Another in this series of substantial volumes has now appeared. This reviewer has covered two earlier volumes for Reference Reviews, Medieval Iberia (RR 2003/420) and Medieval Italy (RR 2005/135), and another volume Medieval Science, Technology and Medicine, is covered elsewhere in this issue (RR 2006/330). This volume does not contain anything new. It pulls out of earlier volumes entries on key medieval figures and places this information under a cover of its own. Thus this volume contains entries previously published in earlier volumes on Scandinavia, France, England, Germany, Iberia, Italy, Jewish Civilization and Trade, Travel and Exploration.
In addition to alphabetical (pp. xxi‐xxvi) and regional (pp. xxxv‐xl) lists of entries at the beginning of the volume, one also finds a thematic list of entries (pp. xxvii‐xxxiv). In this list, entries have been placed in the following categories: artists and architects, authors (this is the longest list), merchants and businessmen (this is the shortest list), musicians, political leaders, religious figures, scientists, travellers (also a very short list) and notable women. Obviously, entries can belong to more than one category; for instance, Pedro III, King of Aragón, is listed as both an author (p. xxx) and as a political leader (p. xxxii) and Hildegard von Bingen is listed as an author (p. xxix), a musician (p. xxxi) and a notable woman (p. xxxiv).
The volume contains a somewhat inconsistent element in the way in which rulers are listed, both in the thematic list of entries and in the entries themselves. There are entries for Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, etc. with nothing to indicate the territories over which they ruled or any other identifying feature; whereas, one gets other entries in the form of Henry I of Saxony; Henry IV, Emperor; Henry VII of Luxembourg and Henry the Lion.
Another seeming inconsistency in the listing of entries is the way in which the name is listed. Sometimes a figure is listed by his or her Christian name; for instance, Matthew Paris, monk at St Albans, is listed under M (p. 460). Other times, a figure is listed by some other element of his or her name; for instance, Alfonso de Cartagena is listed under C (p. 104). (Alfonso de Cartagena is, in fact, an interesting example in terms of the transitions that took place in his family's name. His father's name was originally Shlomo ha‐Levi. Shlomo converted from Judaism and changed his name to Pablo de Santa María. Pablo (formerly Shlomo) was elected Bishop of Cartagena in 1402 and the family changed its surname from Santa María to Cartagena in 1440. This raises some interesting questions; for instance, why did Shlomo ha‐Levi/Pablo de Santa María convert? How does one account for his meteoric rise within the Church? How does a man with two sons (Alfonso was the second) become Bishop of Cartagena? Had his wife died by that time? Sadly, there is no entry for Shlomo/Pablo, only for Alfonso. Indeed, in spite of the confusion surrounding the family's name, there are no cross‐references from the other forms that the family's name took – either in the text of the volume or in the index – so finding the entry for this particular figure could be rather hit‐or‐miss.)
These apparent inconsistencies may not necessarily be inconsistencies at all; however, any editorial principles that may be behind them are not explained. In the Introduction to the volume, we are told that the length of the entry is no gauge to the importance of the figure; it simply reflects how much we know about the figure (p. viii). The Introduction does not go into the intricacies of how decisions were made in terms of how figures are listed. Could it be that the way that the figure is listed was lifted directly from the earlier volume in the same way as the rest of the entry was, without an attempt at reconciling differences between the earlier volumes? (This could explain why there are two entries for Rabanus Maurus, one by Jan M. Ziolkowski under Hrabanus Maurus (p. 333) and one by E. Ann Matter under Rabanus Maurus (pp. 551‐2)!)
For all these little niggles, this is an incredibly useful addition to the series. It contains entries for many of the key figures of medieval Europe (omitting, for instance, Byzantium, Islam outside of Iberia, Ireland, Scotland and Wales). On the whole, it is not difficult to find one's way around the volume. It can also act as a standalone reference for individuals/libraries not wishing to purchase the entire series.
