The history of wool carding

The carding I know of has steel needles attached to wooden blocks that are used to clean wool by separating it up with the teeth. Wikipedia didn't tell me when this first began though, and if there were alternatives before then...

What would carding have been like in the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries?

2 Answers 2016-02-28

It's a common anti-Muslim trope that Muslims support tolerance when a minority, but intolerance when a majority. Are there any historical examples of this change occurring within a society?

Example. This claim seems to me to be drawing on two things. Firstly there's the alleged tolerance of Muhammad that turned to intolerance as Islam grew stronger in the early years (as Murray discusses slightly earlier in this video). Is this an accurate reflection of the accounts we have of the early years of Islam? Secondly, it's drawing on the comparison of Islamic political activism in the West (focusing on Islamophobia) with the more extreme political developments in the Muslim world which are notably intolerant.

However neither of these are really exactly analogous to what the anti-Muslims are warning against. Therefore I'm interested if there's any historical examples to back them up of this change occurring within one society. One thing I read a while ago by a blogger I respect says that this did happen, but he didn't provide any sources. He says:

"the author makes the case for the emergence of a "mélange" civilization. It would be Islamo-Christian, with antecedants in the early Ottomon polity. The problem I have is that such cultures have always existed within the Dar-al-Islam, but they tend to be anterior to the eventual development of a more thoroughly Muslim polity that reduces the non-Muslim population into dhimmitude. Of course, we are not slaves to history, Westen Islam could spark a Reformation in the faith, but I simply want to remind everyone that the rising Muslim elites have a long history of initial cooperation with the non-Muslim powers that be until the time when the dhimmi become disposable. Also, let me note that many of the dhimmi families that allied themselves with the early Muslim powers later converted to Islam and became part of the Muslim elite."

Perhaps he is referring to developments in the early years of the Ottoman empire?

1 Answers 2016-02-28

I'm a medieval peasant recruited into a war against a foreign nation by my lord. Once the war is over, how do I get back home?

How organized was the journey home? Would our lord guide us home? What if the group I initially served under had been absorbed into another group? How well equipped would the average soldier be to return home after serving in a foreign war?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

What makes Victorian Literature Victorian?

Apart from the simply fact that it's generally literature written during the reign of Queen Victoria, what specifically makes Victorian Literature Victorian? Why are authors like Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Arthur Conen Doyle etc. considered Victorian authors? More generally, how is literature divided and assigned a historic era or age?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

What kind of old currency is this?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-02-27

How realistic is the character of William of Baskervill in Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"

So after Umberto Eco's recent death I read "The Name of the Rose", having only seen the movie before, and I realized that William of Baskerville has ideas that seem very modern compared to my idea of political philosophy and theology in the late Middle Ages. On the other hand Eco mentions in his apostille that most people get it wrong when they think some ideas are anachronistic (and miss the ones which actually are). My question concerns mostly the following ideas that William expresses:

(apologies for my quotes not being exact, being French I read the French translation)

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Mafia in the Soviet Union

Does anybody here have information or has read about structured mafia, if there was ever mafia, in the Soviet Union? Maybe something about the black market in Soviet Russia and how the goverment pressured the black market and the Mafia?

2 Answers 2016-02-27

How much did the british help out in the war in the Pacific?

I know the early parts of the Pacific War had all kinds of battles. My great grandfather was a british officer at the Fall of Singapore (or Burma?). The Japanese very early on started attacking New Zealand, Thailand, Burma, Australia, etc. When the United States started going on a serious offensive and started Island Hopping, how much did the british contribute? Were they focusing on rebuilding the colonies? Or were they too island hopping?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

What is the history of Chinese zombies hopping around with slips of paper on their faces and how did such a legend come into existence?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Do we have any examples of jokes from the pre-European-Contact Americas?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Why were General McClellan's estimates of confederate forces always overestimated?

I'm currently reading Shelby Foote's The Civil (which is very good for anyone that has never read it) and it seems McClellan's estimates of confederate strength were always off by tens of thousands. Foote seems to chalk it up to McClellan's personal timidity. Is this true? It seems difficult to me that even a timid man could mistake 30,000 men for 60,000.

