The Internet and the Middle Ages
Jocelyn Berger
The Internet is often perceived as an extremely useful mechanism for keeping up with celebrity gossip, the latest sports scores, up to the minute stock prices, and shopping. The Internet certainly serves these purposes well.  It also serves as a repository of information on a cross section of subjects, many less contemporary and changeable. One of the most interesting topics for me, in this vein, are the Web sites on the Middle Ages.

While many of  the available Web pages could easily be considered fanciful or eccentric in nature, there are several that are notable for their contribution to the advancement of scholarly research, or at least for bringing work of true medieval scholars to a wider audience.

http://www.cua.edu/www/hist/netserf/home.htm - NetSERF: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources.

Maintained by the History Department of the Catholic University of America, this Web site offers a wide range of materials on the Middle Ages. Art, history, religion, philosophy, social history, and literature are documented here. The whole of the famous Bayeaux Tapestry (a sizable tapestry recounting the events leading up to and including the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066) is displayed in a series of finely detailed panels, one of which is displayed above. Also included are links to historical time lines, full text versions of Medieval literature (in several different languages). The annotated list of academic mailing lists and newsgroups on the subject is an impressive resource.

My favorite link on this page lead to a page entitled "A Basic Guide to Footwear in the Viking Age" which is located at:   http://www.spoon.demon.co.uk/vikes/vikshoe.htm. Here's one of the illustrations used on the page:

 

 

http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/ - Labyrinth:  Resources for Medieval Studies.

Sponsored by Georgetown University, this Web site's true glory is in its exceptional search capabilities.  This page, having a great deal of scholarly content of its own, has a trio of search options.  One can search only the Labyrinth, the entire Web, or more impressively, Argos.  Argos is a shared database made up of many university sites on the ancient and Medieval world.  This last option allows serious researchers (and students who often cannot tell the difference) to find scholarly sources on the Internet.

Links are provided to listservs, publications, specific subjects of interest, and organizations--all proven academic sources.  One such link, The Medieval Academy of America, (select "Organizations" from the home page then click on "CARA") lists its regional centers and their activities:  their publications, conferences, symposiums and workshops; the degrees they offer; and the faculty involved at each center.  The list of centers is impressive.
 
My favorite link from this page relates an ancient tale, "The Story of MacDatho's Pig."  It  shows the text in its native Gaelic adjacent to the modern English translation.  To view the story, visit:   http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_CLASS/Irish/MacDatho/
 

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/ -  The Online Medieval & Classical Library.

The site is hosted by Berkeley University.  As its title indicates, online versions of  full text works from the Middle Ages and the classical period are accessible through this page.  As I'm sure you realize, the documents from these periods will, for copyright purposes, be considered  public domain material.

Desired texts can be found though the site's easy-to-use search feature or by browsing lists arranged by author, genre, title, or language.  Links to similar sites are available, so that if a particular document is not on their Web page, the researcher can easily find other avenues to pursue.
 
My favorite link on this page transported me to an eighteenth century public domain translation of an early fourteenth century Icelandic tale. "The Saga of Grettir the Strong" can be found at: http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Grettir/
 

Gopher://wiretap.spies.com/00/Library/Article/Socio/feudal.dic - Feudal Terms of England (And Other Places.)

Very simply this is a lexicon of  words and their usage in Medieval England.  The person responsible for putting this on the Internet can be reached via e-mail, but no information about their credentials or the source of the definitions is provided.  It is extremely useful, however, and when compared with authoritative sources, it has proven to be accurate.

As everyone reading this has probably been inundated with articles touting the Internet as the source for any and all information, I should add a note of caution.  The Internet is not moderated:  anyone with the technological tools can publish to it.  Also, the stability (will the site be accessible next week) of even the best Web sites is guaranteed by no one.

The above having been stated, the Internet is a resource well worth exploring.  If you're having problems, just ask a librarian to be your guide.

About the author:
Jocelyn Berger is a Reference Librarian and Bibliographer at the Brooklyn College Library.
Professor Berger can be reached at:  jberger@brooklyn.cuny.edu

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