Primary Source Analysis
Learn
Primary sources are original documents, artifacts, or other materials created during the time period being studied. They provide direct evidence about the past and allow historians to form their own interpretations rather than relying solely on others' conclusions.
What Are Primary Sources?
Primary sources from the medieval and early modern periods include:
- Written documents: Letters, diaries, legal records, royal charters, church records, and manuscripts
- Visual sources: Paintings, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, maps, and architectural drawings
- Physical artifacts: Tools, weapons, clothing, coins, and buildings
- Oral traditions: Songs, poems, and stories passed down through generations (later written down)
The SOAP Method for Analyzing Primary Sources
Use the SOAP method to systematically analyze any primary source:
- S - Source: Who created this? What type of source is it?
- O - Occasion: When and where was it created? What was happening at that time?
- A - Audience: Who was the intended audience? How might this affect the content?
- P - Purpose: Why was this created? What was the creator trying to accomplish?
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Understanding the difference is crucial:
- Primary sources: Created during the time period (a medieval monk's chronicle, a Renaissance painting)
- Secondary sources: Created later, analyzing or interpreting primary sources (a modern textbook, a historian's analysis)
Evaluating Reliability and Bias
All primary sources have limitations. Consider:
- Author's perspective: A noble and a peasant would describe the same event differently
- Intended purpose: Propaganda differs from personal diaries
- Survival bias: Most medieval documents were created by the literate elite (clergy and nobility)
- Translation issues: Meanings can change when texts are translated from Latin, Old English, or other languages
Examples
Example 1: Analyzing the Magna Carta (1215)
Excerpt: "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions... except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land."
SOAP Analysis:
- Source: Legal document created by English barons, signed by King John
- Occasion: 1215, during a political crisis when barons rebelled against the king's heavy taxation
- Audience: The king, the barons, and future rulers of England
- Purpose: To limit the king's power and protect the rights of the nobility
Key Insight: While revolutionary for its time, the Magna Carta primarily protected nobles, not common people. The phrase "free man" excluded most of the population who were serfs.
Example 2: A Medieval Illuminated Manuscript
Image description: A page from the Book of Hours showing peasants harvesting wheat while a noble watches from horseback.
SOAP Analysis:
- Source: Created by monks in a monastery scriptorium, commissioned by a wealthy patron
- Occasion: 14th century France, depicting the agricultural calendar
- Audience: Wealthy nobles who could afford such expensive books
- Purpose: Religious devotion and display of wealth; also documented daily life
Key Insight: The idealized images may not accurately represent the harsh realities of peasant life, as they were created for wealthy patrons.
Example 3: Leonardo da Vinci's Notebook (c. 1490)
Excerpt from his notes on anatomy: "The bones of the fingers are concave on the inside... I have dissected more than ten human bodies."
SOAP Analysis:
- Source: Personal notebook of Leonardo da Vinci, polymath and artist
- Occasion: Renaissance Italy, a time of renewed interest in science and human anatomy
- Audience: Originally private notes for Leonardo himself
- Purpose: Scientific inquiry and artistic improvement
Key Insight: Private notes often reveal more honest observations than public documents. Leonardo's dissections were technically illegal, showing the tension between Church authority and scientific inquiry.
Practice
Apply your primary source analysis skills to the following questions.
1. A medieval chronicle written by a monk describes a battle where "God's righteous army defeated the heathen invaders." What bias might affect this account?
Show Answer
The monk's religious perspective creates bias. He interprets the battle in religious terms, portraying his side as righteous and the enemy as godless. The account may exaggerate the virtue of his side and the evil of the other.
2. Which of the following would be a PRIMARY source for studying the Black Death in medieval Europe?
- A. A modern documentary about the plague
- B. A 14th-century diary entry describing symptoms
- C. A textbook chapter on medieval diseases
- D. A historian's analysis of death records
Show Answer
B. A 14th-century diary entry describing symptoms. This was created during the time of the Black Death by someone who experienced it firsthand.
3. A royal charter grants land to a monastery. Using the SOAP method, who would be the "Audience" for this document?
Show Answer
The primary audience would be the monastery receiving the land and future generations who might challenge the monastery's ownership. Royal charters were also meant for royal courts and other nobles to recognize the grant as legitimate.
4. Most surviving medieval documents were written by monks or nobles. What perspectives are MISSING from the historical record as a result?
Show Answer
The perspectives of peasants, women, children, and other common people are largely missing. Since most of the population was illiterate and couldn't write, their experiences were rarely recorded directly. We learn about them mostly through documents written by others.
5. A Renaissance painting shows a wealthy merchant family in fine clothing with a perfect, orderly household. Is this painting a reliable source for understanding how this family actually lived? Explain.
Show Answer
The painting may not be fully reliable because portraits were often idealized. Families commissioned paintings to display their wealth and status, so artists would present them in the best possible light. The painting tells us more about how the family wanted to be seen than how they actually lived day-to-day.
6. What is the main difference between a primary and secondary source?
Show Answer
A primary source is created during the time period being studied and provides direct evidence. A secondary source is created later and analyzes, interprets, or summarizes primary sources.
7. A historian discovers two accounts of the same medieval battle - one written by the winning side and one by the losing side. How should the historian use these sources?
Show Answer
The historian should compare both accounts to find common facts and identify where they differ. Each side's bias should be considered. Where accounts agree, the information is more likely accurate. Where they differ, the historian must evaluate which account is more credible based on other evidence.
8. The "P" in SOAP stands for Purpose. Why is understanding an author's purpose important when analyzing a primary source?
Show Answer
Understanding purpose helps identify potential bias. A document meant to persuade (like propaganda) will present information differently than a private diary. The purpose shapes what information is included, excluded, or emphasized.
9. A medieval tax record lists the names and property of every household in a village. What can this primary source tell us? What can't it tell us?
Show Answer
Tax records can tell us: population size, names, occupations, wealth distribution, and property ownership. They can't tell us: people's thoughts and feelings, daily routines, family relationships, religious beliefs, or information about people too poor to be taxed.
10. A student claims: "Primary sources are always more accurate than secondary sources because they were written by people who were there." Is this statement correct? Explain.
Show Answer
This statement is incorrect. Primary sources can be biased, exaggerated, or mistaken. Eyewitnesses may have incomplete information or personal agendas. Secondary sources, while not firsthand, often compare multiple primary sources and can provide a more balanced view. Both types of sources have strengths and limitations.
Check Your Understanding
Review these key concepts before moving on:
- Can you define what makes a source "primary"?
- Can you apply all four parts of the SOAP method to a source?
- Do you understand how bias affects historical sources?
- Can you identify what perspectives might be missing from medieval sources?
Next Steps
- Practice the SOAP method on other historical documents you encounter
- When reading about history, ask yourself: "What type of source is this based on?"
- Continue to the next lesson on Maps and Data Analysis