Research Guides: History: Primary Documents for HIS111

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This is not a complete list of primary documents available from Truman signing papers the Library. An attempt was made to include as many topics and resource types as appropriate for the assignment. Please explore primary documents on your own (suggested databases are on this page). Click here for more information on Primary Sources. Email one of your Librarians for more help or use the Ask-A-Librarian chat box.

Suggested Databases

Infobase Ancient and Medieval History
Ancient and Medieval History provides thorough coverage of world history from prehistory through the mid-1500s, with special Topic Centers on key civilizations and regions, including the ancient Near East, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient and medieval Africa, ancient and medieval Asia, the Americas, medieval Europe, and the Islamic World. Each civilization’s history is brought to life through articles, videos and slideshows, primary sources, and more.

Legal Codes and Constitutions

Capitulary of Charlemagne - 802
This document was one of the first such edicts, released shortly after Charlemagne took the throne. It addressed the rights and responsibilities of the church and nobility, and laid out detailed punishments for different categories of crime.
Capitulations of Granada - 1492
Just two weeks after signing the Capitulations of Santa Fe, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued a writ, known as the Capitulations of Granada. This agreement formally conferred on Columbus the offices of admiral, viceroy, and governor of the islands and mainland he might discover.
Charter for the Monastery of Saint Omer
This charter for the monastery of Saint Omer was renewed by King Charles II (Charles the Bald) in 874, at a time when northern France was subject to raids by the Vikings. Note that the Carolingians had declared a royal monopoly on the establishment of markets, thus the right to hold a market, granted by this charter, gave the town of Omer (Sithiu) an economic advantage over neighboring towns.
A Collection of Contracts from Mesopotamia - ca. 2300–428 B.C.E.
The vast majority of the cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia are contractual in nature. Here are three examples, all pertaining to divorce.
Confirmation of Charters - 1297
Heavy taxation by King Edward I of England led to opposition by the nobility and middle class, and ultimately, their refusal to support Edward's war against France in 1294.
Constitution of Japan (excerpts) - 604
In the seventh century Japan adopted many aspects of Chinese government, resulting in the centralization of Japanese imperial authority. The first innovations were introduced by Empress Suiko and Prince Shotoku in the constitution of 604. It contains 17 articles that draw from both Buddhist ideals and the Analects of Confucius.
Constitutions of Clarendon
In 1164 Henry II, king of England, issued a series of edicts limiting the independence, and therefore influence, of the clergy.
Documents Concerning Guilds - 12th–13th centuries
During the Middle Ages guilds were professional organizations that were set up to safeguard the rights and craftsmanship of a particular trade or occupation.
Edict of Milan
With this decree, issued in 313 CE, the coemperors Constantine (ca. 285–337 CE) and Licinius (ca. 263–325 CE) granted freedom of worship to all people throughout the Roman Empire.
The Farmer's Law (excerpt) - 7th to 8th centuries
The Farmer's Law was a Byzantine legal code, probably enacted under Emperor Leo III the Isaurian during the eighth century CE.
Hittite Code (Code of the Nesilim) (excerpt) - 1670–1180 B.C.E.
The Hittites, who called themselves Nesilim after an early Hittite city in central Anatolia, built an empire in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) that at its height in the 14th century B.C.E. stretched from western Anatolia to southern Lebanon and northern Mesopotamia.
The Law Code of Gortyn (Crete) (excerpt)
Gortyn, a city in southern Crete that had been settled by the Dorian Greeks sometime after 1000 B.C.E., had by 500 B.C.E. become Crete's largest city-state.
Law of the Twelve Tables
The Law of the Twelve Tables is the oldest written interpretation of Roman law, dating to 450 BCE.
Taika Reform Edicts (excerpt) - 645
In the seventh century Japan adopted a series of reforms modeled on the government system in Tang China that were aimed at greater centralization of power in the imperial court.
Statutes of William I the Conqueror
William, duke of Normandy, conquered and ruled England from 1066 to 1087. These statutes, which appear in a manuscript dated to the time of his son, Henry I (r. 1100–1135), are considered to be a summation of all of William's laws made post-conquest.

Art from the Roman Empire

Sarcophagus of Barbarian and Roman cavalries at war
Sarcophagus of Barbarian and Roman cavalries at war, second century CE.

