Primary Sources

These are documents written by people who lived during the times we are studying. They are the basis of historical scholarship. Whereas with the Secondary Sources I encourage you to supplement the online resources, with the Primary Sources we have an abundance. You are certainly welcome to find source collections on your own, but I think you'll find there's more than enough right here.

At first it looks like there's a lot to read, but most of the sources are hardly more than a page or two, so don't panic. That said, reading primary sources is a lot more difficult than reading modern works. For some advice on how to read this kind of material, take a look at the resources I link to in the Study Guide.

Ancient

Middle Ages

Early Modern

Classroom