When reading upon the Shroud of Turin it was noted that it uses a distinct 3-1 Herringbone weave. Many textile experts say there is no evidence of this weave existing in the first century middle east but other sources say it is consistent with first century Syrian design, and it’s hard to make out which sources are biased or accurate when many sites claim one or the other. (Either way even if it did exist I’m aware no 1st century Jewish burial shroud we know of was more complex than a simple two-way weave I’m just wondering if the 3:1 weave in general existed)

Medieval settings are pretty much a staple in the fantasy genre, especially video games. So I’m curious, what is it about the Middle Ages that fantasy writers are drawn to? They could’ve chosen any era as a basis, but somehow the genre has evolved to the point where you can’t think of the Middle Ages without, say, Skyrim or Dungeons and Dragons—although that’s more of an RPG. I thought this would be a pretty legit question for any gamers or medievalists.

In Europe people often say that we tricked the Africans by buying their people with things like glass that look valuable but aren't, but I don't believe this to be true because it blames the African people and portrays them as stupid etc, so I wondered how it actually happened/started

Please help settle a very silly debate. As a species, did we make cheese first and eat it by hand or did we make knives first and were able to cut into it?

I would assume that there must have been several stone fortifications across Asia that the mongols successfully defeated in their conquests across much of Asia. But in the second mongol invasion of Hungary and third mongol invasion of Poland it seems that the increase in stone fortifications played a major role in the Mongol forces defeat.

Did the mongols have worse siege equipment than before? Or was it something about the difference in the mongol armies from the original conquests in Asia?

I recently learned that there is a modern ethnicity called "Assyrian", as well as a distinct branch of Assyrian Christianity. In my ignorance, I had always thought of "Assyrians" as an ancient and extinct cosmopolitan civilization. Do modern day Assyrians have a direct and distinct lineage with the people once ruled by Ashurbanipal?

Was there a defined judicial profession or class within Roman Republican society? If so, did these individuals have to complete certain educational or credentialing requirements? Or were these individuals simply selected on an ad hoc basis from respected members of the community?

National navies like the British and French eventually suppressed most piracy in the Atlantic Ocean. How would a naval ship determine that another ship was a pirate vessel, and not a legitimate merchant? Did they board and search them? What would they look for?

Was southern India a feudal society like in Europe and Japan, or was it a more centralized unitary system with local magistrates directly adminstering regions for the empire like in Yuan and Song China? The empire broke the dynastic monopolies that had existed for over a millennium like the Cholas and Cheras, how did they play into things?

Hi guys

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about medieval Islamic diet. There seems to be so much info on medieval Christian diet on the internet not as much for Muslim diet.

Like the Iliad for the west or Romance of the Three Kingdoms for the east. Or The Epic of Gilgamesh for the Near East.

What makes a work/retelling of history into a cornerstone of a culture?

I may be just fundamentally misunderstanding how the feudal economy worked but I thought that the vast majority of the population were farmers and or worked in an agricultural or agriculture adjacent occupation. So were crop yields really that low or did the feudal estates take such an outsized portion of food that it required most of the population to work producing it?

I was invested mostly to england and france during war of the roses and hundred years war. Are there knightly tales in Italy that is heroic and explore Italian culture? I would like if there was a book or especially a movie with an italian director akin to sphagetti westerns about this. Even a youtube video or anything documetary would suffice.

In personal discussions, I have heard people claiming that the average peasant of the Middle Ages and up to the 18th century worked only a few hours a day, way less than an office employee would work today. I would like to know if this is true.

Do we know what, for instance, the daily life of a medieval peasant looked like? Did people in premodern societies really have more free time, and if yes, how did we come to work this much today? Or is this information incorrect and nothing more than a "fun fact" used to complain about the current work situation? Is the term "work" even of any use when describing pre-modern societies?

Any insight appreciated

I've heard it several times on Reddit that Reagan was a staunch supporter of unregulated gun control until the Black Panthers started arming themselves and that at that point, Reagan pushed for stricter gun control laws. And furthermore that this was a result of his racist attitudes about Black Americans owning guns. Is this true?