Church History: Ancient and Medieval
This guide will help you with your Church History research.
Available in the Library
These books, plus many more, can all be found in the Reference section of our library. Search the Library Online Catalog to find additional resources.
The Fathers of the Church by Hans Von Campenhausen
Call Number:
BR 1706 .C313 1998
Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity by Walter Bauer
Call Number:
BR 166 .B3913 1996
What Is Gnosticism? by Karen L. King
Call Number:
BT 1390 .K55 2003
Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism by William Harmless
Call Number:
BR 190 .H37 2004
The Bone Gatherers: The Lost Worlds of Early Christian Women by Nicola Denzey
Call Number:
BR 195 .W6 D46 2007
Medieval Christianity: A People's History of Christianity by Daniel Ethan Bornstein
Call Number:
BR 162.3 .M43 2009
Christendom and Christianity in the Middle Ages: The Relations Between Religion, Church, and Society by Adriaan H. Bredero
Call Number:
BR 252 .B7313 1994
Church Fathers and Their Writings
- Early Church Fathers | Christian Classics Ethereal LibraryThe Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a digital library that contains the entire Ante-Nicene, Post-Nicene, and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series, as well as other early church writings
- Early Christian Writings: New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, Church FathersEarly Christian Writings is the most complete collection of documents from the first two centuries with translations and commentary. Includes the New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, and Church Fathers.
- Augustine of HippoThis site contains texts and translations, commentaries, research materials and more about St Augustine.
- Codex SinaiticusCodex Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament. The hand-written text is in Greek. This website is an international collaboration to reunite the entire manuscript in digital form and make it accessible to a global audience.
Early Christian History
- From Jesus To Christ – The First ChristiansThis PBS program is available to watch at this website. It also includes scholars’ commentary, maps, charts, ancient texts, picture os archaeological discoveries, and more.
- Fourth Century ChristianityThis website from Wisconsin Lutheran College is place that promotes and stores research tools and texts for the study of the Church and its environment in the Fourth Century.
- The Early Christians in Their Own WordsThis e-book is an anthology of collected writings of Christians living in early church communities. Each chapter contains material ranging from apologetic writing and confessions of faith to aphorisms, parables and poetry. Represented here are writers like Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Paul of Tarsus. Historical and contextual notes offer background for each writing.
Medieval Church History
- A History of the CrusadesPublished by the University of Wisconsin Press, this six volume series was intended to serve as a collaborative and comprehensive treatment of the topic, ranging in time from the first 100 years of the Crusades to their ultimate impact on the histories of the Near East and Europe. The work is included here in its entirety.
- Art for the Christian Liturgy in the Middle AgesThis article from the Metropolitan Museum of Art discusses the art of liturgical objects of churches of the Middle Ages. The site links to related essays, articles, and timelines.
- Monasticism in Medieval ChristianityThis article from the Metropolitan Museum of Art discusses the art of monasticism of the Middle Ages. The site links to related essays, articles, and timelines.
- The Cistercians in YorkshireThis website gives information about the Cistercian monks in Britain, their history, buildings, and practices.
- History of the Orthodox ChurchThe Eastern Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054, and this website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America tells the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- Mapping Margery Kempe: A Guide to Late Medieval Material and Spiritual LifeThis website is a digital library of resources for studying the cultural and social matrix of The Book of Margery Kempe. Materials at this site include the Middle English text and related devotional writings and saints’ lives; documents about daily life, politics and commerce in 15th century Lynn; maps of pilgrimage routes; a gallery of devotional images; and bibliography and guides for teaching.
Gnosticism, Non-Canonical Writings, and Heresies
- Nag Hammadi LibraryThe Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of thirteen ancient codices containing over fifty texts, includes a large number of primary Gnostic scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. While this site contains transcriptions of the codices it also is published by and contains commentary from the Gnostic Society, which has different theological beliefs than orthodox Christianity.
- Noncanonical LiteratureThis website from the Wesley Center contains full text and commentary on apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature.
- CatharismThis BBC radio program discusses who the Cathars were and why the church found them to be such a threat.
- Waldensian History: A Brief SketchThis website gives a summary of Waldensian history, spanning from its beginnings in the 1100s through the Inquisition, Reformation and to the modern day.
- Secret Files of The InquisitionThis accompanying website to the PBS documentary has biographies, information on religious sects, and clips from the documentary.
- The Dead Sea ScrollsThis website contains more than 5,000 images of parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Ten Commandments, Genesis, and 48 Psalms.