Hello!

I know that the Catholic church has occasionally placed areas under Interdict, and from the brief summaries I could find, it looks like this was usually at least somewhat politically motivated (Venice besieging Ferrara, for example) to affect the actions of the government of the area under Interdiction.

So my question is, has the Catholic church ever placed an area that was the target of a Crusade under interdict? I know that some of the crusades were theoretically to reclaim holy locations, or to rescue persecuted Christians in a given area. The Crusades, especially the later ones, were also very politically motivated. So I'm just curious about how this two things that the Catholic church has done have or have not overlapped in the past.

Thank you!

I know there are proscriptions against practicing magic, specifically in one of the Hadiths, but I'm wondering if this actually translated over into the sort of massive witch trials seen in Western Europe, or if there were any high-profile accusations in the same way Joan of Arc was accused by her enemies.

How wide spread and for what reason was anti-semitism in the medieval world. After the jewish Diaspora, jews were picked on and persecuted by Europeans for hundreds if not a thousand of years. During the Crusades, (especially the later one) the Crusader pillaged and killed many jewish communities in the Levant and in Southern Europe. Why was this? Was this simply Christian thing, not liking other religions. Was it a catholic thing thinking that the Jews were to blame for Jesus' death, (Even though Jesus was a jew and his death was his plan from the start). Or was it just a cultural thing to just not like Jews and persecute them.
And how far did the anti-semitism go. I know that muslims were tolerant of Jew both being abrahamic religions, but what about other branches Christianities? Was their the same anti-semitism in the Eastern orthodox church, or in the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches?

I've always wondered how old some of the kit was that was used in certain parts of history. I understand armor would be reused and issued over and over as it was expensive, but what about uniforms? The military issues us our own stuff today, but what about 200 years ago? I saw that some of the Russians going to the front in Ukraine were wearing WW2 era helmets covered in new camo... did something similar happen then?

Hi guys, for my master's thesis I need to find data on the gold rushes that happened from 1880-1913.

I read in some article that this data is available in the encyclopaedica britannica, however I find it quite difficult to obtain the data. Anyone that knows some sources or database that perhaps holds this information?

Would this idea have been held among Millerites for example? Was there anyone holding this view before the 19th century? Would it have been controversial?

Dogs are used multiple times in the Bible, including 1 Kings, Isaiah, Philippians, and Revelations among many others. Each time, they are used in a degrading manner, using it as another word for "evildoer". They are never portrayed as a good species in the Bible. Why was this the case? Was there a specific point in which dogs became bad animals?

I’m doing some worldbuilding and creating a civilisation loosely based around my home country of Egypt, so I’d like to know who settled the area first and what the process was like. Thanks so much in advance!

Apologies for all the questions, and further apologies if these have been asked before. I don't know much about WWII but am trying to learn more, and I get the feeling that my high school era history classes were less than truthful about America's involvement during the war. To specify my context for these questions:

1.) I've heard claims that the Nazi party's treatment and hatred of Jews and other minorities was, partially, inspired by American racism and Jim Crow laws. I knew nothing about this! Is this true?

2.) I've always just assumed that we fought the Nazis in WWII because... well, they were evil. But recent discussions with others have shown me opinions others hold that America didn't fight the Nazis for ideological reasons or because they wanted to stop genocide. If this is true, what was the American government's real motivation for fighting in WWII against the Nazis?

3.) Going off of the last question, did America and its citizens even know about the Holocaust and its atrocities during WWII itself, or did our knowledge of these things come from after the fact?

Comic artist here. My understanding of the Templars is that they acted as an ostensibly independent organization separate from the private military forces of manor lords and other nobles.

When a pope called for a crusade, many took up arms to go and participate — but I’m confused as to how Christian forces were organized.

Did forces “link up” or was the overall force of crusaders composed of units from different origins loosely working in tandem? What was the power structure? How were specific operations like assaults or defenses coordinated?

Forgive my ignorance — I’ve spent most of my time studying visual elements like armor and environments but have grown increasingly interested in the actual dynamics of the crusades.

To summarize and condense into a few key questions:

1. What, if so, separated non-Templar crusaders from the Templars and how did their deployment thus differ?

2. How, if at all, was the overall Christian war effort organized by top level powers like the papacies and monarchies and how did these two powers relate to another?

