Christianity in general, and Catholicism in particular has a strong cultural tradition of preserving and displaying dead body parts garnered from people judged to be of worth (Saints). When and under what circumstances did this practice develop? Is is rooted in pre-Christian traditions?

1 Answers 2016-01-03

How did Lincoln's assassination affect Reconstruction?

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1 Answers 2016-01-03

How would the early Slavs view homosexuality?

I found info about Vikings and Celts, but no Slavs. Is there any evidence regarding this topic?

2 Answers 2016-01-03

Is the Parthian Empire considered a Persian empire?

Wasn't Arsaces from the Dahae and then the Parni, if so why is the empire considered a Persian army?

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | December 28, 2015–January 03, 2016

Previous

Today:

Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.

6 Answers 2016-01-03

How did the Dutch cope with flooding prior to the extensive network of defences against the water?

So I grew up in the Netherlands, obviously after the extensive defence networks were established. Now, I am wondering hoe often did disaterous flooding like the one in 1953 happen? How did the Dutch react to this? What was the reaction of the common folk? You get the idea I think. I am just interested in how this affected both the common folk and the policies, how often it happend. Stuff like that.

1 Answers 2016-01-03

To what extent and how often were humans sacrificed in Aztec Mesoamerica?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-01-03

During WWII what piece of foreign equipment or weapons platform impressed the american military in testing, if there were any?

3 Answers 2016-01-03

When did "freedom" start being used in U.K. political discourse?

If my understanding is correct, back in the 1770s & 1780s, Americans were using "freedom" as something explicitly distinct from their status -- or anyone's status -- as subjects of the British crown. And that status was, at least nominally, much the same as that of present-day British citizens.

However, fast forward to the 20th century, and we see, for example, Winston Churchill, in his 1938 "The Lights are Going Out" speech, framing opposition to Hitler as a fight for freedom. Thus, what he called "freedom" was what the Americans, a century and a half earlier, were rejecting in favor of what they called "freedom".

Something changed in that century and a half. When? And why? (And what other relevant, interesting tidbits of info might there be?)

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Is there a reason why some WWII sites seem to specifically not mention certain important places or battles?

http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com

Sorry if this is silly, but Ive noticed this kind of thing repeatedly on a few sites, and just wondered why.

This site mentions, the Mariana Islands, Saipan, and everywhere in-between, except for Guam. Even their timeline leaves out Guam being attacked the same day as Pearl Harbor.

Is it a pride thing?

Ohh, let me add- Are there any other places or events that are sometimes omitted for whatever reason?

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Counties of the Kingdom of Hungary

I'm trying to find out what the counties of the Kingdom of Hungary were from thr 15th century until they were changed in the 19th century, but I'm having some trouble. Wikipedia lists some, but then the articles for some of those counties says the county was only established in the 19th century e.g. Szeben county. I also can't find any map of the counties in this period, only from later years.

So my question is is there a proper list and/or map of the 15th century Hungarian counties?

2 Answers 2016-01-03

Was the 1st Duke of Buckingham (George Villiers) incompetent, or was he simply unlucky, underfunded, and outmaneuvered by highly skilled opponents?

My current history course portrays George Villiers as a royal favourite who made it to a high social status by being good-looking and being good at dancing - and it argues that Villiers, through his incompetence and favoritism, was in fact the main cause of the English Civil War.

However, if we take a look at his decisions, a lot of them actually look decently thought-out plans, even in hindsight. Not particularly successful, true - but some of them were quite logical.

For instance, the Spanish Match is often lambasted as a hopeless venture and a waste of money - but given the desperation of the Palatinate at the time, a successful English alliance with the Spanish could theoretically have saved the Palatinate without any use of troops. Given that the English Army and the English Navy were not in particularly pristine condition, the odds of a successful expedition against the Holy Roman Empire wasn't high anyway. In this context, the Spanish Match actually looks like one of England's last and best hopes to keep Frederick as the Elector of the Palatinate.

True, it didn't pay off - but it was a pretty risky gamble that England was forced into. George Villiers didn't really make a bad choice - it was pretty much the only choice he had left, it was a pretty logical (if risky) choice, and it just happened to not pay off.

