Medieval source material on the internet: Modern works: Modern biography and prosopography

Modern works:

(3) Modern biography and prosopography*

(*Prosopography has been defined as "the history of groups as elements in political and social history, achieved by isolating series of persons having certain political or social characteristics in common..." See this link on the University of Oxford Prosopography Research web pages for a fuller discussion.) [not available, 26 June 2023; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from January 2020]

See also Chronological lists of office-holders.

• Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) (King's College, London/Cambridge University)
  A comprehensive biographical database of nearly 12,000 inhabitants of Anglo-Saxon England, in the period 597-c. 1100, based on information in contemporary documents. The database is searchable by name, place, and a variety of other criteria. The website also includes a glossary, a select bibliography, lists of places mentioned, and chronological listings of kings and bishops.
• Biographical listings on the Anglo-Saxon Charters site:
  • Archbishops and bishops [not available, 17 December 2012; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from November 2005] and Episcopal professions in Anglo-Saxon England [not available, 17 December 2012; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from November 2005]
  • An Atlas of Attestations in Anglo-Saxon Charters c. 670 - 1066 (in preparation)
• W. G. Searle, Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles: The Succession of the Bishops and the Pedigrees of the Kings and Nobles (1899) (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
  Scanned images, in PDF format; in progress (Subscription required.)
• J. A. Froude, The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon: The Story as Told by the Imperial Ambassadors Resident at the Court of Henry VIII (1891) (Marilee Cody, Tudor England)
  In progress
• The Barons' Letter in reply to the Pope, February 1301 (Brian Timms, Heraldry) [not available, 11 December 2018; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from January 2016]
  Biographical sketches on more than 80 of the barons, with illustrations of their seals
• Colm O'Brien, Bede's People (Bede's World) [not available, 17 December 2012; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from February 2004]
  Biographies of twelve prominent Northumbrians, 6th to 8th centuries.
• E.M.G. Routh, Lady Margaret: A Memoir of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond & Derby, Mother of Henry VII (1924) (Lara Eakins, Tudor History)
• Chief Justice Spigelman, Select Ruminations, The New Archbishop and The Conflict (Supreme Court of New South Wales)
  Three lectures on Becket and Henry II, given to the St Thomas More Society, (1999-2001).
• Robert A. Wood, Life and Death: A Study of the Wills and Testaments of Men and Women in London and Bury St. Edmunds in the late Fourteenth and early Fifteenth Centuries (2012) (Royal Holloway, University of London)
  University of London Ph.D. thesis. A comparative study, drawing on national and local administrative and legal records, as well as wills and testaments.
• James Root Hulbert, Chaucer's Official Life (1912) (Case Western Reserve University)
  Doctoral dissertation from the University of Chicago, as a PDF file, including a lot of material on late-14th-century royal courtiers.
• Rev. C. Moor, Knights of Edward I. Volume 1. [A to E.] (1929) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
  Harleian Society, volume 80.
• E. S. Beesly, Queen Elizabeth (1892) (Marilee Cody, Tudor England)
• Essex Knights and the Parliaments of Edward I (John Illsley, 1971)
  Academic study of the knights of Essex; the appendices in particular contain quite a lot of information about individuals
• The textile industry in Essex in the late 12th and 13th centuries: A study based on occupational names in charter sources (Michael Gervers, University of Toronto, DEEDS - Documents of Early England Data Set)
  As well as a detailed study of the textile industry in which many people are mentioned, there are extensive tables of individuals in the Appendices of Part 2
• The Medieval Jews of Exeter (Exeter Hebrew Congregation, JCR-UK)
  Article by the Rev. Michael Adler, published in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association (1931)
• List of the Knights of the Garter (Fran�ois R. Velde, Heraldica)
  Composite list from secondary sources, with a few biographical details
• Fifteenth-century Biographical Index (Ian Rogers, www.girders.net)
  Very extensive biographical index, including entries for more than 25,300 individuals, arranged in folders alphabetically by surname (Microsoft Word format).
• A brief listing of some goldsmiths in the period 1100-1500 (Kenneth Jacob, My Jacob Family)
  From the plea rolls and other sources.
• Matthew H. Hammond, A prosopographical analysis of society in East Central Scotland, circa 1100 to 1260, with special reference to ethnicity. (2005) (University of Glasgow)
  Ph. D. thesis. A study of aristocratic landholders, with an emphasis on charter evidence. Includes a list of private charters.
• James Gairdner, Henry the Seventh (1899) (Lara Eakins, Tudor History)
• Martin Hume, The Wives of Henry the Eighth (1905) (in progress; Lara Eakins, Tudor History) [no longer online; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from October 2004]
• England's Immigrants 1330-1550 (University of York, The National Archives and University of Sheffield)
  Searchable biographical database of 64,000 people who migrated to England, compiled mainly from tax records and letters of protection and denization.
• Judges:
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 1. ... 1066-1199. (1848) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 2. ... 1199-1272. (1848) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 .]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 3. ... 1272-1377. (1851) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 4. ... 1377-1485. (1851) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 5. ... 1485-1603. (1857) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 .]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 6. ... 1603-1660. (1857) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 .]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 7. ... 1660-1714. (1864) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 8. ... 1714-1820. (1864) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 .]
  • Edward Foss, The Judges of England. Volume 9. ... 1820-1864. (1864) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    Biographical accounts of English judges.
