1. Search by Subject or Keyword
You can locate items by doing a keyword Boolean search and then adding one of the following special terms to your search: correspondence; diaries; early works to 1800; pamphlets; personal narratives; sources; speeches, etc. For example:
crusades AND sources
TIP: Use the Advanced Search option where you can consider elements such as Subject Heading and Resource type.
Also browse subject headings and look for these special terms:
Byzantine Empire--History--1081-1483--Sources
Christian saints--France--Correspondence
Church history--Middle Ages, 600-1500--Sources
Crusades First, 1096-1099--Sources
Crusades Second, 1147-1149---Sources
Crusades Third, 1189-1192--Sources
Crusades Seventh, 1248-1250--Sources
Crusades--Personal narratives
Crusades--Sources
Jerusalem--History--Latin Kingdom, 1099-1244--Sources
Collections of primary sources often have the word documents, chronicles, or memoirs in the title:
document? AND crusades
2. Look Up Historical Figures
If you know of a person involved in the event or from the time period, look that person's name as an author for memoirs, diaries or correspondence. Search for Authors using the Advanced Search option.
Urban II Pope
Bernard of Clairvaux Saint
Choniates Nicetas ca 1140-1213
3. Find Sources of Translation in our Collection
The Library has several volumes in the series, Crusade Texts in Translation
As well as general collections of primary sources. Selected titles include:
Chronicles of the Crusades
The Crusades: A Reader
The Crusades: Idea and Reality
Another resource to look at is the series, English Historical Documents, which is available online and in print. The most relevant for this class are the volumes:
v. 1 500-1042
v. 2 1042-1189
v. 3 1189-1327
v. 4 1327-1485
Other terms to consider are: papers, journals, documents.