In 1000 AD much of the Iberian Peninsula was in control of Islamic invaders. How was the relation between them and the Christian population that lived there before the invasion? Did the Muslim conquerers tried to subdue and convert them to Islam like the IS in Syria and Iraq or did they lived at peace respecting each other religion?

I`ve heard there were almost as many whites slaves as blacks is this true?

Or do we just think of them as such because of their seafaring and the role they played in Jewish, