My understanding is that by the reign of Queen Victoria, the monarchy was effectively transformed into a constitutional monarchy. The previous monarch, William IV, had done various things that went against the wishes of Parliament. So... would it be him?

But I've read that the monarchy had largely been reduced much earlier, around the reign of King George. So, I'm a bit lost. Who would effectively be considered the last monarch to have real power?

I read a throwaway article today that claimed that celebration of St. Patrick's Day was originated by Irish immigrants to America. Dubious of this fact, I did a search on the history of the holiday and only found facts about St. Patrick himself, not the history of the festival. I did read that until the 1970s, pubs in Ireland were closed on this day as it was a religious holiday - which would suggest that the holiday had been celebrated prior to US immigration.

Can anyone shed light? How involved were Irish-Americans in making this holiday as well-celebrated as it is today?

Was there any intelligence indicating irregularities during the coup or did they find out only after the fact?

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If you also know of any good primary or secondary sources on the subject, point me to them!

In Connie Willis' science fiction time travel "Blackout", one of the characters is an 11 year old street urchin from the East End of London called "Binnie". It turns out that Binnie is her nickname, adapted from her family name, and she has never been given a proper or official name. Willis implies that it was very common for lower-class Londoners to not bother giving girl children names or registering their births.

Willis has a reputation for being historically accurate and doing her homework. Is there any truth to this idea that lower-class Londoners made a practice of only naming boy children as late as the 1940s?

Hi, I am sorry if this question breaks a rule.

I was hoping someone could tell me about some women in Bavarian history. I will be going to Munich this summer and I'd like to find some way to connect what I see with the area's history. If there are any interesting queens or duchesses that lived in those castles in the area, I'd love to know more about them.

Thanks

I mean in terms of training, education, even the facilities where these forms of medicine are practiced (you usually can't get tooth care at a normal hospital). Was it always this way?

Escort carriers faced same predisposition from admiralty that carriers did before world war 2 start even after they staved of japanese fleet impressing them as normal carrier fleet and became common complement for close air support on land. They cost 1/10 of what combat carrier would have cost, and their 1/5 deck size meant they were twice as efficient in carrying air power. I don't belief all that armor of typical carrier did much in way of other than protecting from kamikaze strikes and the improved damage control that came with the same package since vessel became in-disposable.

Hello askhistorians,

I have just started listening to the Revolutions podcast by Mike Duncan, specifically his section on the English Civil Wars. A number of times, he would mention that this or that battle resulted in this or that many troops being taken captive by the victors. For example, the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 ended with the capture of about 10,000 Scots. I've gathered that this is a particularly large number of captives, but the question remains: how did the enormous armies of the medieval (is this even technically considered the medieval?) period integrate another huge group of people into their group, given the complexities of everything needed to keep even the main force properly supplied?

Additionally, I realize the the Battle of Dunbar was at the end of the war, so the specifics of this engagement might be different than most as well (simpler to handle prisoners once the war is "won" than while it is underway).

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I wouldn't mind some opinions on the podcast itself, if any of you are familiar with it. I think I consulted an old /r/AskHistorians post to help choose it in the firsts place, but times change.

Of all the countries that fell to Germany during WW2, which one was the hardest for the Nazis to conquer? And why?

The more that I read about Hitler the more I realize he was sort of a politician with a strong following and not just some passionate maniac. He knew the right things to say at the right time.

So, as an educated, "middle class" German, how would Hitler win me over in his speeches? Why am I thinking this is okay?

Was the reason for issuance of Cannon 29 in the Second Lateran Council by Pope Innocent II, which decreed a ban on missile weapons (crossbows in particular) against Christians based on ethical grounds or on the fact that the crossbow's ease of use gave it something of a potential as an equalizer because it required relatively little training, skill or funds to use and made it a threat to the established social order of the time?

In every major war, we have evidence of major feats done by soldiers that are celebrated and considered badass (see: mad jack churchill in ww2).

But why don't we have the same stories from the losing side? Is it because of censorship? I mean, it would be interesting to read about Hiro and that time he killed 5 americans in Okinawa using only his sword.

Or that other time when Hans ambushed 5 british commandos in Belgium and made them surrender without firing a single shot.

Is there any specific reason this stories aren't told? I can imagine the winning countries trying to paint the enemy as evil and cowards, so no tales of heroism.

By bonnet I mean the kind of hairdress worn by women and made from (white?) fabric. When and why did women in Europe start wearing bonnets? Did women of all classes wear some kind of bonnet? What would've been the reaction to a woman not wearing a bonnet?

Looking at the books from the recommendation section, I noticed many of them weren´t written by proper historians. This sub-reddit commonly recommends books from authors with proper history-related degrees, especially if the book is done by a publisher that isn´t specialized on the subject. Which are the different focuses of the books recommended here?

I've got a logbook from my great grandfathers time as a radio monitor/translator in west Berlin during the 60s and 70s it has some mold/water damage but is still perfectly legible. I can digitally scan them but they are rather delicate. Are there institutions or companies that deal with document preservation? Cheers

Many, many accounts describe women's hair being shorn off before they entered. What did they do with all that hair?