In this section:

Sidenotes:

Dante's Inferno (Canto XXXII, 103-105), Ms. Urb. Lat. 365 fol. 87, c. 1480, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vatican City, Italy). Image available in ARTstor

Guariento, Angel Weighing Souls. (Fragment from Cappella dei Carraresi mid 1350s.) Museo Civico di Padova (Italy). Image available in ARTstor


The poet tells how Nature strives to contravene the work of Death, with the story of the phoenix (line 15,982). From a 15th c. MS of Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung, Le Roman de la Rose,  Folio 150r, Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, Bodeleian Library, University of Oxford. Image available in ARTStor. 

Cathedrale de Chartres. Exterior. West, Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, France. Right (south) portal. Archivolt detail: Aristotle (1194-1225).  Image available in ARTStor

Sidenote: Research assistance

Harvard librarians can help you at any and every stage of the research process, whether you're trying to close a knowledge gap, find a question to pursue, understand a HOLLIS record, or figure out the best library databases to use for a research project.   For questions related to  A&I 49, contact us:

  • Steve Kuehler, Research Librarian and Liaison to Medieval Studies, Lamont Library
  • Sue Gilroy, Librarian for Undergraduate Programs for Writing, Lamont and Widener Libraries
  • Ramona Islam, Research Librarian and Liaison to General Education, Widener Library

If you have general questions about library resources, people, or services, try them first the search box below.  We're building a knowledge base of frequently asked questions. The answer you're after may already be there!

Interdisciplinary and extratextual sources

The role of secondary sources in A&I 49:

In this course, we examine texts from different disciplines within medieval studies, including theology, history of science, art history and history. It is not necessary for you to bring knowledge of all of these disciplines to your papers.

While external research is encouraged for the second paper and required for the third paper, the primary goal of this external research will be to help you with literary analysis.

If you have a background in theology, history of science, or art history, among other relevant disciplines, feel free to use this background to inform your analyses of the literary texts central to the course.  But make sure that your papers are rooted in textual analysis and close readings of the texts from class.

For broad historical and literary backgrounds, try these Harvard resources:

  • Dictionary of the Middle Ages: while it’s only available in print, this encyclopedia is worth knowing about (and worth having a look for any of the topics you may be considering – or encountering -- in the course). And while it’s called a “dictionary,” it’s actually a 13-volume encyclopedia, with  about 112,000 entries on persons, places, things, and concepts – the largest and most detailed modern encyclopedia of the Middle Ages that currently exists. Some of the  entries you’ll find here include: “Allegory,” “Aristotle in the Middle Ages,” “Dualism,” “Plato in the Middle Ages," “Roman de la Rose,  and “Visions.” Articles are all cross-referenced and identify good secondary source studies to consult as a next step. Think of the Dictionary as an acceptable academic alternative to Wikipedia for this course.
  • Cambridge Histories Online: provides online access to the authoritative and well-respected series of full-length  book studies published by  Cambridge University Press.  This e-resource enables exploration of such broad topics as medieval English literature, medieval literary theory and criticism, medieval history, medieval philosophy and even Italian literature. Within this e-resource, you can browse by subject categories, search across the series for related material, or do more pinpointed  keyword searching within a single volume. CHO even supplies MLA-formatted citations for each publication, so you easily document what you read and use.

For authoritative discussions of medieval authors, texts, history and  themes, try these Harvard  e-resources:

  • MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association): the premier database for identifying scholarly and critical studies of literatures around the world and from all time periods, the MLA Bibliography is important for A&I 49 students because it covers medieval literature in great depth.  Many types of scholarly information can be discovered through the MLA: journal articles, essay collections, full-length book studies, and dissertations. Use the handy purple Find it button to identify your options for accessing these materials -- online or in print -- at Harvard.  For English majors, MLA will have continued utility, too, because it covers so many fields related to literature: folkore, linguistics, and popular culture among them.
  • International Medieval Bibliography (IMB): a comprehensive, current database of journal articles, essay collections and conference proceedings in the interdisciplinary field of medieval studies. The IMB covers English language and literature, history, theology and philosophy, medieval European literatures, Arabic and Islamic studies, art history, the performing arts, and rhetoric and communcation. Dates covered range from 400 to 1500 A.D. For information on tracking down the materials you discover in IMB, see our research sidenote, below.

Special print resources for studying Dante:

  • Dante Encyclopedia (ed. Richard Lansing): before you launch a search in the MLA or IMB, check to see if your topic, canto, character, place or theme is covered in this excellent one-volume text. Entries, even many of the brief ones, have good bibliographies attached to them.
  • Cambridge Companion to Dante, 2nd ed. (ed Rachel Jacoff): this collection of essays, authored by important and influential Dante scholars,  is designed to be an accessible and up-to-date point of entry to Dante’s poetry and prose, exploring their literary, theological and political dimensions.  Chapters on each of the canticles of the Commedia, on Dante’s classical influences, his commentators, and his English translators are included
  • Understanding Dante (John Scott): a comprehensive overview and general introduction by a leading Dante scholar, it devotes 5 chapters to explicating the Commedia and the major trends in critical discussions of the poem.
  • The Divine Comedy (ed. Charles S. Singleton): until his death in the 1980s, Singleton was considered the most important American Dantist, and his prose translation of the Commedia is accompanied by substantial canto-by-canto commentaries. This edition is an excellent place to find guidance and inspiration for your own close readings of the poem.

Tracking down books and articles at Harvard

When you're searching a library e-resource, like the MLA,  or scanning the bibliography of a published text in print, how do you move from a citation to the actual published information?


First, make sure you know what you're looking at. The type of information you're after will determine your next step.

For example, take this  published bibliography from the entry on "Dreams" in the Dante Encyclopedia:

    • The first item is an article in a published collection of essays.  Tell tale signs? 1) the presence of the word "In" before the italicized title and 2) the inclusion of publication place and publishing house information.  Track it down in HOLLIS, by searching for the collection title (Miscellanea in onore di Italo Siciliano).
    • Item 3 is a book. Tracking this down is easy: search HOLLIS for the title or author.
    • Items 2 and 4 are journal articles.  Tell tale signs? 1) volume numbers after the italicized title and start and end pages for the article.  Track articles down with our software, Citation Linker (linked here and available under "Tools" from Libraries Portal page. Citation Linker will identify 1) if Harvard owns the item in full-text online; 2) how much of the journal is available in full-text; and 3) whether you have additional options, in print, on library shelves.  


What about citations you get from our e-resources?

  • If you're working in the MLA International Bibliography, you'll see a purple FIND IT button next to citations to journal articles.  Click it to find out your full-text and print options at Harvard.  However, for books and published essay collections, you'll need to follow the same procedures as described above.