I really like Mike Duncan's podcasts, specifically his Rome series and his Revolutions series on the French Revolution and the revolutions of 1848. Has anyone with a bit more background in the subjects than myself listened to them? Is he accurate? I feel like he sources pretty well but I've also seen him recommend books that are looked down upon here (for example the book 1766). I trust the historical knowledge and critical thinking of this Reddit pretty much above all else, so just wondering if I can take Mike Duncan's word on these or if I'm being led in the wrong direction.

Were two handed swords used in Eastern Europe in Medieval times? Particularly in Byzantine, the Romania region, and Byzantine influenced nations.

What if anything did the USSR do to protect their vast expanses of wild land from exploitation and pollution? Was any effort made to protect Soviet citizens from polluted air and water? The 1970's in the United States saw a general surge in concern for environmental issues broadly - was there ever any analogue in the USSR?

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Someone told me today that archaeologists cut the noses of black statues because they wanted to erase black/POC history. Is this true?

I was reading about Henry V's injury at the Battle of Shrewsbury in which he was hit in the face by an arrow, and one particular thing in the ensuing surgery surprised me; the surgeon, John Bradmore, cleaned the wound with alcohol and honey. Considering this took place in the 15th century, how did surgeons know to use such items (that we know today have antibacterial properties) when they were not remotely aware of even the concept of bacteria? Was this kind of treatment for a wound standard practice?

I have done a quick search and can’t seem to find much information on the internet.

I’m aware that the Chinese had always been philosophical in regards to Taoism and confucianism, although what about the rest of Asia/south east Asia?

Were they simillar to most other prehistoric societies with paganism and rituals? Or were they simillar to Chinese? With atheistic philosophy?

Thanks in advance!

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What is the evidence for and against?

I feel like the terms are interchangeable in certain contexts. Like I know about Alfred the Great who basically turned Wessex into an AngloSaxon spelling of what we today call England. I think Cnut described himself as King of the English.

When William the Conqueror became king the language and culture of England would be considered Anglo Saxon. The new Norman nobility would influence Anglo Saxon language and culture.

Eventually the language of modern English forms. People of the state of England refer to themselves as English. I know Anglo Saxon is still used in context as an ethnicity and culture.

So I'm generally asking someone to delineate in what ways a group of Anglo Saxon kingdoms who had Anglo and Saxon ancestors as members of those kingdoms became English culturally and ethnically?

I was looking at a picture of a piece of ancient Minoan pottery that was clearly given a blue color treatment. I could imagine going through the world without a concept of blue - but creating blue color treatments seems odd for people who have no idea of what blue is.

Based on the Icelandic settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, the first Europeans arrived in the Americas around 1000 AD. Australia was discovered in 1606 AD by Janszoon, 600 years later.

If we use Columbus's and Cook's voyages as a starting point (considering they're better known and both led to long-term colonization), the dates are 1492 AD and 1770 AD, which is still a 278 year difference.

Based on geography, however, I struggle to understand this. The Americas are so far from the Old World. Australia, on the other hand, is extremely close to Indonesia and Southeast Asia, which were known to Europeans beforehand.

Furthermore, Europeans aside, there was tons of trade happening in Southeast Asia involving Indians, Chinese, Japanese, etc... Why did none of them discover Australia either?

Thanks!

Im considering buying Hugh Thomas book called "Conquest"

Wouldnt that flip over and the nickers be showing?(not that the nickers showing would have been a problem back then)

The Greek cavalry is an example I just took but my question is also about all the other cultures where horsemen didn't wear trousers.

Did the Scottish Highland cavalry wear pants? (I don't know if the Highlanders deployed cavalry at all or not though)

A brief introduction to those who do not know about the anime/light novel franchise, in a certain arc Holo-chan and Lawrence found out about a currency devaluation scheme in which a certain kingdom devalued the silver purity of its currency to gain profit, and gave royal privileges to merchant companies who would bring back the older coins which have higher purity than the new ones.

There was also scamming going on, in which a rival company had a scheme that they would tell people the value of the new currency will increase, when it is actually going down so people would exchange the old ones (worth more) for the new ones and the company would gain profit.

Historically, how common or did such similar practices occur in the economy of Medieval or Renaissance Europe, the time period Spice and Wolf is set in?

Before 1495, when the first dry dock was built in Europe, how were ships repaired? In the water? Or were they dragged or hoisted onto a wharf?

Thank you!