AskHistorians Archive Observer

Books on the Crusader States

Looking for books that talk about all the Crusader States in depths but any suggestions on them are good!

2 Answers 2019-12-05

The Black Death is said to have driven up wages and improved social mobility; is there evidence of similar aftermaths from other pandemics (e.g., Plague of Justinian, Black Death outside Europe)

Follow up (though I imagine this is a separate pandora's box): Some folks seem to credit the Black Death as a major driver in facilitating the move from the "medieval" world to the "modern" world (or at least from a society featuring serfdom and manorialism to one characterized by greater social/geographic mobility and urbanization). 1. To what extent is that interpretation true 2. assuming its valid, is it conceivable that Europe could have made similar strides towards the 'modern' world almost a millenia before the Black death after the Plague of Justinian?

1 Answers 2019-12-05

What does it matter if Shakespeare was the real author of the plays? (Anti-stratfordian question)

What historically do we gain if someone disproves that Shakespeare was the real writer? It doesn't seem that we'll gain anything from attributing the plays to another person?

1 Answers 2019-12-05

Memoirs and personal accounts of WWII Recommendations.

I am looking for books written first hand by the people that fought in WWII. I have many of the popular recommendations. (Example: Helmet for my Pillow, With the Old Breed, The Forgotten Soldier, Etc.)

Though I will be happy to look into any recommendations given, I am looking for any Japanese, Soviet, Finnish, Italian, or British memoirs/personal accounts specifically.

I have started a decent collection so far with American and German books. I would like to further it to different corners of the war.

2 Answers 2019-12-04

How did the empowerment of women pushed by the Soviet Union on their Central Asian peoples pan out?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Classical Arabs called Rome "Rumiyah" and the the Byzantines "Rūm". Rūm was a derivative of Romaioi (greek for "Romans" used by the Byzantines for self-description). My question is: how did they call the "Romans" (both the pre-byzantium Romans and the people living in Rome/Rumiyah).

1 Answers 2019-12-04

When Europeans came to the New World, they brought diseases that killed many indigenous people. Were there any diseases originating from the New World that killed the Europeans?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Choctaw historian Rita Laws, Ph.D, says the association we have of Native Americans with hunting and fishing is an massive exaggeration, and that the Aztec, Mayan, and Zapotec children ate 100% vegetarian diets until at least the age of ten years old. Is this factual?

Article where she speaks about Native American ancestral diets.

3 Answers 2019-12-04

Was the use of a "Chastity Belt" a real thing? Were they used mostly for women or men?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Can I get a more in-detailed story of the illegalization of marijuana and the drug war as a whole in history?

I watched a few articles and youtube vids about the history of the war of drugs but now after getting a general picture of it I want to delve more into the details as it seems like a very interesting subject.

So here's what I know so far:

-Cannabis was first made illegal in the 19th century by the American president of that time (can't remember the name) to keep mexican immigrants from coming into the country because they were often stoners

-In 1970 Richard Nixon started the war on drugs officially as a political strategy during the cold war to 'destroy'/impair the left-wing communities of hippies and black people who were anti-war. IIRC this has been proven many years later when one of his councilors actually admitted that publicly, and that they were aware that they were spreading false propaganda.

Correct me on anything if I am mistaken from a factual point of view. Now my questions are as follows:

-What happened happened first in America. How did it spread to Europe and the rest of the globe? Drugs being illegal is a pretty global phenomenon as far as I'm concerned, even in Asia, Africa, pretty much everywhere. What's the history of that?

-What exactly happened in between the 19th century and 1970? Was marijuana illegal before '70? Did it become legal again and then Nixon criminalized it again? If not then what did Nixon exactly do? Were only certain drugs legal in the USA before 1970 and Nixon criminalized only the remaining ones?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Why did USA sunk Japanese submarine shortly before Pearl Harbor attack?

It seems that shortly before the attack American ship sunk small (spy?) Japanese submarine not far from Pearl Harbor with depth charges. Was that normal reaction before the war around navy bases?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Are there any reliable sources that can approximate the death toll of jews during the holocaust?

I’ve been searching on the internet lately and I’ve seen many people saying that “6 million jews died during the holocaust” is an overstatement and a manipulation of figures by the media and what not to to achieve a political aim... So yeaah shed some light it you know for sure :’)

3 Answers 2019-12-04

Is it true that Saladin was relatively unknown in the Islamic world until modern times?

2 Answers 2019-12-04

What qualities were considered good in medieval England, medieval Scandinavia and the medieval era in general?

I wanna portray patriarchy.

1 Answers 2019-12-04

What exactly is "the West" and why does it exclude Africa and pre-European America?

Did a run-through of the wiki and did a search and couldn't find anything exactly like this question – apologies if it's been asked before and I missed it! So I'm taking a class called Survey of Western Art and, with the exception of ancient Egypt, it completely excludes all African art, despite Africa's very obvious partly western position geographically speaking. That got me thinking about the concept of "the West" and how it only includes the Americas post-colonization by Europeans and how Egypt was considered "Eastern" by the Roman Empire (at least according to Cleopatra: A Life?) and how weird the idea of a "Western world" is in the first place. Hell, the Prime Meridian puts a bunch of Europe in the Eastern Hemisphere anyway, but we don't consider all of the Eastern Hemisphere portions of Europe to be "Eastern"...do we? I'm very confused!

