I am organising a widwinter fest this year at a museum focused on prehistoric europe. As a part of the event I want to portray different midwinter traditions but I'm having a lot of trouble finding information and sources about it. Any help would be most welcome.

It can be from any geographical area but I prefer it to be pre 1400's

European and African countries between 1500-1800.*

I know that travel occurred in the medieval era, but how did this occur? For a commoner to take up a pilgrimage to Canterbury, for instance, or any other type of journey, how did they do this? Did they carry satchels? How many? Were there other forms of "luggage". I'm assuming most were too poor to have a horse, but perhaps they hired one? If they traveled by boat, would they have to be particularly rich, or was this within the means of some villagers?

Thanks for any answers! :)

Montenegro and Japan famously remained in a state of war until 2006.

I find it hard to believe that Montenegro was completely forgotten at Portsmouth, considering all the diplomatic staff the Russians had on hand.

Most "wars due to diplomatic irregularities" seem to have existed on purpose because of political considerations. So I have to imagine that there was something going on regarding Montenegro that they were not mentioned in the peace deal.

I've run into a few references lately that Alfred Rosenberg was collecting materials for such a museum, but then other things indicate that there were never plans for it?

From years of reading early Medieval world history, one thing that sticks out to me is how many ancient cities that were once the equivalent of metropolises today were replaced by different cities mere miles away by the Arab Caliphate. It isn't unprecedented in history, but especially in Europe, south Asia and east Asia, it seems more likely for conquerors to take over cities rather than abandon them after conquest.

Is there an explanation for the trend of the Arab Caliphate quickly taking over territory and founding their own cities in lieu of settling around the political and economic foundations in the preexisting conquered cities? The three cities in the title are those that jump out at me as exemplary examples of what I am thinking about.

I read that the Serbians and other factions were able to attack settlements under UN protection and come into direct conflict with UN Peacekeepers.

History was undoubtedly my worst subject in school -- I was never able to memorize names and dates -- and in the real world it's kind of embarrassing not knowing which King Henry did what, or what the deal was/is with the whole communism thing. I have a hard time keeping track of which World War was which, who was President during major US history events, did Napoleon take over Europe before or after the French Revolution (what was the French Revolution? I have no idea), why South Africa is so different from the rest of Africa, the difference between all the different "barbarian" invaders (Normons, Vikings, Mongolians). I mix up Vietnam and Korea, I couldn't tell you who Stalin or Gorbachev or Lenin were besides that they were involved in communism. Or which was first, the Vietnam War or the Korean War.

Given that I have a crappy memory, browsing Wikipedia articles doesn't help me in the long term. I find that stuff interesting, but there's way too much content and it doesn't stick with me. So I'm looking for a book or website that relates world history 101 in a way that I can understand and remember. Any recommendations for books, websites, films or "study" plans would be appreciated.

I know a small amount about Marius and the reforms he made. However there seem to be few records of his personality. Could anyone direct me to somewhere with such records? Or does anyone have any knowledge of him themselves?

Reading up on Caribbean history as of late. I was originally trying to figure out if the original Cuban natives migrated from the Floridian peninsula. I found out that the Taíno came from South America rather, though, this quote from a wiki article in particular stuck out to me:

"At this time, the neighbors of the Taíno were the Guanahatabeys in the western tip of Cuba, the Island-Caribs in the Lesser Antilles from Guadeloupe to Grenada, and the Timacua and Ais tribes of Florida."

since the outcropping of Florida is, to this day, the closest continental gateway for Cuba, I wonder, did these early peoples have contact with one another?

Whenever I read any history of India that talks about the medieval period, it focuses on the Islamic occupation and conquest. Every other time period gets descriptions of philosophical, artistic and religious developments, but the time between Delhi and the Marathas just seems to get glossed over. (Admittedly, this is only based on two history books and a couple of online websites) What kind of interesting developments were happening for Hindus and Jains living under Muslim rule? What about the ones who remained independent?