Villier's reputation for diplomatic incompetence continues from the fact that he lent Cardinal Richelieu ships with which the French used to suppress the Huguenots. At the time, however, it seemed like a good choice, given the limited information that Buckingham had. Richelieu promised to help England with its efforts in the Palatinate, and with the French marriage firmly secured, it looked to be the beginning of an Anglo-French alliance against the Habsburgs. Although lending him a few ships might give France an easier time suppressing its Protestants, the Protestants were unlikely to have succeeded in their rebellion anyway - doing so would only speed up their demise, and in the process England would secure a crucial ally in their war against the Habsburgs. The fact that Buckingham was outmaneuvered by Richelieu says little about Buckingham's incompetence, but a lot more about Richelieu's skill in political maneuvering.

One of the other things that Villiers is accused of, aside from diplomatic incompetence, would be military incompetence - he cost England a series of losses against the French, the Spanish, and a failed land expedition into the Palatinate. But if we look at the reality of those plans, a lot of the plans were actually quite decent, and were foiled by either a lack of funding, poor luck, or a poorly trained and unprepared troops.

The Cadiz expedition, for instance, was foiled by bad weather - a storm had delayed the English fleet from successfully capturing the Spanish treasure galleons as originally planned. The storm also whittled down the supplies of the English fleet, which were already low to begin with due to lack of monetary support from Parliament. When Buckingham landed, his ill-trained troops were already in a mutinous mood and he had very little control over them when they decided to raid the Spanish storehouses - nor could he have possibly anticipated that they would opt to get black-out drunk right before an engagement with the Spanish. It shows incredibly poor judgement and discipline from his troops, and a lack of support from Parliament, as well as ill luck from the storm - but it doesn't necessarily imply that Buckingham was incompetent.

The same holds true for a lot of the military failures that Buckingham was accused of - and the more I read about his exploits, the more logical they seemed at the time, and the more uncertain I become as to whether Buckingham was grossly incompetent or if he just had really good opponents and really terrible luck.

So... is there something I'm missing about why he was considered incompetent, or does my history course simply choose a lot of sources that were biased against Buckingham?

Thank you for any answers.

1 Answers 2016-01-03

How successful were the US & USSR at stealing each others' military tech during the cold war?

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Where can I find a good picture of the Gothic-Herulic fleet?

I would at least like to know what sort of ships they were using. Google images only brings back pictures from videogames and slutty pirate costumes.

1 Answers 2016-01-03

How were the Germans so advanced in film (i. e. movies and TV)?

2 Answers 2016-01-03

Do Warrior cultures that focus on individual fighting lack the basic common sense team work when fighting in the battlefield? AS in Barbarians couldn't even think of something so simple as "distract a Roman soldier while my friends behead him from behind"?

An interesting post I found online.

http://lustyvenusianjuuza.deviantart.com/journal/Individual-Fighter-Warrior-Culture-and-Team-Work-581995798

Although the writer focuses on criminal activities and civilian violence, he does have a point.

I mean if drunkards in a bar are able to work together in such coordination that one angry customer pins you down while his drinking buddies are stomping on you.......

It makes me doubt the notion the cultures emphasizing individual fighting EG barbarian tribes who lost to Roman Legions such as the Celts lacked any notion of team work. I can understand the military cultures like the Romans being far superior in their coordination and team-based tactics.

But after reading the link's statements about lower class civilians able to work together in riots-despite typically being individual brawlers in most fights they participated in and lacking ANY TRAINING what so ever- it makes doubt that warrior cultures fought completely as individuals who only knew how to battles as one-on-one duelists.

If civilians like prisoners, angry farmers in a riot, and even some people drinking at a bar could work together to surround you and hit you from blind angles or stomp you on the ground while you try to pin down one of them in a BJJ style move, I find it ridiculous warriors who have the "individual one-on-one fighter" mentality wouldn't think of something as simple as "my friends take on those Spanish conquistadors in a melee to distract them while I sneak behind them and behead them".

I mean not just many movie but even many history books even describe warrior cultures such as the Mamelukes lacking the common sense to do something as basic as dogphiling a French soldier who was knocked to the ground and stab said French soldier to death.

Which is sounds utter BS to me because guys at bar do such teamwork all the time. Hell even high school jocks (who tend to be egotistic enough to prefer one-on-one fights) can call their friends to surround you should you prove too tough to take on!

So I seriously doubt warriors who fight for a living couldn't think of something as simple as "Mahican throws stones and spears at colonists to distract them while some other Mahican with tomahawks charge in and hack the distracted demoralized colonist with axes".

I have no doubt Warrior Cultures and societies emphasizing individual toughness tend to train more as dueling and other individualist style fighting and military based cultures like the Mongols and Germans are far better organized in their teamwork. But to claim warriors only knew to fight as individuals and lack any sense of teamwork is a slap in the face against human nature because even untrained civilians who never been in a fight before could work together to overwhelm a much tougher opponent using basic "common sense" teamwork tricks like one guy rearchokes the person while I beat him up.