3. Did all Christian forces, irrespective of being Templar/Non-Templar, don the same red-cross surcoat?

I understand this is possibly asking a lot and that each of the four big crusades may have their own answers, but just any insight to make it a little B more granular for me would be wonderfully appreciated by someone who really would like to learn more about this period.

Thank you!

So a lot of modern depictions of Jesus are pretty firmly white/Caucasian, going as far back as things like DaVinci’s depiction in The Last Supper. Given that Jesus would have been firmly Middle Eastern, as well as… pretty much everyone else involved at the time, how and where did the depiction of him and other Christian figures as Caucasian/white come from?

Sometimes I think studying history only adds more conflict to me instead of clarifying things, especially when reading about historical incident with opposing/ different opinions like every one is trying to shove his ideology, it's really hard to find some authors who are neutral when it comes to history.

Entirely for personal interest — I’m writing my masters thesis on 19th-century Nantucket and this caught my eye while I was looking for something tangentially related.

My questions: What’s the name of this song? Is there any way that I could figure out what it would have sounded like, sung? Are there any similar songs that might have preceded this one? (in the same away that “Blow the Man Down” has variations)

The letter-writer, Sampson Dyer Pompey, writes that he learned the song in 1847, sailing on the James Loper under William Whippey. The sailing log for that ship in the 1850s is digitized on archive.org, but not this particular voyage.

I realize this is incredibly specific, so any pointers in the right direction or someone else to talk to would be greatly appreciated.

The column (from the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror, 2/18/1893)

Mr. Editor:

I learned this song, illustrating the manner of killing a whale, on board ship James Loper, Capt. William Whippey, my first voyage in 1847. — Sampson D. Pompey

Lo! as the sun from his ocean bed rises

Broad o’er the water his glittering light throws,

Hark! From our mast-head, the joyous sound ringing

Hard on our lee-beam, a whale, “There she blows!”

Call up your sleepers then, larboard and starboard men,

Main yard aback, and your boats lower away;

Hard on our lee-beam, see the white water gleam,

Gleaming and foaming in garlands of spray.

See the Leviathan in vastness is lying

Making the sea his luxurious bed,

While high in the air the sea-birds are flying

And combing billows that break o’er his head

High, wide and sinewy, goes his dark flukes in air,

Stately and slowly he sinks in the main.

Peak all your oars awhile,—rest from your weary toil

Waiting and watching his rising again.

Pull hearties, pull! For the pride of your nation

Spring to your oars, till the reeking sweat flows;

Now, for your blood let it have circulation ;

Forward, on your thwarts, and give way all you know!

See, how the boats advance, gaily as a dance,

Fleeting like shadows across the blue sea.

Stand up and give her some; send both your irons home,

Safely — stern all, trim the boat, see all clear.

Wounded and sore, fins and flukes in commotion

Black skin and oars contend with the spray;

So loud and so shrill, rings the horn of the ocean

Fettered and lost, she brings too, in dismay.

Haul line, every man, gather in all you can.

Lapces and spades from your thwarts clear away

Now — take your oars again, fasten each boat remain

Safely, but sure while she holds us in play.

Surrounded by foes, yet with strength undiminished,

See how she thrashes her flukes in the air;

A lance in her life, then the struggle is finished,

She sinks — oh she sinks with her chimney on fire.

Loud ring the joyous shout, free from each seaman out,

Mocking the whale with its terrible roar.

And from her spout holes high, see the red signal fly,

There she goes fin out— and the conquest is o’er.

I’m a third year history student in university right now, and I’m looking for some guidance. Aside from teaching, what jobs can I pursue with my history degree?

I’m kind of going through a bit of a crisis here and I have no idea what I’m going to do when I graduate. Can you give me some career paths/advice on what you or others have done with your history degree? Thank you!!

Wikipedia says that Messenians from Nafpaktos were expelled after the battle of Aegospotami in 405BC. What happened to them? Were they enslaved and sent to Sparta?

My great-grandfather (Alexander McIlwain) was in the Royal Army Service Corps (later the REME) who spent most of the war as a POW after being captured in the Battle of France in 1940. I've found records putting him in Stalag VIII-B as a POW, but there's a persistent belief in my family that he was at some point in the custody of the USSR and they treated him badly.

Is there any evidence of western Allied soldiers being held captive by the USSR or is this just my family talking crap?