What would have been the value of sheep's wool in the viking age Scandinavia and England in terms of silver or other goods? And how much wool would a sheep have produced in a year? How big would the flocks have been? And what kinds of textiles would have been produced from it? Was English wool exported to Northern Italy even then?

This is a short question but did Hamilton actually used public funds from the treasury to pay off James and Maria Reynolds?

I keep coming across references to a beliefs amongst pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon peoples regarding hills, specifically that they were inhabited by ghosts, treasure hoarding dragons and elf-denizens, which made them fear to tread in the hills. I also notice that, both pre-migration and post migration to Britain, these groups inhabited lowland areas.

After the migration to Britain, they initially occupied only the lowland south-east, the dead flat East Anglia, the relatively flat west up as far as the Somerset levels, the lowland midlands, and Northumbria east of the Pennines (including into lowland Scotland). They initially declined to occupy rugged Wales, Highland Scotland, windswept Dartmoor and Cornwall, Cumbria and upland parts of England like Elmet. In these places the Britons clung on to their lifestyles and language until much later.

I also read that the Peak District was so named, not because of the later Anglo-Norman word meaning a rocky pinnacle, but because they believed it was inhabited by the elf-denizen known as a Paec (Puck).

Is it possible that the Anglo-Saxon superstition to do with terrifying hill creatures forced them to stick to low lying areas? Or is that mixing up cause and effect, insofar as their arable lifestyle caused them to inhabit such lowland areas and their superstition just reflected their unfamiliarity with, and mistrust of, the hills?

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We do not allow posts based on personal or relatives' anecdotes. Brief and short answers are allowed but MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. All other rules also apply—no bigotry, current events, and so forth.

For this round, let’s look at: ​Animals! In 889, the recently-crowned Emperor Uda of Japan received a gift intended for his late father, and was instantly enamoured with it: 'I am convinced it is superior to all other cats,' he wrote! This week, let's talk about animals!

I am reading about Tirpitz and I see that he was one of the chief individuals in the Imperial German leadership responsible for advocating that Germany attempt to directly challenge British naval superiority. If I understand the conditions of that time correctly it was completely irrational to expect this could be achieved successfully because the British a) would simply not tolerate another country having a more powerful navy and b) enjoyed the luxury of being able to skimp on their army enough to achieve any plausible limit of necessary spending. What exactly did Tirpitz and the other Germans see that made them think differently? The situation reminds me of the Command and Conquer Red Alert 2 intro ("we'll retaliate, you know") except the Germans didn't have a magic Lenin lookalike to prevent the British from building a lot more battleships in response. The factors I can think of are overinflated sense of national capabilities, misreading the diplomatic situation, and simple wishful thinking, but I'm not sure in what proportion or if I'm missing any others.

Today is Tuesday. Yesterday was Monday. Day before was Sunday. How far back can you go for that to still be accurate and tracked by some cultures, even if it was in a different language?

I don’t have a specific time period in mind, and I only have a vague understanding of fashion history so please forgive! But every time I watch a video about female fashion history I can’t wrap my head around how they would have avoided thigh chafing. It’s the bane of my existence and I have to carry a balm around with me everywhere I go. I’ve been wondering this for AGES and I just discovered this subreddit so I thought I’d give it a go !! Thank you !

The municipal graveyard in my city (Seattle) has section of some 20+ dedicated to plumbers who all died in their prime, around from 1905-1915.

Was there something specific that was really dangerous at this time, or was it just a case of why unions are important, so lives aren't cheaper than safety measures?

Was this something that many cities threw their citizens at, or was Seattle unique in its geology or construction projects of the time?

So we all know that Japan took a lot from China regarding cultural, economical, political, and many aspects of their society. So when Japan was in the midst of empire building in the 19th-20th century, did they ever try to ditch those Chinese influences?

The dark ages [500-1500A.D]

Historians of Reddit, what are some good reading resources for the dark ages?

