Did news of the Black Death travel to Europe ahead of the disease itself?

I am writing a historical drama set in Venice in 1347-1348, when the plague first hit European shores. How much information about the disease might have travelled to Venice and Italy before the endemic struck? For instance were people in Italy (specifically Venice, but Sicily and Florence as well) aware of the bio-warfare tactics used by Mongol warriors (catapulting infected corpses into besieged cities, etc.), and the virulent spread of the disease throughout Asia from the 1330s onwards.

2 Answers 2019-06-11

During the reign of the Kangxi emperor in Qing China, was Ming loyalism still prevalent in many sections of society? What sort of sources on continued loyalism are available to us?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

How much of a good guy was Liu Bei?

I have never read the romance of the three kingdoms, but I am researching the period now just out of interest. I have studied enough historical biography to know not to trust everything written about a historical figure, and I'm getting a lot of suspicious feelings around the character of Liu Bei. He seems too good to be true while Cao Cao has a garbage reputation, despite being revered as a genius. He is revered more as an evil genius. While I don't really doubt that he had enormous ambitions my scepticism refuses to let me believe that that wasn't also true of Liu Bei. Liu Bei's acquisition of first Tao Qians province and then Liu Biao's province both seem particularly suspicious. At the very least I feel like he was a more complicated character then history and the romance scenes to depict him as. My question is this; does the romance of the three kingdoms depict him in a more complicated and realistic light, or was he historically a guy who just seemed to be at the right place at the right time? Thank you!

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Historiography: When did people realise The Norse been to America.

Ie. when was it first suggested that Vinland exists and is in north America, and when did it became accepted?
If it all happened in scandinavia itself, when did it became well known in the rest of Europe/Colonies?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

What was the extent of Norse contact with the Islamic World? Were there any raids or was contact limited to trade?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

In the year of 1812, was Canada considered to be its own independent country?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Was Alexander the Great Greek?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

If I want to find the answer to one of these questions myself, where should I go to do my research?

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1 Answers 2019-06-11

How far back did the burning at the Library of Alexandria actually set the human race back by?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Why did Piracy die out in the Caribbean, and how did it come to be?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Did Gyorgy Lukacs engage in cultural terrorism involving destroying the family? I'm concerned about the reliability of the sources saying this happened.

A lot of articles about cultural Marxism (I am aware of the history of this term, its associations, etc. so no need to go into that. I'm just explaining where I heard this claim) say that as minister of culture in Hungary, Lukacs implemented policies of radical sex education which exposed children to graphic sexual content and encouraged them to reject sexual morality and the family unit. I can't find anything on this from the man himself though, nor can I find anything from communists talking about it... Do you know if this is true or if it's not, where this misunderstanding comes from?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Housing construction

Im in early America, im building houses, businesses, etc. What sort of early insults am i hurling at my incompetent coworkers?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Were Democratic Socialists historically against authoritarian communist regimes?

I recently watched an interview with Bernie Sanders where he claims that democratic socialists have historically been against authoritarian communist regimes like the Soviet Union. The democratic socialists of America’s website claims that “Socialists have been among the harshest critics of authoritarian Communist states... Democratic socialists always opposed the ruling party-states of those societies, just as we oppose the ruling classes of capitalist societies.” Is there any truth to these claims?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

I recently found a copy of a great uncles journal who fought in ww2 for the soviets. Is there I place I can submit it for historical preservation? And would anyone be interested in it?

4 Answers 2019-06-11

We always hear about how the Silk Road benefited the Middle East and Europe. But how did this trade network affect the Chinese?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

Chernobyl Reactors 1, 2, and 3 Continued Operation After the Explosion. How?

If there was an exclusion zone in place around Chernobyl, how was the plant still able to produce power? Reactor 3 was only shut down in 2000, a full 14 years later.

As I understand it, the plant kept producing power even though the cleanup of Reactor 4. It seems something that would render a 30km radius uninhabitable would also render the plant at the center of said zone uninhabitable too. Did people just commute into and out of the exclusion zone, only working their shifts? Was the plant remotely operated? Is the answer buried in some ex-Soviet archive somewhere?

2 Answers 2019-06-11

What are some good introductory texts on Al-Andalus?

1 Answers 2019-06-11

How did Christian opinions evolve on martyrdom in the early church?

I recently ran into an argument about the early Christian churches opinion on martyrdom through the 3rd century. The main issue was someone was indicating that, while martyrdom was encouraged early on, somewhere around the 3rd century it started being discouraged. I've found some scattered references to Christian committing suicide or trying to get themselves killed, believing it would automatically get them into heaven.

I know there are a lot of martyrs in the early Church, but how common was it for someone to try to get themselves killed or even commit suicide? Was this a large enough issue that it had to be address by the leaders of the Church? Was it discouraged at some point? I'm sorry if this question is too vague, but I'm real curious about what opposition and issues there were with the martyr ideal in the early Church.

1 Answers 2019-06-10

Where did feudalism take place?

Now I know this seems like an easy to answer question, but recently my history teacher(I'm a junior in high school) claimed that feudalism as we call it only happened in southern France, which is a claim I have never heard before and surprised me. I asked him what he would call the system in place in other places such as the HRE and England and the rest of France and he said that the systems in place there were inspired and based around feudalism, but weren't properly feudalism. I then researched a lot online and couldn't find anything that backed him and am now asking here just to be really sure. So, how correct is his claim?

1 Answers 2019-06-10

When firing at a single man-sized target, was the flintlock musket more accurate and lethal than a longbow?

1 Answers 2019-06-10

We often cite Rome as an example of a great empire. At Rome's height, what did Romans cite as an example of a great empire?

1 Answers 2019-06-10

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is considered by many to be one of the most influential works of strategy and warmaking. Once translations made it to Europe how was it initially regarded? and Was there any obvious changes in strategy once the book made it into foreign hands?

1 Answers 2019-06-10

Was The Churchill Tank any good? (earlier models)

I know coming from video games, like World of Tanks and War thunder, isn't the best way to analyse a tanks real world capabilities. But in these games the opposition counterparts seem to out perform in most areas.

So I was wondering how 'good' the Churchill was?

2 Answers 2019-06-10

Before the 20th century and the creation of Superman, what were major characters in history - fictional or otherwise - that fit the classic superhero archetype (super powers, possible alter ego, rogues gallery, and unattached to religion)? What made Superman so iconic to the genre?

1 Answers 2019-06-10

When did sailing become a hobby? It’s always been used to trade and war. But when did sailing the seas become a way of leisure?

1 Answers 2019-06-10

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