Encyclopaedia of the Middle Ages
By André Vauchez (editor)

Preface to the English Edition

In the world of scholarship and learning, one of the most startling and far-reaching phenomena of the past fifty years has been the explosion of academic publishing. The causes of the explosion are not easily identifiable, although it is clear that one of the factors which has propelled it is the need felt by academic institutions (and, regrettably, governments) to measure individual scholarly performance, and the concomitant expectation that a young scholar will publish one book (or more) to achieve tenure, a second book to secure further promotion, and a substantial number of books and articles to attain to the highest academic posts. The impact of this explosion on the field of medieval studies - as probably on all scholarly disciplines - has been overwhelming. With countless books and articles on all aspects of medieval studies appearing each year, the possibility of exercising control over the scholarship published annually in even a small patch of the larger field of medieval studies becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible; and, one might add, the more interdisciplinary the field, the greater the difficulty. Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that the past few decades have seen the creation of various sorts of bibliographies and encyclopedias designed to provide streamlined guidance to the essential scholarship on a given medieval topic. There is the massive and excellent (though unillustrated) Lexikon des Mittetalters (ed. G. Avella-Widhalm et al., 9 vols. in 17, Munich and Zurich, 1977-99), and those limited to English may consult the twelve-volume Dictionary of the Middle Ages (ed. J.R. Strayer, New York, 1982-9). But because of their size and cost, these encyclopedias may be affordable by major libraries, but are scarcely affordable by individual scholars (a nine-volume edition of the Lexikon des Mittelalters, without index volumes, has recently been advertised at c. £1,800, $2,900). There is also a number of one-volume dictionaries and encyclopedias, which vary in quality, but in their nature tend to limited in scope and coverage.

There is thus a need for an encyclopedia of the Middle Ages on a scale smaller than the Dictionary of the Medieval Ages and the Lexikon des Mittetalters, which, unlike them, would be affordable by individual scholars, and would provide the illustration which they regrettably lack. These considerations led a consortium of British, French and Italian publishers to approach André Vauchez, a scholar particularly well known in his native France and in Italy, but increasingly also in the English-speaking world, to edit the present work. Vauchez assembled a team of some 30 (largely French-speaking) scholars, with the aim of producing an affordable, illustrated, two-volume dictionary of the Middle Ages. The aim was from the first to create an encyclopedia using the best scholarship available in Europe and North America.

The resulting work is now published - in somewhat different versions - in English, French and Italian. It containing some 3,200 articles of variable length by some 600 scholars, some 600 black and white illustrations and 30 full-page colour plates.

The French edition was published by Editions du Cerf in Paris in 1997 in two volumes as the Dictionnaire encyclopédique du moyen âge. Despite the excellence of most of the entries, many entries - in spite of the editor’s aim of supplying each entry with relevant bibliography - lack bibliography altogether. From a non-French point of view, however, the most serious defect of the French version is its Franco-centric orientation. For example, medieval English authors are given cursory, often inadequate, treatment, if they are treated at all (the French edition contained no article on Beowulf).

The Italian edition, the Dizionario enciclopedico del medioevo, was overseen by Claudio Leonardi of the University of Florence, and appeared in 1998 and 1999 in three large volumes. Leonardi and his collaborators were able to broaden the coverage by adding a number of articles.

The present English edition, translated by Adrian Walford from the French and Italian editions, has been able to build on its two predecessors, while preserving their overall scope and lavish illustration. An additional fifty entries have been commissioned, partly to enhance the English presence in the volume (articles on Beowulf and the Battle of Hastings have been added, for example). In addition, however, the present English edition goes beyond the French and Italian editions, namely in the matter of bibliography. A concerted effort has been made to provide every article with relevant and up-to-date bibliography, and we hope that this feature will be found useful by users of this English Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages.

In any event, the scope of the present Encyclopedia is vast, covering the fields of archaeology, art, architecture, economics, education, geography, history, institutions, languages, literature, philosophy, religion, theology, law, science and politics, and spanning a period from the seventh century to the fifteenth. We are unaware of a comparable work of reference on the Middle Ages which offers so much detailed information at a price which individual medievalists will be able to afford. It is hoped that it will be of value to scholars by providing them with information on fields outside their own expertise and in showing them the main sources for further research. Librarians, whether in academic institutions or in public libraries, will find it a useful one-stop guide. Students will be able to obtain a speedy overview of topics that they need. Publication of the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages provides a happy means of inaugurating the new millennium for medievalists of all persuasions.

R.B. Dobson & Michael Lapidge

See also: General Editor's Preface