annotated Bibliography for the Crusaders

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Research Paper Guidelines

High Middle Ages

Prof. Laura Wangerin

  1. Paper must be based on primary source research.
  2. The topic must deal with the Middle Ages, but is not bound by the readings we have done in class. In other words, you are welcome to look at other aspects of the medieval world if you so wish.
  3. A minimum of 10 secondary sources must be consultedfor your preliminary annotated bibliography; at least 6-8 scholarly secondary sources must be cited in your paper. The ones you cite do not necessarily have to be on your preliminary bibliography – this is just a way to ensure that there will be enough sources for your project.
  4. NO GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIAE (i.e. Britannica, World Book, etc.). ABSOLUTELY NO WIKIPEDIA or other online websites may be cited as secondary sources.In general, secondary sources should be less than 20 years old, though there might be a few exceptions to this rule. If you are uncertain, ask me!
  5. Material found at databases such as JSTOR are not considered websites (they are digitized archives of print materials).
    1. Recommended places to find scholarly secondary sources (some may have the source, some only citations):
      1. The Walsh Library – BOOKS!Browzine!
      1. Internet Medieval Bibliography
      1. JSTOR
      1. ITER
      1. Google Scholar
    1. Recommended places to find medieval primary sources in English translations:
      1. The Walsh Library – BOOKS!
      1. Internet Medieval Sourcebook – http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/sbook.asp
      1. Internet Medieval Sourcebook Full-Text Sources – http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/sbook2.asp
      1. The Electronic Sawyer (Anglo-Saxon England) – http://www.esawyer.org.uk/about/index.html
      1. Epistolae: Medieval Women’s Latin Letters – https://epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu/
      1. Military Martyrs – http://www.ucc.ie/archive/milmart/
      1. De Re Militari – http://deremilitari.org/primary-sources/
      1. Medieval History Texts in Translation – https://ims.leeds.ac.uk/archives/translations/
      1. The Avalon Project: Medieval Documents 400-1399 – http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/medieval.asp
      1. Silk Road Narratives: A Collection of Historical Texts – http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/texts.html
      1. TEAMS Middle English Texts Series – http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams
      1. LIBRO – The Library of Iberian Resources Online – http://libro.uca.edu
      1. Online Medieval and Classical Library – http://mcllibrary.org/
      1. Monastic Matrix: A scholarly resource for the study ofwomen’s religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE – http://monasticmatrix.osu.edu
      1. Guide to Early Church Documents – http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/christian-history.html
      1. Florilegium Urbanum – http://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/flor01.html
      1. Online Medieval Sources Bibliography – http://medievalsourcesbibliography.org/index.php
      1. Early English Laws – http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk
      1. The Making of Charlemagne’s Europe – http://www.charlemagneseurope.ac.uk

Citations are to be in the form of footnotes with a bibliography, following Chicago-style citation and bibliographic formatting.

April 5:Research topic and annotated bibliographies due. You are welcome to turn this in earlier. The annotated bibliography should identify which primary source(s) you plan to use, and at least 10 secondary sources. Each entry (in Chicago-style format) should have a brief (2-3 sentence) description after it, identifying its argument or how it covers the subject area.

Example:

Research Topic: The Roles of Bishops in the Merovingian Empire

Primary Source: Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks

Secondary Sources:

1. Wood, Ian. The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450-751. London: Routledge, 1993.

This book is one of the most comprehensive examinations of the Merovingians. When it was first published, it was controversial as many historians thought that Wood overstated the importance of the Merovingians to the development of medieval Europe; it still is today considered one of the most autoritative books on the subject, despite the fact that it is now over 20 years old.

May 5:Rough Drafts Due. We will be doing peer-editing in class this day, so email your rough draft to me before class and be prepared to share it with two classmates as well. Rough drafts should have all of the components of a finished paper: an introduction with a clearly stated thesis, body paragraphs with examples and evidence to support your thesis; a conclusion; formatted footnotes and a bibliography.

May 16: Research papers due. Please make sure they are 6-8 pages long, 12-point font, double-spaced. Quotations that take up more than two lines of text should be indented and single-spaced. Grading will follow the following criteria:

RESEARCH PAPER RUBRIC

MECHANICS (30%) including but not limited to such elements as:

  • Spelling, capitalization, punctuation
  • Grammar, sentence structure, verb agreement
  • Footnote and bibliography format (Chicago/Turabian Style)
  • Following paper guidelines

LOGIC (30%) including but not limited to such elements as:

  • original interpretation of your topic
  • clear paragraph topics that relate to the thesisand each other, clear transitions
  • information/details relate to paragraph topic and thesis
  • introduction sets up argument with a clear thesis
  • strong conclusion that speaks to the thesis and the body of the paper

SUPPORT (30%) including but not limited to such elements as:

  • type and range of sources used
  • appropriate use of those sources
  • use of accurate details to illustrate your argument
  • analysis of your data
  • clarity of that support and analysis

ORIGINALITY (10%) including but not limited to such elements as:

  • having a perceptive, interesting thesis
  • being written in a readable style
  • having strong introduction and conclusion, not just summaries and repetitions of the contents of your paper

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