Providing a Latin text to accompany The Restoration of the Monastery of St. Martin of Tournai would have driven the price of the book out of the range of many of the students for whom the translation had been intended, but failing to provide such a text would lessen the value of the book for scholars who would wish to verify the translation and refer to the original passages on which the Introduction and notes were based. After considering the problem, David McGonagle, of the Catholic University of America Press, and I decided to use the World-Wide Web to provide the accompanying Latin text free of charge to those who would wish to consult it.

Once that decision was made, it was clear that we could provide many other amenities for which the costs of print production are prohibitive but are quite reasonable when made available through computer telecommunications. As a consequence, we determined to make the site "live" in the sense that it would continue to grow through the continued installation of additional supplementary materials. We have added maps, Georg Waitz's introduction to the text of the Latin edition, and some illustrations. The Latin text of the continuation of Herman's work is in the process of being added, and will be followed by other source materials, articles, and the like.

Recapturing medieval Tournai is a difficult task. Much of the old city was destroyed in a massive air raid in May, 1940. Although the reconstruction has been excellent, only scattered fragments of the early twelfth-century city are to be found. Nevertheless, we will gather as much illustrative material as is possible, and we would welcome any assistance you might be able to offer.

We would like to note that this site is not intended to be restrictive. We would welcome contributions from other scholars working in the general area of Tournai in the hopes that the site might become a useful resource for research and general study. We would also solicit your comments and suggestions.

Lynn H. Nelson
Department of History
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas

David McGonagle
Editor
Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.