A tangent in r/badhistory got me thinking - most of what I've heard/learned about European witchcraft is either cases of people being accused of witchcraft by others or debunked "Burning Times" -type stuff.

Were there actual people that identified themselves explicitly as witches (or local language equivalent) outside of confessions given under duress? I realize that'd be tricky to find any kind of documentation for, but I figured if anyone would have a reliable source or the ability to point me in the right direction it'd be you guys!

Europe was thriving with centuries of different societies. in Asia there were different succesfull empires and in middle America there were the inca's, azteks and Maya's. even in North Africa there were for example the Egyptians. most the population of Africa still lived in tribes. why didn't they have an advanced society like the ones mentioned above? (sorry if the question isn't framed or written properly)

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I just finished reading Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts, and one thing that really pissed me off was Napoleon's under utilization of his Iron Marshal. The book doesn't go into deep detail on it beside noting that early in the wars Napoleon very much respected him, then may have been jealous/feared him a little. Then left him at Hamburg for the Russian campaign. Then left him in Paris to defend the city in case of a counter attack at Waterloo (which Andrew Roberts defended this strategy).

I can't find too much online beside more non-cited speculation, so I am coming to use guys for your non-cited speculation!

Also, since I am on this Davout (Davoust) kick are is there anymore books or literature on him?

The way I see it, either they mixed with the local populace, creating a genetic distinction between Sephardic and Ashkenazi, or they stayed within the Jewish population, resulting in a distinction between them and the local populace but not between one another. Another possibility is that they converted locals, but from my knowledge of Judaism, that was pretty uncommon (due to both a lack of tendency for the Jews to convert others, and a lack of tendency for others to want to convert), so I think we can safely rule that one out.

However, Ashkenazi Jews are distinguishable from both Sephardic Jews and Eastern European Gentiles (I don't know about the Sephardic side, but I assume they aren't genetically the same as Spaniards and Italians in the same way). So how did this happen? Because they either did or didn't mix with the locals, and this makes it seem like they somehow did both and neither.

The situation in each country was probably different, so I would appreciate an answer for a particular country or region.

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I remember seeing or reading somewhere (may have been Lindybeige on YouTube) that in the later "Middle Ages", only men of noble birth or high status were allowed to own swords. Is this true? In the early Middle Ages, could anybody with enough money own a sword?

Thanks.

What were the most important reasons in the failure of the Taiping to overthrow the Qing during the rebellion of 1851 to 1864?

I heard about nobles ordering more than a 1000 pieces of different parts of armor (helmets, greaves, gauntlets, cuirass, etc.).

How did Milan keep up with the demand if there could only have been so many blast furnaces and trip hammers operating at once (given availability of sources for water power)?

In the Dumas classic The Three Musketeers the character Milady is depicted as having a fleur-de-lis brand on her shoulder. It is stated this is proof of being in prison. Did all prisoners get this brand? When did the practice start? The book deals with Louis the 13th reign around 1627,

Hello, I have been assigned to play the role of Gaius Cornelius Cethegus at an upcoming Model UN conference, but I haven't really found much information on him.
On the Wikipedia page for the Cethegus family, he has a blurb. However, he does not have his own article, and it does not go into much specifics: > the boldest and most dangerous of Catiline's associates. Like many other youthful profligates, he joined the conspiracy in the hope of getting his debts cancelled. When Catiline left Rome in 63 BC, after Cicero's first speech, Cethegus remained behind as leader of the conspirators with Lentulus Sura. He himself undertook to murder Cicero and other prominent men, but was hampered by the dilatoriness of Sura, whose age and rank entitled him to the chief consideration. The discovery of arms in Cethegus's house, and of the letter which he had given to the ambassadors of the Allobroges, who had been invited to cooperate, led to his arrest. He was condemned to death, and executed, with Sura and others, on the night of 5 December.

I would greatly appreciate any information about any of his offices held, or any further insight into his character.

I don't understand why a Mosque can be a holy site for the three religions and why jewish people still pray there to this day? What makes it so different ? Thanks.

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Constantly, throughout the book of Exodus, whenever the ruler of Egypt is mentioned, he's called "Pharaoh", and not "the pharaoh" or something like that. I grew curious about this and checked the Hebrew. In Hebrew, the letter ה as a prefix signifies a definite article, so if in the Hebrew he was referred to as "the Pharaoh", the text would read הפרעה. However, in the examples I saw, it's simply פרעה.

I understand that Exodus is viewed with a degree of suspicion due to the lack of solid evidence for an Israelite captivity in Egypt. However, I don't think that's relevant to my question, so I want to look past that. Could the author of Exodus, ostensibly Moses, have understood Pharaoh to be a personal name? Was Pharaoh used without the definite article in Egyptian (if Egyptian even has a definite article)?

Here are the lyrics.

1. Weit lasst die Fahnen wehen,

Wir woll'n zum Sturme gehen

Frei nach Landsknechtsart.

Lasst den verlor'nen Haufen

Voran zum Sturme laufen

Wir folgen dicht geschart.

2. Die Mauern wir erklettern,

Die Türme wir zerschmettern

Und in die Stadt hinein.

Wer uns den Lauf will hemmen,

Sich uns entgegenstemmen

Der soll des Teufels sein.

3. Es harren unser drinnen

Wenn wir die Stadt gewinnen

Viel Gold und Edelstein

Das wird ein lustig Leben

In unserm Lager geben

Bei Würfelspiel und Wein.

4. Die Reihen fest geschlossen,

Und vorwärts unverdrossen!

Falle, wer fallen mag.

Kann er nicht mit uns laufen,

So mag er sich verschnaufen

Bis an den jüngsten Tag.

Besides from all the killings and other negative, were there anything good coming out of them -- that lived on, maybe even to modern times?