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Why, in general, do ancient civilisations seem less prosperous than their newer counterparts in modern times?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Did the Roman navy use heavy armor and shields or were they lightly armored?

I'm debating with a friend who says the Romans used heavy armor just like their heavy infantry legions but I doubt it.

The first thing is that I doubt there would be a need for such heavy armor on a ship and it would be hard to move around or function in such armor.

Another thought is that all of the heavy equipment worn by hundreds of men on a single ship would cause the ship to move much slower than if they were lightly armored.

Also, men would be doomed if they fell overboard while wearing heavy armor even if they knew how to swim.

2 Answers 2016-01-03

Why is the United States allied with Pakistan over India?

What exactly caused the rift between India and the United States that would pair them up with an on-again, off-again dictatorship as opposed to a quasi-functioning democratic republic?

I'm aware India has had socialistic tendencies in the past, but they don't seem to be on the same level as the former Soviet Union. Hell, India had a war with China, which was done I believe sometime before Nixon visit (I could be wrong, though).

Does Pakistan just hold some sort of strategic or economic advantage that I'm not aware of? Does this somehow tie to Anglo-American relations and India's status as a former colony? Am I asking too many questions?

2 Answers 2016-01-03

*Lies My Teacher Told Me* by James W. Loewen...good book?

I received this book yesterday as a late Christmas present. I've read half the first chapter and love it. My question is (and I hope I'm in the right subreddit for this...), is it historically accurate or is this just a textbook reviewer who's gone off his rocker and written a huge rant?

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Haberdashery in Hateful Eight - wow !

Historians and history buffs, the haberdashery shown in the movie The Hateful Eight was in some ways the star of the movie. Almost the entire movie unfolds inside this one room house. It was a combination of a general store and place to spend the night (although, there was only one bed apparently) and a place get a hot meal and stable your horse. It was located beside a trail in the middle of nowhere; just a spot to rest on your way to the closest town, Red Rock.

How accurate was this for the time period? This was sometime around 10 years after the civil war.

There were many interesting features of the room if you look closely, but one notable thing was the gaps in the walls where the wind and snow would slip though, although that seems like something done mostly for dramatic effect.

1 Answers 2016-01-03

How accurate does *The Witcher 3* portray life in the medieval era?

The Witcher 3 is a great video game, however I'm curious as to just how accurate it is with regards to its portrayal of life in medieval societies, especially during times of war.

To expand, as the invading armies advance, entire villages are either conscripted or destroyed. For example, one village had it's entire male population conscripted, while the women and children were simply discarded and left homeless. How common was the practice of conscripting from local villages after taking control of the surrounding area? Couldn't these conscripts harbor a desire for revenge against the invading army they were now being forced to fight for?

Additionally, just how quickly could medieval empires rebuild an effective army? Within the series lore, the invading nations army was more or less annihilated just under two years prior to their current invasion, yet they are able to reconstruct an nearly unstoppable army in that time, which seems pretty quick to me.

Finally, just how much power did large merchant groups have over monarchs, especially monarchs with an authoritarian streak? In the game, one of the Emperors is facing intense opposition from domestic merchant groups, who feel the war is harming their profits, a problem which the Emperor (and those in his court) perceive as a serious threat to his rule. However, it is previously established that the Emperor has simply killed off political opponents in the past, so why would unruly merchants be any different? Could medieval Monarchs truly be opposed by merchants in any substantive manner?

Trailers for some imagery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0i88t0Kacs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KczsbBpX1so

Thanks for any responses!

3 Answers 2016-01-03

What was the average age of a Roman senator in the late republic?

1 Answers 2016-01-03

Niall Ferguson and "Empire: How Britain Made the World"

For those who don't know, Niall Ferguson is a contraversial British historian and occasional TV personality who is a Professor at Harvard and a senior research fellow at Oxford.

Now, in Britain, he is generally feted in right-wing circles and blasted in left-wing circles. The Conservative party considered involving him in writing history textbooks for schools, though as far as I know this never happened.

A while ago, I read his book "Empire: How Britain made the modern world," as my mother recommended it to me. I basically considered it an interesting pop history, but ultimately an apologist work for imperialism.

So, I would like to know what other historians of the British Empire think of this book, and of his work generally. As I said, he's a very politically contraversial figure, but I don't know he's generally viewed by historians.

2 Answers 2016-01-03

Why don't we call Iran Persia?

3 Answers 2016-01-03

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