Towards the end of the Early Middle Ages and beginning of the High Middle Ages, what would a knight spend their time doing? Specifically a knight who wasn't born into nobility and had been knighted for their bravery?

​

Edit: Also, do they have someone to "report" to?

Did they really mindlessly murder and rape everything they came across or was this exaggerated by the English perspective?

I’m more so curious about the epidemiological aspects of New World-Old World transmission as I have never read much about its effect on Arctic natives. I’d be interested to learn more about how their experiences may have aligned/contrasted with those of other indigenous communities through the Americas

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but my current perception of the Vietnam War is essentially that of the US seeing the Vietnamese people democratically choosing a communist government and intervening in their affairs solely due to fear of spreading communism. This led to a war that was completely unsupported by the Vietnamese outside of the extreme minority and officials in Diem's government, which was essentially a puppet dictatorship -- that is, conflict in Vietnam began as an anti-imperialist war against the French, after which the country would have peacefully established an independent government that would have happened to be communist, but the US took over for the French and began a brutal aggressive war for the sake of "saving the Vietnamese from themselves." This position is mostly based on

• (a): Eisenhower stating that 80% or more of the Vietnamese public would have supported a communist government, and

• (b): The fact that Diem's puppet state was brutally authoritarian and repressive, and maintained its power only because of consistent US support.

Due to this view, am I being unfair in characterizing the South Vietnamese government and military essentially in the same bin as Vichy France in WWII? Clearly the Vichy regime did include officials and soldiers who were French, but the vast, vast, vas majority of the population was awaiting liberation from the occupying Nazis, and those who worked with the Vichy government and army were merely collaborationists and essentially traitors working with an occupying power -- wouldn't the same apply to the South Vietnamese, who were essentially fighting on the side of an invading imperialist power against their own nation's right to self-determination?

The cookbook hints at radically different ways of using perfume but is (as much as possible) an exact translation so is missing context to the perfume section (well... and all other sections).

In a similar vein, is Al-Kinfi's “The Chemistry of Perfumes and Distillations" available in English translation? Articles reference it as being widely used so I expect it survives but I keep hitting dead ends.

The British Brodie helmet was used in World War 1 as its shape was good for deflecting shrapnel and loose material from causing head injuries for the Brits in the trenches. It obviously had a good design and use in World War 1, but trench warfare was obviously much less widespread during World War 2. The Brits were one of the longest fighting nations in the war, fighting from 1939 - 1945, so time wasn't a factor to its lack in design change.

Why is this? I had always assumed it was to keep costs low, as the war had a great impact on Britain's economy. For example, the Brits decided to stop importing the American Thompson SMG and instead invested in the less reliable and less well performing STEN gun due to its lower cost and ease of production. With the Germans offering an obviously superior design with the Stahlhelm inspiration couldn't have been a factor, so it's always somewhat puzzled me.

So I’m currently watching Gettysburg and General Robert E. Lee is wearing three gold stars, which is the Confederate equivalent of a Colonel. However, other Generals like Picket or Longstreet are shown wearing a much more elaborate General rank, with three gold stars covered in a gold wreath.

Also, how come the Confederate officers have such a varying wardrobe of uniforms? Some guys are wearing pretty elaborate fancy uniforms with a dress-like coat over it along with two rows of buttons while others are wearing either a single or two sets of gold buttons. Why do many different uniform types?

So what gives? What’s the deal here?

Hi! I’m wondering if anyone has some links or knows some sources that they can pass along about Ancient Egyptian Jewelry, I’m writing an art history paper about the evolution of jewelry in ancient Egypt and its use as evidence of the culture’s evolution through time. Using my university’s article search I only seem to find a couple tidbits about specific pharaonic funerary goods, etc. Thank you in advance!

Traditionally in Mexico and much of the South Americas, tortillas were made out of corn flour, it wasn't until European colonialists introduced wheat to their lands that wheat flour tortillas became a thing, yet still it wasn't common amongst its population as due to wheat crops needing more attention being more sensitive to the climate conditions, it was quite expensive and more commonly dined on by the rich and elites. Corn/maize was always easy to grow, and thus cheaper, more common, was largely used by the common folk to make their tortillas.

In Indian culture it seems like wheat roti/paratha/breads were always the standard. Even though wheat seems more native to Asia, wasn't it still expensive to cultivate, assuming similar climates to what was in Mexico at the time? Indian breads are also made from lentil flours and rice flour, how widespread were these?

I was just watching an episode of The Tudors and there was a scene where Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, holds a bowl for King Henry to wash his hands in then is dismissed.

Was this a common thing? For lesser nobility to wait on the King?

Are ladies-in-waiting a similar thing for the queen?

What are some good books covering the middle ages specifying on western history?

Asking for uhh a friend.

I always wondered but nothing came to mind, all the cannons i've seen on age of sail warships are on wheels so when they are fired, it would make sense the recoil pushes them back.I'm guessing this isnt the case because then the cannons could just roll around the ship if it was in an awkward angle.Then i thought maybe they were tied around the gunports but then the recoil could potentionally break some of the boards.Please explain this i can't live without knowing it.

I know that the two states seldom interacted directly with one another but they were both integral points on the Silk Road