Medieval Law

  • The Avalon Project of the Yale Law School — English translations of some medieval texts (Capitulary of 802 and Louis the Pious’s Ordinatio Imperii of 817). Free, open access. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/
  • Codices Electronici Sangallenses Virtual Library — an extensive set of digitized images of St. Gall manuscripts, including several, which contain important legal texts. Open access, free. https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/csg
  • Codices Electronici Ecclesiae Coloniensis — full digitized versions of manuscripts from the Cologne Cathedral Library, including canon law texts. Free, open access. http://www.ceec.uni-koeln.de/

  • Early English Laws is a website produced and supported by the joint efforts of Institute of Historical Research at the University of London and the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London. It publishes online and in print new editions and translations of all English legal codes, edicts, and treatises produced up to the time of Magna Carta 1215, with rich bibliography, reference, and links to related websites–a comprehensive resource for the field. Open access, browsable, and free.  http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/

  • Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University — various texts concerning medieval legal history translated to English. Free, open access. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook-law.asp
  • The Medieval Canon Law Virtual Library at Colby University — publicly accessible electronic resources for the study of medieval canon law. Some digitized manuscripts, PDFs, and HTML texts. http://web.colby.edu/canonlaw/
  • Monumenta Germaniae Historica — early medieval legal texts published within the leges series as part of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Digitized manuscripts available online without cost; searchable. http://www.dmgh.de/
  • Sir Frederick Pollock and Frederick William Maitland, The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I.  2 vols. Although published over a century ago, this monumental work remains a useful and important resource for scholars of the Middle Ages. First published, 1895; second edition, 1898. A reprint of the 2nd edition with a Select Bibliography and Notes by Professor S.F. Milsom was published in 1968, Cambridge University Press; the 1968 edition was reissued in 2010 by the Liberty Fund, (Indianapolis, Indiana), 2 vols. The 2010 edition is now available completely online, open access, without cost:  http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2312&Itemid=27