The ''Lexikon des Mittelalters'' ("Lexicon of the Middle Ages", LMA, LexMA) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

encyclopedia on the history and culture of the Middle Ages. Written by authors from all over the world, it comprises more than 36,000 articles in 9 volumes. Historically the works range from the Late Antiquity to about 1500, covering the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...

. The first six volumes were published by

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with Sel ...

(later Artemis & Winkler), Munich and Zürich; volumes seven through nine by LexMA, Munich. In 2000, an electronic (standalone) edition of the ''Lexikon'' was published on

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Brepols Brepols is a Belgian publishing house. Once, it was one of the largest printing companies in the world and one of the main employers in Turnhout ( Belgium). Besides its printing business, Brepols is also active as a publisher. Formerly well known ...

Praise and criticism

The first volume was widely praised upon publication; G.A. Holmes, in '' The English Historical Review'', foresaw that the entire encyclopedia would be "a valuable reference work of a kind which medievalists hitherto lacked." H. Chadwick, in ''

The Journal of Theological Studies ''The Journal of Theological Studies'' is an academic journal established in 1899 and now published by Oxford University Press in April and October each year. It publishes theological research, scholarship, and interpretation, and hitherto unpubli ...

'', called the lexicon "a necessary and valuable work of reference." Its coverage of subjects related to Islam was praised, though the same reviewer called the coverage of topics related to Judaism "comparatively modest." The CD-ROM edition was chosen as one of the "Selected Reference Books of 2001-2002" by ''

College & Research Libraries ''College & Research Libraries'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Association of College and Research Libraries. History It was established in December 1939 and was published quarterly for its first 18 years, then b ...

''.

Editions

* ''Lexikon des Mittelalters''. Munich: LexMA-Verlag, 1980ff. . * ''Lexikon des Mittelalters Online''. Turnhout: Brepols, 2009. .

References

External links

* Christian Heitzmann
Discussion
in: Information Media for Libraries (IFB) 7(1999) 1/4.

Review of the CD-ROM edition

Artikel
in GenWiki 20th-century encyclopedias German encyclopedias German-language encyclopedias Encyclopedias of history Medieval studies 1979 non-fiction books {{encyclopedia-stub

Praise and criticism

Editions

See also

References

External links