So I’ve been researching this for a couple months now, I’ve heard a couple people say it was Muslims that burned it down, others say it was the Christians, but all the actual sources I’ve read say that it wasn’t burned down so much as a king (whose name I don’t recall) feared intellectuals, and purged them or drove them into hiding, leaving the library unattended and inaccessible to the people. So I guess what I’m asking is who was the real culprit and what were their reasons.

Presumably when the crew of say, HMS Hood, weren’t at battle stations there must have been many more people than were actually needed to run the ship day to day, what did the surplus crew actually do? I imagine there would always be maintenance work, would that have kept everyone occupied or would there have been some sort of make work arrangement? How about off duty, were there clubs, education or a library, could people listen to the radio?

I’ve picked a British ship as I’m a Brit and a battleship has lots of guns that need to be crewed, would there be any difference between RN and USN, early war vs late war?

I've been told that krav maga is the art of cheating but I've also heard about the insane amount of gouging involved in RAT but its origins seem pretty mysterious, what so we actually know about it?

Does anyone know the details of the Nagremal (I do not think I spelled that correctly) society's proposed government setup in Vanuatu/ Formerly New Hebridies during the 1980's? Or the details of the Coconut War on the island of Espiritu Santo?

It was the greatest loss of life in maritime history. Even though the Germans were the enemy at the time it was still a tragic event in my opinion.

I’m Netflix’s the last kingdom (Spoiler) it shows the main hero and Another Viking Faction fighting Shield Wall to shield wall, Did is this accurate that they would ram into each other if both forces did the same tactic and after a few blows and a few kills/fallen allies too back off reform the wall and just push back and repeat the stabbing and after a few fall pull back and repeat? Or would they use other tactics to defeat the wall?

I am working on a historical TV show about Napoleon and his family. From his parents time during the revolution on Corsica to his death and onwards to the last political leader of the family... Napoleon III.

I have a 200 page script which focuses on napoleons parents through the Corsican revolution up to Napoleon leaving and early days of him in France at school. The 200 pages are more or less 2-3 episodes package together as one storyline. I want more facts and knowledge to flesh out and cut my episodes in to their Own works.

Trying to get more information about his parents before his birth during the revolution on Corsica. Anything about how they met, more things to help flush out that information for my story, and also to put into perspective where Napoleon fits into his siblings line of births/age. What happened to Napoleon’s family while he was gone in France as a young child until he came back on leave from the military?

Also how accurate is the book: The Boy Life of Napoleon By Eugenie Foa?

Any good books that focus on the Napoleon’s parents? I’ve read many books, many documentaries, and just trying to go through all the notes, facts, diaries, and all of it. It makes it into a task that seems like it will take my whole lifetime and never be actually finished. I don’t want to be like Stanley Kubrick. I don’t want to die without this project becoming reality. Thus I come looking for as much help as can possibly be obtained!

It's commonly portrayed (in video games, and to a lesser extent in film/TV) that medieval peerage functioned a lot like modern military ranks - that is, the knight reports to the baron, who reports to the count, who reports to the duke, etc... up to the King; very ladder-like, where at each step a lord has multiple subsidiary rulers under them. Is this accurate? Is it more accurate in some parts of Europe than in others?

Let's take a concrete example: Charles IV, Duke of Anjou, owed fealty to the King of France. Were there counts, barons, or other lesser land-owning nobility who owed their fealty to Charles IV? Was the distinction even important? What about in an earlier period - the French crown was (as I recall) quite weak in the middle ages in relation to it's land-holding nobility, and counts of Berry in the 10th century appear to have waged war independent of the King. Could Fulk the Red, Count of Berry have called on vassal barons, or some other titled nobles, to levy troops and go to war with him?

I can't imagine that this would have been the same everywhere, either; what about the pre-Norman Earls of England? Or the Grafs of the HRE?

Everything I ever learned about him, in and out of school, paints him as this amazing leader. He was successful in all aspects, was respected by his soldiers, and helped the poor. So why did so many people want to kill him?

Hello everyone,

I am currently trying to find out what exactly is the Aşıkpaşoğlu. Currently I am under the impression that it is a manuscript with a history of Anatolia, however, I am having trouble finding any reliable information about it. Does anyone know what it is, and if there is a translated copy online?

Thank you,

Grateful Student

This may be a simple question but I can’t figure out a convincing answer. I know that ice would be easy to find naturally in certain areas. But I am interested in mild regions such as the north of France and the south of England.

Where did they get their ice to keep fish and meats fresh? I know salts were used to preserve food as well, but I have read documents that specify the use of ice. Where was this ice supplied from, particularly in the summer? And what methods were there to ensure the ice would not melt before the food had been transported to its destination, for example the south coast of England to London?

How did early modern palaces etc keep lovely lawns fit for a king? Scything seems too rough. And grazing sheep or goats seem like they would bring too many problems. On my hands and knees with a sickle or shears? It all seems like a pain in the arse. This is to settle a pub argument. So it is highly important.

His father, King John VI, was in charge of Portugal at the time. Why did Pedro defy him and side with the Brazilians?

As the title asks. I've heard statements that the Queensland police were terribly corrupt back in the 1980s, and that things have improved. Is that right, and if so, is there much consensus and debate over why things have improved?

I suppose I'm looking for reading material on how we know what we do about ancient Egypt. I was asked to refute the claim "All we know about ancient Egyptian history is from primary sources that we cherry picked" and I realized I don't remember going into much detail about how we came about our Egyptology knowledge. Thanks guys!

A classmate told me that her step-dad was related to George Washington because he raped his slaves. Now, I'm willing to believe that George Washington was a violent rapist and all, but what I don't understand is HOW he had a biracial slave child when practically every biography said he had no BIOLOGICAL children. I thought he was impotent, but after hearing from this classmate, it does seem possible for George Washington to have a kid. But at the very least, he should have a white kid too. So my questions are:

1. Did George Washington rape his slaves?
2. Did George Washington father a biracial child with his slaves?
3. Was George Washington impotent?
4. Was the classmate most likely referring to George Washington Parke Curtis?

Hello historians! Can anyone suggest to me some resources for getting an idea of what daily life was like in ancient Egypt? My book is going to start in the New Kingdom period. The main character will be a priest, so resources on the lives of priests would be particularly prized. I've done an awful lot of googling but it's hard for the uneducated to sift real information from conjecture and New Age nonsense. A resource for lists of names would also be fantastic - the names of pharaohs are easy, but I get the impression that kings and queens had very different naming conventions from common people (or priests).

I'm looking for books, websites, documentaries, anything to give me enough information to make someone familiar with the history go "oh, this person did some research!" even if it's not perfect. I know I can't become an Egyptologist just to write the first half of the book, but I'd like to make Egyptologists not hate me for writing badly about the time period. (Even though I'm writing about a man who is an immortal magical mummy.)

Basically I’m curious if people who had to fight with swords close range were really messed up since people who shoot from a distance get messed up too. Also did generals who controlled armies get messed up from seeing entire batteries of troops get whipped out or was it just a game of chess to them

One example would be England post-norman invasion. Did the avarege farmer and peasent actually know about who was their ruler and who won the war?

Apart from that example, in general, did people know at least the name of their king?

I have some some german patches from WWII that he brought back from Europe. I want to put them on display and add some details to where he was and the details of each patch. Is there a way to determine where he travelled. Searching online I can only find the date of enlistment and a number.

Any help is appreciated.

How were the women who chose to sleep with German Soldiers and their children treated during and after the war? Did they remain pariahs? Were they able to reintegrate into society as a whole?

"Hey, what's the deal with bathhouses? Is it a bath, or is it a house?"