Intent: Curiosity, accurate writing reference for non-fiction writing during those times, seeking facts and better visualization/understanding of basic way of life & living standards

Direct interests:

• architecture [What buildings were made of and the comparison between castles and commoners house/living situation]

• Odd facts. [What were beds made of? How did their sewage system work once underground? How did a wooden tub hold water? Did women use the same sponge stick to wipe their- yeah. Sounds like a UTI 🤣]

• Common misconceptions [Such as them being unclean/not washing themselves, commoners hunting for food when it was a rich man’s sport]

• How their monarchy worked/was broken into for separate jobs

Aaaaand quick explanation to further narrow:

I lean towards wanting to learn about general aesthetic when the word “midevil” pops up. Only an accurate one compared to fiction. Castles/kings/knights/templars/peasants/commoners in-town/within ‘kingdom walls’ if that’s even a accurate term.

Any sort of history book recommendations would be really appreciated, preferably academic ones though. I'm trying to focus on social and economic history, but pretty much any suggestions would be really welcome!

I am writing a novel that takes place at the end of the Sengoku Jidai and struggling with accurate references to the culture of the time.

In particular, I am interested in how sex was leveraged for allegiances and other political reasons, as well as the the general attitudes towards sex in any configurations (same sex, hetero, out of wedlock, in poetry...basically a history of all sex in the Sengoku period). I am not entirely ignorant on the topic, however I want to be able to set the scene in the most period appropriate way since it plays a prominent role in the novel and I especially want to avoid Western-centric moralistic attitudes.

Texts in Japanese are also ok.

Thanks so much for the help.

I've noticed that in almost all English speaking historiography the mesoamerican culture that dominated Mexico's central area from the 15th century to the early 16th is called Aztec (Aztecs). But in Mexican historiography they are called Mexicas, why? Is there a reason why one is used over the other?

I understand that Joseph Smith attributed his revelation to a prophet of Jesus named "Mormon" a 4th century indigenous Native American whose name was, apparently according to Smith himself, a contraction of the modern English word "More," and the Egyptian word "Mon," (supposedly meaning good).

Did "More" as an English word exist in the mid-4th century? Does "Mon" mean good in Egyptian?

Was Joseph Smith familiar with Egyptian? Is there any account of how he came up with that or why he chose it, beyond his above referenced account?

Did people raise any objections to the, what seems to be obviously ridiculous, claim that 4 century Native Americans named their kids by combining modern English and Ancient Egyptian?

When we think of an American male voice delivering a sober yet inspiring speech, and there is a persistent echo after every pause (i.e. "We are here today (day-day-day-day) .... to remind ourselves (selves selves selves selves).... "), does this come from some original famous speech? I think it must be from some original source, possibly JFK or Reagan, but I'm not sure.

Romulus Augustulus is commonly attested as the "last" Western Roman emperor (let's put aside Julius Nepos still being alive at this point for now) in "Fall of Rome" narratives. I always thought the irony of the name (Romulus being the first legendary king and Augustus being the first emperor) was rather on the nose. Has any recent historiography cast doubt on the historical veracity of the accounts involving Romulus Augustulus (and Odoacer) including his name? Thank you!

I don’t see why an emperor would want their soldiers to fight under the banner, “The Senate and the Roman People.” In my view, it seems to degrade the emperor’s importance while also making Senators more respected.

The story I heard goes like this.. The ruler did this by putting several children in solitary confinement from birth. The children only saw humans when absolutely necessary and they were never spoken to. This was supposed to create a "true voice of God" in the children, as they theoretically would only have interacted with God.

A quick google search didn't yield any results. Did this actually happen? What became of the children if so?

In 1905, Albert Einstein submitted his “annus mirabilis” papers that would change physics forever.

He also submitted his thesis for a doctorate in 1905, and was awarded it that same year by the University of Zurich.

From my understanding he was a patent clerk at this time and even for years before that? How was he able to go from patent clerk to being awarded a PhD so quickly?

Hey guys,

out of personal necessity I am designing a naval warfare system for a roleplaying-game and I was hoping to not completely butcher real-life terminology. However I know very little about pirates, cannons and seafaring in general and as such am asking for your help.

I am looking for a couple things:

1. Names for ship frames of different sizes maybe with some broad characteristics. I am aiming for around 10 frames where the smallest frame will be a rowboat and the 2-3 biggest frames will be bigger than ships that actually existed (galleon?) (something more akin to a mobile naval base).

2. Some weaponry to fill the categories of light, medium, and heavy. Obviously cannons but there seem to be a lot of different ones with different uses.

3. Are there different types of sails (material, shape, up-and-downsides)?

Feel free to mention any other information relating to the topic you feel is important.