Religious Works

Akkadian Penitential Psalms - 17th century BCE or earlier
The ancient Mesopotamians were the first civilization to record their poetry. They also pioneered many poetic forms—such as the penitential psalm, a poem asking the gods for forgiveness—that would in turn influence the cultures of succeeding civilizations.
Ancient Babylonian Charms - ca. seventh century BCE
The ancient Mesopotamians employed a variety of magical practices to treat disease, including the use of talismans—images of deities believed to ward off evil. The chants that accompanied the use of talismans were preserved on clay tablets, as in this example from Babylonia.
Avesta - ca. sixth century BCE–ca. seventh century CE
The Avesta is the sacred text of Zoroastrianism. The text was originally written in Avestan, a language of ancient Iran. It exists in five parts.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1 (excerpt) - 200 B.C.E.
The Bhagavad Gita ("Song about God"), a segment of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, is perhaps the most widely revered of the Hindu scriptures. Dating from around 200 B.C.E., its ca. 700 verses are divided into 18 chapters.
"Bilingual Version of the Creation of the World by Marduk" (excerpt) - 6th century BCE
This Babylonian creation story is a later variation on the famous eighth century B.C.E. Enuma elish. Now in the British Museum, the tablet was found in Sippar and dates to the sixth century B.C.E..
The Book of Enoch (excerpt) - 2nd century BCE
The Book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphal book written in the second century BCE. Pseudepigrapha were books that were written under a false name and that circulated among Jews and Christians but were not included in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament.
The City of God, Books 14, 15, and 19 (excerpts) - 413-426 C.E.
A classic view of the Christian philosophy of history, The City of God is one of the masterpieces of Latin literature and of medieval thought.
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada (translated as "The Footsteps of Religion" or "The Path of Religion") is a collection of 423 verses attributed to the Buddha. The sayings, which are arranged into 26 largely unsystematic subgroups, advise the reader to live a virtuous life in order to attain Enlightenment. It is the most important text in the Pali canon, the religious literature of Theravada Buddhism.
The Dialogue
St. Catherine of Siena was said to have received the message contained in her four-part Dialogue shortly before dying in 1380.
Enuma Anu Enlil (excerpts) ca. 2500–670 B.C.E.
Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh contained a large number of astrological reports written by priests who observed the skies for signs that would allow them to discern the future.
Enuma elish (Babylonian Epic of Creation) (excerpt)
Enûma elish, from the first words of the poem that mean "When on high…," is a thousand-line epic that celebrates the rise to power of Babylon's chief god, Marduk.
Farewell Sermon by the Prophet Muhammad
This important address prescribed a moral life and underscored the brotherhood of all Muslims, and today it exists in several different versions. All Muslims aspire to complete the Hajj—as the Prophet mentions in his speech—and during which the pilgrims must spend time in contemplation on Mt. Arafat. Many also travel to Medina to visit the Prophet's Tomb.
"My Life Is the Lotus Sutra"
Nichiren believed that only through the Lotus Sutra would the Japanese achieve the Buddhist aim of alleviating suffering and also protect themselves from calamities such as the threat of Mongol invasions.
"Hymn to the Nile"
This Egyptian hymn dates from about 2100 BCE. It illustrates the Egyptians' awareness that their civilization, indeed, their very existence, is almost completely dependent upon the Nile.

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Speeches

Against Hannibal
The Romans engaged Hannibal—the 29-year-old "furious youth" as Scipio calls him—in battle by the river Ticinus. Scipio's overconfident address to his men reveals how seriously he underestimated Hannibal.
"The Alternative of Exile"
On December 5, 63 B.C.E., the Senate debated what punishment to award the conspirators (including Publius Cornelius Lentulus, who had been consul in 71 B.C.E.), with opinion strongly in favor of death. Although there was suspicion that Caesar might have conspired in the plot with Catiline, Caesar swayed the Senate briefly, arguing against executing the five. As the historian Sallust relates, Caesar asked for mercy and protested setting bad precedent by condemning them without a trial.
Before the Battle of Guadalete - 711 CE
Tariq and his army had been sent by the Muslim governor of North Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr. According to what is probably legend, Musa had promised to aid Count Julian of Ceuta, a Christian, against Roderick, the last Visigothic king of Spain, as Roderick had impregnated Julian's daughter during the time that she was sent to his court for education.
Before the Battle of Hastings
Henry of Huntingdon, an English historian writing in the 12th century, related a speech he said William gave to his five squadrons of cavalrymen before the Battle of Hastings.
Calling for a Crusade to the Holy Land - 1095
In March 1095 an ambassador from the Byzantine emperor Alexius I requested assistance against the Muslim Seljuk Turks, who had seized much of Asia Minor (Turkey). The Byzantine Empire had an historical relationship with Rome, the seat of the popes, as it was Christian and had succeeded the eastern branch of the Roman Empire. At the next church council, Urban II would preach a sermon with far-reaching effects for centuries.
Funeral Oration
This famous eulogy was recorded (and probably embellished) by the Athenian historian Thucydides, a statesman and friend of Pericles, who was present. Many historians believe Lincoln took some inspiration from this speech while composing his own eulogy on war dead—the Gettysburg Address.
On the White Pheasant
In the year 650, an official from the province of Anato brought Emperor Kotoku a rare white pheasant found on Mount Onoyama. Historians from the Paekche of Korea searched their records and found that white pheasants had indeed been seen in China, in 68 C.E. during the reign of Ming Ti of the Han dynasty, and also during the earlier Chou (or Zhou) dynasty. The bird was a lucky omen for Japan.