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 .]
  • Edward Foss, Biographia Juridica: A biographical dictionary of the judges of England from the Conquest to the present time 1066-1870 (1870) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
    [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
• Avril M. Morris, St. Kyneburgha of Castor: from Mercian princess to Northumbrian queen (The CAMUS project, Internet Archive)
  Chapter 4 of "Five parishes: their people and places". Discussion of two seventh-century royal women called Kyneburgha (or Cyneburh), of Wessex and Mercia.
• Leicestershire: George F. Farnham, compiler, Leicestershire Medieval Pedigrees (1925) (FamilySearch)
  Pedigrees with summaries of supporting documentary evidence.
• London: Medieval Londoners (Fordham University)
  Includes a searchable database of residents of London between c. 1100 and 1520, in progress.
  There is a collaborative online project now seeking volunteers, Get To Know Medieval Londoners, to transcribe information from index cards compiled in the 1980s for inclusion in the Medieval Londonders database.
• The Aldermen of the City of London: 1422-1509 and 1509-1603 (Pat Patterson)
  Chronological lists, with brief biographical notes, from Alfred B. Beaven, The Aldermen of the City of London, vol.2 (1913)
• Robert A. Wood, Life and Death: A Study of the Wills and Testaments of Men and Women in London and Bury St. Edmunds in the late Fourteenth and early Fifteenth Centuries (2012) (Royal Holloway, University of London)
  University of London Ph.D. thesis. A comparative study, drawing on national and local administrative and legal records, as well as wills and testaments.
• John, Lord Campbell, The lives of the lord chancellors and keepers of the Great Seal of England, from the earliest times till the reign of King George IV (1851)
  vol. 1; vol. 2; vol. 3; vol. 4; vol. 5; vol. 6; vol. 7 (Making of America, University of Michigan)
  Choice of images, PDF files or text, with a search facility (but beware of sometimes inaccurate text conversion)
• John Horace Round Geoffrey de Mandeville (1892) (Google Books [Hints and tips])
  [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive; HathiTrust:  1 ;  2 ;  3 .]
• Antoine François Prévost, Histoire de Marguerite d'Anjou, reine d'Angleterre (gallica; Bibliothèque Nationale de France; numbers for "Recherche libre" field: N108410-N108412)
  PDF format, text in French (vols 2-4 of 4; 1740)
• John Farrow, The Story of Thomas More (1954) (Catholic Information Network)
• The 'Lands of the Normans' in England (1204-44) (Daniel Power, HRI Digital, University of Sheffield)
  Database containing information on Normans who held land in England around the time of the French conquest of Normandy (1204). There are references to nearly 3,000 individuals from over 2,000 documents.
• The History of Parliament Online
  Currently includes the text of published biographies of members of parliament for 1386-1421, 1509-1603 and 1660-1820, together with topographical material (in the constituencies section) and surveys of parliamentary history in different periods.
• People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1314 (University of Glasgow/University of Edinburgh/King's College, London)
  Biographical database of people active in Scotland, compiled from more than 6000 documents (mostly published). Includes a glossary. There is also an online edition of a technical study of the language of the charters - The Reality Behind Charter Diplomatic in Anglo-Norman Britain (2011), edited by Dauvit Broun.
• Hyper/Hagiography: Archbishop Richard le Scrope (Catholic University of America)
  Collection including a brief modern biography, medieval texts and images.
• James Anthony Froude English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century (1895) (Google Books [Hints and tips])
  Lectures Delivered at Oxford, Easter Terms 1893-4
  [Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive:  1 ;  2 ;  3 ;  4 ;  5 ;  6 ;  7 ;  8 ;  9 ;  10 ;  11 ;  12 .]
• James Anthony Froude, English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century (1896) (Project Gutenberg)
  Lectures Delivered at Oxford Easter Terms 1893-4.
• Ship Masters and their Vessels, 1200-1500 (Kenneth Jacob)
  Listing arranged by place, in progress, of masters and vessels mentioned in various sources, many of them unpublished.
• Silkwomen: Soper Lane
  Website of a group of women who have studied the working lives of fifteenth century silkwomen. In addition to demonstrating the techniques of the craft, members of the group carry out historical research, and the website includes (in the "Research" section) an article on "Women Traders in the Fifteenth Century" and brief biographies of two London silkwomen - Beatrice Fyler (d. 1479) and Alice Claver (d. 1489).
• Arthur Irwin Dasent, Speakers of the House of Commons, Chapter 2 (1911) (Pat Patterson)
  13th- and 14th-century speakers and chief justices - Peter de Montfort, William Trussell, Henry Beaumont, Geoffrey le Scrope, William de Thorpe, William de Shareshulle, Henry Green, Thomas Hungerford, Peter de la Mare, James Pickering, John Guildesborough, Richard Waldegrave and John Bussy
• John Walker, The patronage of the Templars and of the Order of St Lazarus in England in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (1991) (University of St Andrews)
  Ph. D. thesis examining the patronage of the two religious orders. The following families are particularly discussed: the English royal family and the families of Port, Caux, Sandford, Bosco, Esse, Mowbray, Burdet, Amundeville, Beler and Rampaine.
• Biographical Index to the Elizabethan Theater [NB I have a problem reaching this page using my normal Internet Service Provider (Freeserve). For others who may have problems, here's a link to the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from November 2001] (David J. Kathman)
  Biographical notes with references, covering the period 1558-1642
• Medieval English Towns: Biographical Master List (Stephen Alsford)
  Links to about a hundred biographical sketches
• Welsh Biography Online (National Library of Wales)
  Electronic resource based on the published Dictionary of Welsh Biography (1953-2001)
• Edward Augustus Freeman, William the Conqueror
  • McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought (1888)
    PDF file (360 KB)
  • Project Gutenberg [1894]
  • Edward Augustus Freeman, William the Conqueror (1913) (Pat Patterson)
• J. R. Planche, [William] The Conqueror and his Companions (1874) (Pat Patterson)
  In progress. As an older source, this should be used with caution, as indicated by Pat Patterson