This necessarily involves ancillary research into the nature of the source, its author, purpose, era of composition and a range of political, economic, ecclesiastical, and dynastic circumstances, to cite but a few.

Each student will submit a primary source report on a chosen primary source used by historians. The point of the assignment is a start in reading, consulting, considering and interpreting medieval primary sources. This necessarily involves ancillary research into the nature of the source, its author, purpose, era of composition and a range of political, economic, ecclesiastical, and dynastic circumstances, to cite but a few. Each student will select a primary source from a list. They should obtain and read the selected source as well as research as much pertinent background, interpretive and explanatory material by reputable modern scholars relating to that source. It is important to come to know about the source in the context of its time and composition. Thus it is imperative to research about the source, in combination with actually reading the source itself. This is critical to a fuller understanding of the source itself and its real and potential utility to modern historians. In the process of examining the source, each student should consider the following questions: 1. a brief (no more than 1 page) description of the source: its purpose, form, contents 2. the type of writing?chronicle? legal? hagiography? Annal? Epistolary? Epic? 3. the purpose and/or audience for which it was written 4. original language of its composition 5. authors background? 6. authors biases? 7. what is its historical value? 8. what can it tell us about the writing style of the time? 9. a brief survey of how historians may make use of the source: the types of data the source
yields and particular problems with using or interpreting the source.

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