Anyway, my question is: what is the history of the concept of "the West" and how did its boundaries get drawn? Also, why are they still in place? My intuition is that the answer basically boils down to "racism," but I'm not sure. I would appreciate any insight anyone could give me.

2 Answers 2019-12-04

What were the Nordic countries famous for in the medieval era?

I'm writing book(sort of, it's really a series of journal entries by fictional people) where a king weds a Nordic princess for strategic advantage. What sort of advantages would a king get if he married a Nordic princess?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

How and why did Russia expand over the Urals into Asia?

If we think of the territory of the Kievan Rus as the "original" Russian territory, then how and why did they expand into Siberia and the Far East? Under the Mongol and Tatar Yokes they were still limited to Europe, if I remember correctly, so how did they move East?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Short Answers to Simple Questions | December 04, 2019

Previous weeks!

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Answers MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. Unlike regular questions in the sub where sources are only required upon request, the lack of a source will result in removal of the answer.
Academic secondary sources are prefered. Tertiary sources are acceptable if they are of academic rigor (such as a book from the 'Oxford Companion' series, or a reference work from an academic press).
The only rule being relaxed here is with regard to depth, insofar as the anticipated questions are ones which do not require it. All other rules of the subreddit are in force.

31 Answers 2019-12-04

America in the first half of the 20th century was home to many ethnic mafias - the Irish mob, the Jewish mob, the Poles, African-Americans, etc. How and when did Italians become the most common pop-culture representation of the Mafia?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

How involved was Charles V. in the politics of the spanish colonies in america?

I'm writing a paper on Charles V. and the spanish Habsburgs in general. I'd really be thankful if you could answer my question and provide more sources about the topic (literature and websites) that could help me with my work. Right now I only have a few german books and websites and I need more to get a good grade, they can be in english too. Thank you for your help!

1 Answers 2019-12-04

how did the spread of islam affect the north africa

hi, i'm trying to make a presentation on the effect of the islamic conquests in africa. so far the sources i've found have been mainly about the conquests themselves not so much about how they influenced society and the countries that were conquered at that time

1 Answers 2019-12-04

We tend to think of the nineteenth century as the era in which sail gave way to mechanised forms of shipping (such as steam). But did the century see significant advances in sailing technology as well? What difference, if any, was there between an average sailing ship in 1800 and 1900?

1 Answers 2019-12-04

Books on the Crusader States

The Black Death is said to have driven up wages and improved social mobility; is there evidence of similar aftermaths from other pandemics (e.g., Plague of Justinian, Black Death outside Europe)

What does it matter if Shakespeare was the real author of the plays? (Anti-stratfordian question)

Memoirs and personal accounts of WWII Recommendations.

How did the empowerment of women pushed by the Soviet Union on their Central Asian peoples pan out?

Classical Arabs called Rome "Rumiyah" and the the Byzantines "Rūm". Rūm was a derivative of Romaioi (greek for "Romans" used by the Byzantines for self-description). My question is: how did they call the "Romans" (both the pre-byzantium Romans and the people living in Rome/Rumiyah).

When Europeans came to the New World, they brought diseases that killed many indigenous people. Were there any diseases originating from the New World that killed the Europeans?

Choctaw historian Rita Laws, Ph.D, says the association we have of Native Americans with hunting and fishing is an massive exaggeration, and that the Aztec, Mayan, and Zapotec children ate 100% vegetarian diets until at least the age of ten years old. Is this factual?

Was the use of a "Chastity Belt" a real thing? Were they used mostly for women or men?

Can I get a more in-detailed story of the illegalization of marijuana and the drug war as a whole in history?

Why did USA sunk Japanese submarine shortly before Pearl Harbor attack?

Are there any reliable sources that can approximate the death toll of jews during the holocaust?

Is it true that Saladin was relatively unknown in the Islamic world until modern times?

What qualities were considered good in medieval England, medieval Scandinavia and the medieval era in general?

What exactly is "the West" and why does it exclude Africa and pre-European America?

What were the Nordic countries famous for in the medieval era?

How and why did Russia expand over the Urals into Asia?

Short Answers to Simple Questions | December 04, 2019

America in the first half of the 20th century was home to many ethnic mafias - the Irish mob, the Jewish mob, the Poles, African-Americans, etc. How and when did Italians become the most common pop-culture representation of the Mafia?

How involved was Charles V. in the politics of the spanish colonies in america?

how did the spread of islam affect the north africa

18th/19th century Western Europe?

Where does notion come from, that throughout most of its history being a merchant in China was treated with disdain.

Why Was The Cimarron Territory (Oklahoma Panhandle) Never Considered For Statehood?

We tend to think of the nineteenth century as the era in which sail gave way to mechanised forms of shipping (such as steam). But did the century see significant advances in sailing technology as well? What difference, if any, was there between an average sailing ship in 1800 and 1900?