The ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' is a 13-volume

encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

published by the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

between 1982 and 1989. It was first conceived and started in 1975 with American

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

historian Joseph Strayer of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

as editor-in-chief. A "Supplement 1" was added in 2003 under the editorship of

William Chester Jordan William Chester Jordan (born April 7, 1948) is an American medievalist who serves as the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University; he is a recipient of the Haskins Medal for his work concerning the Great Famine of 1315–131 ...

. The encyclopedia covers over 112,000 persons, places, things and concepts of "legitimate scholarly interest" in 7,000 distinct articles in more than 8,000 pages written by over 1,800 contributing editors from academic institutions mainly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

but also

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. It is the largest and most detailed modern encyclopedia of the Middle Ages in the English language, comparable to the nine volume German '' Lexikon des Mittelalters''.Review and comparison of four dictionaries of the Middle Ages
/ref> The "upside-down-T in a circle" symbol on the spine and cover is an artistic interpretation of the T and O map, which was first described in the ''

Etymologiae (Latin for 'Etymologies'), also known as the ('Origins'), usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by the influential Christian bishop Isidore of Seville () towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged t ...

'', the most influential encyclopedic work of the Middle Ages.

Notes

References

*Joseph Strayer, editor (1989). ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages''. Charles Scribner's Sons.

OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...

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*William Chester Jordan, editor (2003). ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages: Supplement 1''. Charles Scribner's Sons. Encyclopedias of history Medieval studies literature 1982 non-fiction books American encyclopedias English-language encyclopedias {{Europe-hist-book-stub