I am trying to establish some background to this decision. Were these 3 counties primarily Catholic in population or are there other reasons behind the decision?

Recently watched a documentary, 'What the Edwardian's Sounded Like,' in which they have German recordings of several British POWs from the First World War. One of the recordings was of a man from Macclesfield, near Manchester in England. He recites a biblical passage that frequently says 'father' but he pronounces it 'fay-thur' or 'faither.' I'm from Scotland and that is a well known and commonly used way to say father although I haven't heard any of the people I know from the North West of England use that expression that seemed to be common speech for the man being recorded!

Are there any examples of once common expressions being isolated to a single area over time? Or any other similar linguistic issues that have come about with the passage of time?

Geographically they were right next to the western front and surrounded by the Third Reich. Why were they never invaded and forced to defend these moves against anyone (therefore losing neutral status)?

when did it come in to prominence?

Unlike the Spanish, the Dutch had a rather profitable colony in Indonesia. Why did they not attempt to claim territory in Africa, despite their reputation as a colonial power?

For some reason I remember learning years ago - I don't know when - that it first originated in ancient Egypt. Is this true? I've been unable to find any evidence of the Egyptians being the first people to practice it, or even if they followed it. If they didn't create it, then who did?

As far as I remember, though I could be remembering wrong, nobody at the time thought fleas were a factor.

I'm currently working my way through Tuchman's A Distant Mirror. It is informative and entertaining, but there are more than a few points where I stop and go "hmmm", especially when she gets into sociology (especially her claims around the Medieval treatment of children), psychology and religion in the Medieval world ("world" in her case basically meaning England and France).

How is her work generally viewed by academic historians and Medievalists? My understanding is that even when the book was published, a lot of her ideas were outdated.

Why not "Saxonland" or "Angelosaxonland" (aside from being a mouthful) and why don't we refer to the people as the Angles or some other combination?

I know that the history of the Holy Roman Empire is, shall we say, complicated.

But for a while now I've been puzzled about how maps of the Empire are portrayed.

Generally most of Northern Italy (not including Venetian holdings or the Papal States) is shown as part of the HRE from the Medieval period. But round about the Peace of Westphalia, modern maps of the Holy Roman Empire no longer include any Italian areas as part of the Empire.

Did the Peace of 1648 mark some sort of clear southern imperial boundaries? My understanding is that the Netherlands and Switzerland were no longer considered part of the Empire from this point on - did something similar hold true for places like Milan and Savoy?

Hello everyone, I am doing a research paper soon on the role of loyalists/ third parties during major American conflicts. I was wondering if anyone had any information or sources regarding southerners who did not support the confederacy for one reason or another during the civil war period. I read recently that some did want to remain in the union or felt marginalized by the confederacy and somewhat higher class slaveholders and their interests. If anyone has read up on this or has any useful information, I would be grateful, thanks!

Roman paganism and later Germanic/Slavic/Baltic paganism crumbled after the ruling class converted to Christianity. After conversion the bulk of the populace remained pagan however European paganism seemed to gradually crumble under the organised and dogmatic approach of a monotheistic religion. India was ruled by Muslims for centuries (Mughals etc.) yet the polytheistic "pagan" religion survived despite efforts to convert them. What was the difference here? Why did Hinduism survive whilst European polytheistic religions crumbled?

I'm reading a book about medieval burial sites and it constantly refers to weaning as being dangerous, and often fatal, I was shocked by this, wasn't something if even thought of as part of medieval life, ( I am not a smart man) and now I've about fifty bazillion questions.

Do we know what age they started was it six months like now? How did they do it, chew it first, jam it in their mouth give them bread and hope for the best? What were the children fed to introduce solids? Was there any society where weaning was less/ more dangerous? Was it recognised as a risk, did parents worry about/ delay weaning?

Sorry for the list of questions, it's something that had never occurred to me, and now that I've heard of it I just can't stop thinking about it.

Thanks in advance historians, you are all great!!

I understand how central banks do this today, but also understand central banking is a relatively new concept.

Also, I understand I said coinage and in America they print money whereas the mint coins it.

Recently I've picked up some of the Flashman books, and have fallen in love with his frank, albeit brutish and bigoted, analysis of Victorian colonial history... Are there any Flashman fans among the historians here, and if so, are there major errors in George Macdonald Fraser's writing? If this question is better suited for r/askhistory I'll post it there.

Why did the US abandon the Chinese Nationalists to Mao but then turn and fight the North Korean Communists just a few years later. China with its vast amount of natural resources and ~500 million people around that time seems like it would be a much more important ally compared to Korea's ~22 million people and small land size. I'm reading The Rising Sun by John Toland and it touches some on Chiang Kai-Shek being more interested in fighting the Chinese Communists rather than Japan along with the corruption in the nationalist government.