EDIT: Forgot a word or two

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Name for the culture level of indigenous cultures of pre-columbian America

I have several questions regarding the pre-columbian time of America. I was wondering about the correct name for the culture level that was existent at the time of the spanish arrival. Was it "Neolithicum"? And was it the same level for North, Middle and South America? Was the usage of Obsidian common everywhere inthe Americas or just in Middle America?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Best history books on certain topics?

I'm looking for history books that provide ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE information on certain eras and topics of history, whether that be military, political, lifestyle (clothing, uniforms) etc.

Time periods/Topics include:

  • Roman Republic/Empire

  • Medieval Europe -Early, High, Late (I know it's a broad range)

  • Discovery and Conquest of the New World (Cortez, Pizarro, etc)

  • The Battle of Stalingrad

  • American Civil War

  • Ancient China (Again, very broad)

  • Second-Sino Japanese War

^(Mentioned above are preferred topics)

If you have any other great books on history feel free to share them. Thank You!

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Is it true that Andrew Jackson fought in over a hundred duels and suffered multiple serious injuries and killed several men?

I've heard, obviously from sources that aren't particularly academic, that Andrew Jackson fought in many, many duels, and that he had bullets lodged in his body for life, and that he killed several people and wounded many others. What's the truth in this?

Who are some of the people he dueled, and why did he duel them? How did the duel play out and what was the aftermath?

How common was it for people to settle their arguments with duels in the US in the early 1800s?

What are some other famous duelists I should know about? I'm interested not just in the US, but in other countries as well, around the same time period.

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Why didn't the large European navies of the 18th century use Greek Fire as part of a ship's artillery?

I read how Greek Fire was a very effective weapon in the 1300's and way before that.

It seems like a very effective weapon to burn an entire ship like a brig, frigate, or man o' war. So, why didn't great European naval powers make relationships with the eastern Mediterranean countries (where Greek Fire had been used before) and invest in Greek Fire artillery on their warships?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

In Crusader Kings 2, the Bedouin culture dominates the Abbasid Caliphate and more often than not wipes out all other cultures, were the Bedouins so powerful in history?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Is there some reality to Herodotus' account of the rise of Cyrus as king?

The section in book one explaining the rise of Cyrus seems a bit "mythical" with some of the details e.g. Cambyses' dreams. Is there any evidence to support Herodotus' account or any other sources which detail the rise of Cyrus? Do scholars question the account of Herodotus?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Why did the muslims completely annex the Sassanid empire but not the Byzantine empire?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Bachelor thesis - narrowing down the topic

Hi,

I would like to ask you guys to help me out with my bachelor thesis topic. I have chosen to write about the South China sea dispute. But as you know, the bachelor thesis is supposed to be smt about 50 pages. And I am afraid professor will not pass my topic proposal (can submit just once) if i were to write about it all (long) or maybe just generally (what is actually is about). Thus I was hoping you would help me out with zooming this topic if possible (but still with good information access). I was thinking about something like "the development of the dispute for past 10 years" or something like that. Also I was wondering what the aim of the thesis actually would be.

Thank you in advance a lot.

PS: Another topic was China's foreign policy. But that i put into a second place (even bigger). But still would appreciate any comment.

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Why did Caesar not proscribe his enemies?

It seems blindingly obvious that he should have, instead he surrounded himself with folks who repeatedly betrayed his trust and paid for it.

1 Answers 2016-02-27

How come USA wasn't accused of committing war crimes for nuking Japan and killing innocent civilians?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

How were the heights of mountains or large hills determined before modern technology?

1 Answers 2016-02-27

In Crusader Kings 2, Tocharians and Sogdians are grouped under the Iranian culture, was this actually true or are they something different?

3 Answers 2016-02-27

How often, if at all, did pre-gunpowder artillery use flaming or exploding shots?

In games like Medieval 2 and Rome Total War, ballista and catapults can use flaming projectiles that incinerate troops. Mangonels are portrayed as firing exploding barrels. Were such things even possible? if so, how effective was it? who used it? what was in exploding barrels?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

1 Answers 2016-02-27

Is it true that Andrew Jackson was not as anti-Indian as is the popular conception?

I'm referring to this AskReddit thread in particular. I have no reason to doubt what they say, but it seems like the exact kind of thing that reddit would oversimplify to prove a point.

1 Answers 2016-02-27

4486 / 7255

Back to start