Ménestrel (standing for “médiévistes sur le net : sources, travaux et références en ligne”) is a French network providing an international online resource directory for medievalists.

Created in 1997, its primary aim is to develop an information network of medieval studies on the internet. The core group was gathered by the journal Le Médiéviste et l’Ordinateur and associated researchers and professionals from the library and information sciences.

Aims

• promote the development of European resources for Medieval Studies (esp. in French, but not exclusively),
• increase the international visibility of Medieval Studies,
• create a free, critical, online directory of resources available on the internet
• promote the integration of Information and communications technology in Medieval Studies (for researchers and students)

Organisation

The network is organised with a Scientific Board, an Editorial Board, the Redactors community and occasional contributors.

• The Scientific Board gathers 9 scientific experts from several European institutions. As of Febr. 2012: Jacques BERLIOZ (École nationale des Chartes), Alain DIERKENS (Université libre de Bruxelles), Michele C. FERRARI (Mediëvistenverband, Erlangen), Claude GAUVARD (Université Paris 1), Véronique GAZEAU (Centre Michel de Boüard – CRAHAM Caen), Jean-Philippe GENET (Laboratoire de Médiévistique Occidentale de Paris), Pierre MONNET (École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales), Agostino PARAVICINI-BAGLIANI (SISMEL, Florence-Lausanne), Jean-Claude SCHMITT (École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales).
• The Editorial Board is elected by the community and coordinates the activities of the network as well as the editorial coherence of the website.
• The community (Assemblée des rédacteurs) gathers 78 redactors, being responsible for thematic rubrics.
• Contributors: authors of some part of the text, but not being responsible for maintaining and updating the resources

Directory

The directory has 4 main categories:

• Medievalists on the map (Lieux et Acteurs de la recherche): directory of research institutions, symposia and congresses
• Field guide to the web (Répertoire de l’internet): Selective and critical guide on medieval resources. Main rubrics are: Animal world, Archaeology, Art History and Visual Studies, Book History, Digitised archives, Digitised manuscripts, Diplomatics, Food, French Languages and Literatures, History of law, Illumination, Medieval England, Medieval Germany, Medieval Islam, Medieval Japan, Medieval Latin, Medieval Latin Hagiography, Medieval cartography, Medieval encyclopedias, Medieval epigraphy, Medieval philosophy, Medieval theatre, Old Icelandic literature, Palaeography, Polyptychs & early medieval inventories, Religious History, Science & technology, Sigillography, Texts-Spain, Typography for medievalists
• The Middle Ages in your library (Le Moyen Âge en bibliothèque): directory of libraries, catalogues of medieval manuscripts, Reference works, Text corpora, Journals
• Menestrel Collections: papers and publications, mainly on epistemology and digital humanities