If so did this ever happen?

If he knew the circumference of the earth, would he not have realised he hadn't traveled far enough to cross both the Atlantic and the Pacific? Also, did people just think there was a massive ocean the size of the Atlantic + the Pacific + the Americas?

I was watching THE WITCHER on Netflix, and when the Nilfgaardian empire conquers Cintra, we see them burn everything to the ground, kill every civilian they encounter, and we're told that this is basically their M.O. whenever they conquer someone. And that...seemed kind of bonkers to me?

It was my understanding that slaughtering civilians in a feudal society would quickly reach a point of diminishing returns, since a) you need them to work the land, b) agricultural output is your primary source of wealth, and c) heavy cavalry is your primary source of military strength and horses need to eat a lot.

[Granted, as with most "medieval" fantasy, The Witcher is kind of a mishmash of late feudalism and early renaissance, and it's also not immediately clear in the show whether Cintra is a kingdom or a city-state or somewhere in between. But that that being said...]

• Were there times during the Middle Ages when large numbers of civilians were wantonly slaughtered over large areas and long stretches of time?
• What are the recorded upper limits of that type of scenario?
• It's my only-somewhat-informed understanding that this type of scenario would have been more common during the Mongol expansion(s) and also during European colonialism and industrial-era wars. Is that true, and if so what changed the math to make "total war" a viable strategy?

Edit: some typos fixed

Hi everyone I have recently became extremely interested in the Crusades in general and have been reading a ton but most of the books I have read are very general and are usually considered (from what I can tell) beginner books. I was hoping that someone who knows more about the subject can tell me about some more academic books. Thanks in advance!

I was listening to a song recently in which the lyrics talk about a pirate ship in the Saint-Lawrence river attacking English ships to ''Save the colony''. Was piracy ever a thing in New France/Canada, before or after the English conquest in 1759?

Hello, r/AskHistorians hopefully this is the right subreddit for this question.

I am supposed to write about Jewish Christians (Jews who believed in Jesus as a messiah back in Ancient Rome.) Especially their appearance in the New Testament. I kinda know where to look, but I am supposed to point it "against" real historical events.

So this means that you do not need to tell me more than what happened in the time of the new testament happening. This, or I can briefly explain where the hybrid religion went, but I need to write mostly about the New Testament time period.

So here I am, asking (hopefully at the right place) if anyone here knows anything about this period of time and this specific group of people.

I am sorry I can not provide you with more information, but the instructions are "12 pages on the Jewish Christians in the new testament" and that is pretty much it, as vague as it might seem.

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Thank you all in advance :)

I was wondering this today. Why did the founding fathers make it so the highest court of the land preside over impeachment hearings instead of politicians?

Is there a good reason for this and has this ever been looked at being changed?

In shows like Game of Thones the use of Ravens is the primary means of long distance communication. I'm curious to as what an information network would like like in Medieval Europe for example, before more recent and instant forms of communication like we have today.

I am interested how long English government accepted magic as a legitimate source for potential issue or remedy. Considering that witch trials were known throughout the world largely until the 18 century and beyond- I am curious to know how the government handled such issues- and if they had a section of government dedicated to magic, the occult or the paranormal be it for postage gain or to prevent perceived threats.

If England is too specific how about other governments in Europe?

Thank you for your time!

After the Roman Republic transformed into the Roman Empire the ancient Roman Senate endured as an institution for centuries, sometimes being directly responsible for the rise or fall of emperors.

By the time of Late Antiquity one would figure that the senate wouldn't be that important but (non-emperor) consuls were still proclaimed well into the 6th century. The senate survived in Constantinople long after the Byzantine Empire lost Italy but you never get the impression that it was a powerful institution. However, in 1204, in the face of the Fourth Crusade, the senate managed to elect an emperor, Nicholas Kanabos.

How powerful was this institution? Would the Byzantine senate of the 13th century have been comparable to the Roman senate in the empire of the 4th or 3rd centuries or the even earlier Republican senate?

A bit of further context: most of my university education is in English (though primarily in social sciences and philosophy rather than history).

Optionally, feel free to address the broader question of translations in general. I'm sure more than me are considering reading primary sources written in languages we don't speak and knowing what to look for or avoid could be helpful.

Not sure if this breaks the rules or not, but as a current undergrad looking for graduate school around the corner, I am looking for jobs to help bolster my resume while also giving me experience in the field. My question is are there any good outlets or types of jobs I can go to achieve an undergrad history job. side note I am a double major in anthropology who specializes in archaeology who has been on commercial and research digs if that help any. Thank you for any responses!

I have studied a bit on Indian history and I know that there were some great dynasties there Mughal, Chola, Pandiya etc. But is true that they've never tried to occupy any land outside the Indian subcontinent. I recently saw this as a fact somewhere.

Apparently Churchill said « Stalin inherited Russia with a wooden plough and left it in possession of atomic weapons ».

Rationalwiki claims that : Under his long administration, Enver Hohxa oversaw the economic and social transformation of Albania from a feudal relic which was formerly ruled by a despot named Zog to a relatively modernized state.

Rationalwiki also claims that : Yugoslavia tended to enjoy a better quality of life than its Warsaw Pact neighbors with significantly better access to consumer goods (both foreign and domestic) and generally had fewer restrictions on its citizens.

I dont get it. I though that socialism caused economies to collapse ?

Are those socialist dictators actually hated for the brutal repressions under their regimes, and not for their economic policies ?

But then, if their economic policies had been applied by a non-dictator person, like Alexander Dubček, could have socialism turned out better ?

Hello there, I’m currently writing a paper and part of it has to be about suppression of socialist ideas in America by the corporate elite. It is my plan to write something on both the Red Scares and I’m currently using “Political Economy of Labor Repression in the United States”. But it would be nice to have some additional sources that aren’t ancient like the other ones that I’ve found. Does someone on here have any suggestions for me?