Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank (MEMDB) on the Web

What is MEMDB?

The Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank is a project established at Rutgers University and originally cosponsored by the Research Libraries Group (RLG), Inc. Its aim is to provide scholars with an expanding library of information in electronic format on the medieval and early modern periods of European history, circa A.D. 800-1815.

MEMDB contains four large data sets which can be searched concurrently (by default), individually, or in any combination. The four data sets currently available are:

1. All currency exchange quotations compiled by Dr. Peter Spufford of the University of Cambridge and published in his "Handbook of Medieval Exchange" (1986).
2. Prices drawn directly from primary sources and published in Volume 1 of N.W. Posthumus's "Inquiry into the History of Prices in Holland" (1946).
3. Grain prices supplied by Rainer Metz and compiled for the print edition of Dietrich Ebeling and Franz Irsigler, "Getreideumsatz, Getreide- und Brotpreise in Köln 1368-1797," 2 vols. (1976-77).
4. Monetary data from Rainer Metz "Geld, Währung und Preisent- wicklung: Der Niederrheinraum im europäischen Vergleich: 1350- 1800" (1990).

Who is involved in MEMDB?

MEMDB is codirected by Prof. Rudolph M. Bell of Rutgers University and Prof. Martha C. Howell of Columbia University. It has 3 centers in Europe: at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands with Prof. Willem P. Blockmans, at the University of Leuven, Belgium, with Prof. Eddy van Cauwenberghe, and at the University of Cologne with Dr. Rainer Metz. Its advisory board includes these individuals along with J. H. A. Munro (University of Toronto), Edward Peters (University of Pennsylvania) and Peter Spufford (University of Cambridge).

Who supplies MEMDB's data?

MEMDB's holdings principally come from databases donated by scholars. The Bank functions as an efficient means of publication for valuable work that is clumsy to publish in microform and expensive to publish in print. MEMDB also incorporates data via the optical scanning of published works (copyright permission obtained as necessary). When databases are incorporated, all of the original documentation is preserved, if appropriate. Background texts and source references are displayed on-screen with the data.

A Web Interface to MEMDB

Originally, MEMDB was only available on CD-ROM. At Rutgers, CETH and the SCC (Scholarly Communication Center) have developed a Web interface to MEMDB, which is accessible without restriction to the academic community and to the general public for research and educational purposes.