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HIST 3140: Society & Culture in the Middle Ages: Writing and Citing Guides

Chicago Style Guides

Guides to Research and Writing

Citing Primary Sources

Citing primary sources can be tricky. To get started:

  • Start with the appropriate style for the format you're looking at (book, section of a book, website, etc.)
  • Give the name of the medieval author first, if there is one, followed by the title and original date as it appears in your source, or a description.
  • Give the publication date if available; accessed dates are only necessary if no other dates are available.
  • Give the URL or publication information of the modern edition.
  • Follow the usual Chicago or Turabian style differences between footnotes and bibliographies.

For example:

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. Theodore Silverstein (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974), 57.
  • Gerbert of Auriallac, archbishop of Reims to Adelaide of Aquitaine, queen of the Franks (spring 997), Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters, accessed September 20, 2019, https://epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu/letter/1.html.
  • Fulbert of Chartres, “On Feudal Obligations, 1020,” Internet Medieval Sourcebook, January 1996,  https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/fulbert1.asp.

Writing Center

Visit North Park's Writing Center on the first floor of the library for help brainstorming, drafting, and editing your paper.