I am planning to write a fictional account of a judicial duel in the late 11th century. I'm still not sure in which area I would like to set the piece. The piece will not feature the actual duel, but I would like to focus on relationships within and between the two supporting "posses". I would like the piece to take place right before news has spread about Pope Urban ii speech in 1095. The themes and intrigues of the narrative is not necessary to discus here, but I would like to know where and how (even if) such an event was possible. I understand that I will have to consult a lot of texts before tackling something like this, so even a point in the right direction of sources will be greatly appreciated.

I visited parts of Europe last year and noticed the lose of the land that is now the United States isn't really mentioned in places like London. Is this a part of history that isn't discussed?

Other than debate over ratification of the Constitution, what was debated?

I don't know a lot about Napoleon. I heard about this in some movie I was watching on TV today where some guy's like "Napoleon's escaped! He marches on Paris!"

I mean, perhaps he had his army hidden in his sleevy, but this seems unlikely.

I was just curious

I'm currently reading Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels, and they make it seem like significant numbers of the British officers at the time were dilettantes. Cornwell quotes statistics like only 1 in 20 officers being promoted from the field, while the rest bought their commissions using their own money.

Generals clearly would have preferred experienced officers with a good knowledge of strategy and tactics, did they train their officers or have any influence over who advanced besides offering field promotion?

I want to get a general, lucid idea of what was going on in Europe through the ages.

Looks like there are two (extremely ambitious) cover-to-cover treatments in existence: A Penguin History, and Norman Davies' Europe.

A guy told me I should start with a history of philosophy, but didn't know what to recommend.

What I don't want to read is soulless, unilluminating high school/college textbooks that present fact soup to fuel multiple choice exams rather than a story of what was going on.

Right now I'm leaning towards Davies' book, but am open to suggestions because it really doesn't look like a beginner book. The book came highly recommended by one of my history professors.

President of the United States

I'm interested in what the admission process would have been like? What sort of person would be accepted or have the need to attend a college? What a typical day would have been like? What sort of courses would have been offered? Were there any traditions or fraternity type establishments like we know of today? Were there different semesters? How long would someone generally attend college, and would they graduate like we know of today? What would the graduation ceremony (if there were one) have been like? Did they "major" in a specific field, and what would they do with this? Basically, everything about College in this Era! :D

Thanks!!

Please Cite

Did students basically just need to afford tuition to get in to schools like Oxford and Cambridge? Were there entrance exams of some kind?

Are there two legitimate sides to the debate or is the evidence clear in one direction or the other?

I've read that senators-in-absentia spoiled for a fight in Greece early in the Caesar-Pompey Civil War, possibly against the better judgment of Pompey. Did any of them actually join the battle? If there are no sources available, I know I would be grateful for any information regarding the role of Roman politicians who found themselves in battle after their military service had ended.