Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/39

Rh fully, to grasp their spirit and point of view, we should read their own words in their own language, and see their own handiwork. In other words, we should go to the original sources, whence in the first instance all our knowledge of the past comes. But it is sometimes necessary to travel far and obtain a special permit to see an original document or monument, although modern art museums and the great printed collections of historical sources which have been published have greatly lightened the labors of the historian. In the latter he finds the manuscripts of olden chroniclers carefully edited, the handwriting and abbreviations deciphered, and printed in legible type with helpful footnotes. Even so the sources may still be in Latin or Arabic or some other language unknown to or difficult for the ordinary student. Furthermore, there are many passages in the original documents which only the trained specialist can correctly interpret. Then many primary sources are incomplete in character, or fragmentary, or full of errors which other sources correct. In short, from one document or monument we seldom obtain a full view of the past and often obtain a perverted view. Hence the historian who combines the fragments into a harmonious whole renders us a great service. The writings of modern historians concerning the past, produced after a study of the original sources, are called secondary works. But even the student beginning the study of history should not confine his attention to secondary works. A number of medieval original sources have been translated into English in whole or in selections and are as available as the secondary works. Into these, at least, every student of history should dip, and supplement the picture of the past which the historians draw for him by his own vivid glimpses into the minds of the men of the past themselves.

The ordinary reader of history at the present time needs to be almost as critical as the specialist who investigates the very sources of historical knowledge for new facts, for there is a deal of historical misinformation current in the talk and writing of to-day, in