Hello, some years ago I read a novel trilogy about Trajan's life and in the last book it shows the bad relationship Trajan had with Hadrian, and how Trajan was planning to designate as succesor an african general from his legions instaed of Hadrian. It the last scene, Trajan is going back to Rome in a ship (in theory to stop Hadrian from fucking up Judea) and its poisoned during the trip, it is also revealed that it was his Wife and Hadrian that planned his death.

How historically accurate is this?

I've always been a big fan of the Western Front during World War II and one battle I rarely read/hear about is the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. As one of the longest battles the Army has fought in, as well as essentially covering the period between the breakout from France and the start of the Bulge, one would assume that more would be known. I find it strange that more has been written about Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Monte Cassino, two battles that similarly ended in defeat or at least an Allied setback. I know it was overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge, which brought the campaign to an end, but even its entire purpose seems to have been misunderstood. Is there a reason historians, or at least historians that write WWII histories for general public consumption, have practically avoided it? Are there any good books that give the battle better coverage?

Was it viewed as unimportant to The Revolution, some bourgeoisie nonsense? Was there any criticism that it was proposed by a Catholic priest? Did different fields react differently? Did astronomers feel one way and philosophers another?

Why is the battle of Hurtgen Forest talked about so rarely while Normandy, the Bulge, and even Market Garden get so much more coverage? Is there a good book to read that covers it more indepth?

The Bronze Age Collapse was a period in history where everything that could've went wrong, went wrong for many civilizations. The Sea People were no doubt a contributing factor. After arriving and doing whatever, where did they end up? Were they just sort of the normal people inhabiting the land intermingling with the local inhabitants after? It seems bizarre to believe that they just up and vanished after everything was said and done, effectively.

Do you know of any reliable books on this two topics (separately)? I'm looking to learn a bit about individual fighting on the middle ages but I need guidance. I've heard there are handbooks written during that period but I can't find their names and some information online doesn't look very serious.

I know for example that the Romans allowed some freedom of religion in conquered territories as long as the people started worshipping Roman gods, and even absorbed some foreign gods, like the Egyptian goddess Isis, into their own beliefs. But how did they handle gods with similar spheres of influence, like Ra and Helios, or things like conflicting creation myths? Did they just assume other cultures were wrong but let them do their own thing anyway or did they have some kind of explanation?

I would love to listen to examples of this, how they all influenced each other!

Hello everyone,

so my question is in the title. Reading George R. R. Martin’s Sworn Sword again it’s mentioned how the poor villagers get visited by a priest twice a year who forgives their sins, otherwise it’s one of them who leads service sometimes. Now I don’t think that is too accurate but I’d like to know for sure how things really worked, so my question is this:

How widespread were priests and churches in the late medieval and Renaissance period? A city or town surely had a church, probably several, and priests conducting service there. But what about the smaller villages? Did they all have churches and a priest? And if not, what did they do? Did they get visits by wandering priests? Did they go to the next best bigger settlement where there’d be a church? I’m also curious about the nobility and their seats: Again, I’m not so much wondering about the kings or dukes here. But say a very small lord or a knight who ruled over a castle and a village or two. Would there have been a clergyman of any sort at his castle? Would the castle have had a chapel or something like that? And if not, what would he and his family and servants have done, where would they have gone to to pray, baptize their kids, get married etc.?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Growing up I was always taught that it wasn't until the brothers Grimm that anyone had made a particularly big effort to collect regional folk tales, or put much effort into analyzing or studying those tales. But looking back I'm not sure that makes much sense. Humans are social creatures who likes stories. It seems like something they might have always done. So whats the story of these stories historians?

Glossed over in History class is the history of Asians and Asian-Americans during pinnacle points in history, like during the Civil Rights Movement. Where did Asians sit on busses? Did Asians also use the side or back door to segregated restaurants? Where were Asians? What were they doing during this time?

(Title should say “modern”, not “modem”) I haven’t thought about this until now, but no other pop culture historical archetype that I can think of has a particular dialect exclusively associated with it. Sure, when little kids pretend to be cowboys they’ll put on a Texas accent or when they dress up as knights they’ll do an upper class British accent etc. These are based on our conceptions of who these people were and where they came from. But to modern minds, the pirate voice is just...the pirate voice. It sounds to my lay ear like it is at least partially grounded in Early Modern English pronunciation, but most people outside of linguistics circles probably aren’t acquainted enough with the history of English to think of dawning the pirate voice in the same way as in my other examples. So, who started this trend?

I’ll try to elaborate;

So if the viking age ended in 1066, did scandinavian vikings just travel elsewhere (than to England) to go raiding or did they turn their focus on another country?

Or did the profession ’viking’ die out after 1066?

For example, porn from the 70s and 80s often features actors with large amounts of body hair compared to today. Does this mean consumers back then preferred a furrier look, or is it just a reflection on something about the porn industry?

Just visited the Göteborg History Museum which has a section dedicated to law and justice in the 1600s, when Göteborg was founded. The woodcuts of the executioner made me wonder about the executioners themselves and which sections of society from which they were drawn. Were they mostly commoners?

If I am more specifical, I'm looking for chronicle books about American History. For example, In 1xxx, this happened, cause a did b, as a consequence xyz occurred. After two years, Xas did something, so They moved.

I admire separation of powers in USA political system and I guess Individual is freedom in daily life. I wonder how did this happen. Can you recommend books on this topic?

By the way, I hear two books about USA History; A People's History of The United States by howard zinn and the Pocket History of the United States by Allan Nevins ,Henry Steele Commage.

Are they good? What do you think?

In the modern era the majority of people imagine the future to have flying cars and spaceships. Do we have any evidence of how the future was envisioned in the Medieval Era?

I remember reading somewhere that Islam decided to ban wine because it came from Rome. Most of Islam’s rules seem politically, socially or economically motivated to me so is it the case with this one too?