Medieval Family Life Database from Adam Matthew

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In preparation for Emory's Primary Evidence QEP, the library has just purchased 18 additional primary source databases from the vendor Adam Matthew that can be incorporated into course assignments or aid scholars researching a broad array of subjects. 

The Medieval Family Life database provides access to the only five existing letter collections from fifteenth-century England: the Paston, Cely, Stonor, Plumpton, and Armburgh papers. Many topics are covered in these letter collections, such as marriages, inheritance, estate management, financial dealings, and women and their role within the family. These manuscripts would be of great interest to researchers interested in medieval domestic life, economics, politics, and family dynamics. The database provides full-color digital images of all of the manuscripts alongside searchable transcriptions.

Medieval Family Life also features:

• An interactive map that students can use to look at places relating to the Paston, Stonor, Cely, and Plumpton families.
• Family trees for the Paston, Stonor, Cely, and Plumpton families.
• A gallery of images from manuscripts housed in the British Library.

The database also provides an extremely helpful tutorial with eighteen sections that cover aspects of medieval cultural and social history. These sections, which discuss topics ranging from courtship and marriage to trade and economic conditions, also list relevant primary source documents that students and researchers can consult as they investigate a topic.