This revised edition of Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (1987) has approximately 2,100 entries, 200 of which are new. Length ranges from a paragraph to two pages, with diverse entries such as Erasmus, Desiderius; Libraries; and Spanish Inquisition. The fact that the scope has been widened to encompass the Reformation means that many articles have been expanded. Other revisions reflect recent scholarship with enhanced coverage of, for example, literacy, families, and the role of women. Editors Speake, a prolific reference book editor, and Bergin, a Yale University professor now deceased, were also responsible for the first edition.

Medieval literature encompasses a broad sweep of people, cultures, and styles. "Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature" offers a comprehensive account of the literary works, writers, and concepts of the Middle Ages; from 500 to 1500 CE. Covering not only European literature but also that of India, the Far East, and the Muslim world, this invaluable A-to-Z guide is one of the most inclusive single-volume references of its kind. Approximately 700 entries cover works, authors, and terms from the following cultures and languages: English: Old English and Middle English, ncluding Beowulf, Chaucer, morality play, Sir Thomas Malory, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Robin Hood, and Troilus and Criseyde; French: Joan of Arc, Marie de France, Parzival, The Song of Roland, and Francois Villon; Provencal: troubadours and Peire Vidal; Celtic: Cuchulain, The Mabinogion, and Ulster cycle; German: The Nibelungenlied, Tristan, Ulrich von Lichtenstein, and Gottfried von Strassburg; Old Norse: Egil's Saga, skaldic poetry, and Snorri Sturluson; Latin: Peter Abelard, Bede, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae, Psychomachia, and St.Augustine of Hippo; Japanese: Muromachi Period, The Pillow Book, and The Tale of Genji; Chinese: The Story of Ying-ying and Li Po; Islamic: Omar Khayyam, the Koran, and The Thousand and One Nights; Indian: Govindadasa and Mahadeviyakka; Spanish; Hebrew; and more.