been exercised in the selection and arrangement of these sources, which are intended to be used in connection with the study of mediaeval history, either in secondary schools, or in the earlier years of college. Throughout the controlling thought has been to present only those selections which are of real value and of genuine interest—that is, those which subordinate the purely documentary and emphasize the strictly narrative, such as annals, chronicles, and biographies. In every case they contain important historical information or throw more or less indirect light upon mediaeval life or conditions.
The extracts are of considerable length from fewer sources, rather than a greater number of more fragmentary ones from a wider range. The translations have all been made with care, but for the sake of younger pupils simplified and modernized as much as close adherence to the sense would permit. An introductory explanation, giving at some length the historical setting of the extract, with comments on its general significance, and also a brief sketch of the writer, accompany each selection or group of selections. The footnotes supply somewhat detailed aid to the understanding of obscure illusions, omitted passages, and especially names and technical terms. The index is very full. Typographically the book is unusually well arranged with a view of aiding the pupil in its interpretation.