Salt is pretty important for bodily functions and I'm assuming they didnt have any shipments of salt coming over from the middle east so did they have another source or something?

In his unfinished work Stalin, Leon Trotsky quotes some Machiavelli without saying where the quotes are from, but I'd like to know. Google hasn't been able to help me. So the following is probably the English translation of a Russian translation from the Italian:

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“The Christian religion,” says Machiavelli, “teaches only suffering. That manner of living has obviously weakened the world…”

Nicholas Machiavelli was the most gifted representative of the Renaissance. “Experience shows,” wrote Machiavelli, “that great deeds are performed by those who are able to subject others to themselves by means of cunning or force”. Machiavelli also wrote:

When the fate of the fatherland is at stake, it is impossible to pay attention to any difficulties, obstacles, or to ask whether it is just or unjust, or to whether a measure is humane or cruel, laudable or deserving of reproof. Casting aside all other criteria, it is necessary to resort exclusively to the means which can save life and preserve the freedom of the fatherland.

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Thanks for your help!

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In stories there's the common plot of someone trying to steal the deed to the land, but would that actually be a real problem?

e.g./followup: how is Buddhism a religion? (uncreated universe, no God)

This is of some personal interest to me as someone who falls into this category, and I'll admit my own bias in wanting to see more representation for LGBTQ+ people in history. My understanding from reading posts on this sub is that there are many points in time where it becomes completely impossible or at least very difficult to determine if claims of individuals being gay are valid because of scarcity of written records and different views on sexual and gender norms.

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I can remember the pre-VCR era, when about the only chance to see a popular movie outside its theater run was on television, or the reel of film and a projector could be rented. Before television, once a movie ended the run in the theater, was that the end of someone's chance to watch it, especially for only mildly popular movies? How long was a typical theater run? Was there a film rental business?

Thanks!

The story will revolve around a man who was born during the cold war, and was raised in poverty. I'm having trouble finding information to research the society's living conditions, and most I do find don't cover it enough for me to reliably portray it. Could anyone direct me to some books, sources, or insight on how Russia was during the Cold War, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I know, communism and the USSR didn't go well and it caused people to be poor and starving to the point where the country must collapse. But during the Unions first couple years, how promising was it?

The BD struck the Baltic in the 1350’s with Poland being less affected than the rest of Europe and a generation later the Order suffered a mortal defeat at Grunwald/Tannenberg.

The Order consistently fielded smaller armies but did the Black Death exacerbate this? Was the Order-State’s economy damaged long/short term?