Before eastern spices became cheap and commonplace how did common Europeans season their food? Were their enough native herbs to keep their food for being overly bland and tasteless?

This really confused me. We don't really refer to, for example, Byzantium as the "Komnenian Empire" but we refer to China as the "Tang Empire", for example.

This sounds like a dumb question, hence the "specifically". Why are the events of ~1989 considered to be the end of the Cold War, given that (to my understanding) relations between the two countries remained largely antagonistic? How did these events change the realpolitik of the situation?

(Note: As much as I would like to learn about modern U.S.-Russian relations, subreddit rules limit discussion to 1995 and earlier.)

I'm specifically talking about during Henry VII's reign.

What did they believe about the stars, sun and moon?

What would a carpenter's wages likely be?

How common was emigration and immigration?

How did people learn other languages?

How did people save money? Literally just pouch on the belt?

What did a teen do for fun?

How far throughout England would they travel? A tradesman, for example.

What were laws based on? Was there a record? Did people know them?

Was crime rampant outside city walls? Was there a way of solving the murder if the crime wasn't seen?

How did tradesman know where to go for work?

If I took my English money to 16th century Portugal, how would I spend it?

How high could a tradesman climb from being a poor apprentice? What might that path look like?

Could they swim?

What was the knowledge of others races like, and people of other colours?

Could they write and was journal keeping common?

How were messages passed around?

How often did they bathe?

What did they do when a relative died at home?

I have more, but for now that's a good list of stuff I haven't come across in my reading yet.

I know the U.S. had several issues with Mexico throughout each other's history over territory. This is true when it comes to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and I believe southern California. We went to war but we never conquered them. Why is that? Was it due to America wanting to further it's international influence? Or were plans cut short due to the Civil War? Or was it simply that the United States government didn't care much for Mexican conquest? Which would seem like a bizarre reason due to the conquering of the Native Americans.

I won't beat around the bush about my reasons, I've been watching a play through of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and I really want to run a roleplaying game (Geist: The Sin-eaters specifically) with the players taking the role of pirates in Nassau. It'll be the first time I've ever done anything historical fiction, though, and I'm not really sure how to go about it. What was life like for the pirates there? How often did they go out and raid ships? When they were away, how long did it take? What problems did they face?

The game I'm going to be using is a game where you play as mediums and necromancers. How superstitious were pirates, and just what kind of natives would they be likely to run into? How common were things like the voodoo that you see in Pirates of the Caribbean? What were the major ports in the Caribbean and West Indies?

I'd really love if anyone could suggest some documentaries to me, or anything that might show off the actual fashions and attire that pirates and sailors would wear.

OK, so I've been cast in a play as a railway porter in 1840s England at the height of the Railway Mania. I am 37, blond and essentially bald-headed, with generally incredibly slow-growing, fine and not very visible facial hair.

In other words, I'm not going to be able to cultivate the impressive sideburns or mutton-chop whiskers that Google Image Search is showing me for "1840s facial hair".

But then, I don't even know if that would be appropriate for someone in my character's age and position. Can anyone with a better knowledge of this kind of thing help me out?

At that time, the Byzantine Empire's territories only consisted of Thrace and Achaea, and with the Ottomans surrounding them, they had zero chance of victory should the Ottomans decided to annex them.

Were it not for the Ottoman Interregnum, the conquest may have happened much earlier, and a different sultan would have earned the nickname "al-Fatih". In my opinion, the battle itself was already won before it even began, yet why is it considered to be among one of the greatest battles of all time, up there with the Battle of Waterloo, Invasion of Normandy, etc.?

This is something I've been interested in a while but have had trouble finding relevant reading material. With so many Mayday/Green Man festivals around in England, it's hard to know where the 'real' history ends and the invented/romanticised traditions begin.

Searching for books through online retailers tends to return either books about folk music or '1001 Pagan spells you can try at home'. Just to clear, I'm interested in the history of folk beliefs, seasonal festivals, Paganism etc; I'm not a believer in it.

I heard Ronald Hutton on the BBC's excellent Making History programme on Radio 4 and have ordered 'The Rise and Fall of Merry England'. Any further suggestions would be gratefully received.

I don't think that there are accounts of Vikings in Germany.

I'm readying "Hocus Pocus" for the first time, and Vonnegut has made two references so far along the lines of: "I might have added, but didn't, that the martyrs at the Alamo had died for the right to own black slaves. They didn't want to be a part of Mexico anymore because it was against the law in that country to own slaves of any kind. I don't think Wilder knew that. Not many people in this country do. I certainly never heard that at the Academy. I wouldn't have known that slavery was what the Alamo as all about if Professor Stern the unicyclist hadn't told me so." - Chapter 36 of "Hocus Pocus", K. Vonnegut I had never heard this before either. Is this an exaggeration of the circumstances of the Texas revolution simply used here for satiric effect, or was the ability to own slaves really a factor in Texas' declaring independence from Mexico?

Edit: Originally posted in /r/skeptic

Edit: Thank you /u/Gama_Rex and /u/Bodark43 for your concise and helpful answers! It seems Vonnegut was exaggerating/limiting the scope of the conflict for effect, but none-the-less making a great point regarding how we are taught/interpret our past conflicts in the forming of our country. Continue to live in the grey my friends (also a shout out to my fellow shades at /r/thebutton).

Hi all,

I'm currently reading a book about the history of central Asia by Rene Grousset.

I'm at a part that discusses a group of hunnic nomads who invaded the western parts of India in the 5th century AD. Grousset calls this group the "Ephthalites".

In one specific part he quotes a Chinese historian's description of the clothing that the king of the Ephthalites would wear, and also that of his "chief wife".

"His chief wife also wears an
 ornamented silk robe which trails three
 feet along the ground. On her head she
 wears a horn eight feet long, decorated
 with precious stones in five colours."

What fascinates me here is the eight foot horn. I don't understand how you could even wear something of that size. I'm unable to find much on this topic online. I'd really appreciate any insight into this odd form of attire.

Anyone out there have any more information on this? Or, better yet, an image of a headpiece like this?

Cheers!

I mean after WWI, the rest of Europe wanted reparations, repayment, etc. for a costly war that obliterated France.. after the Treaty of Versailles it was clear that Germany at that point had no intention of backing down. If they were just permantly occupied by Britain, France and the US there would never have been a Hitler to come power and instead they were allowed to grow and re-collect their might. After WWII why wasn't Germany just dissolved and re-occupied and new boundary lines decided by the victors get to consume Germany?

I mean, I understand that they were good cavalrymen and fierce, but how did they manage to conquer that much land?

Did the word's usage originate in English-speaking countries or somewhere else? Is it the same word used in other languages?

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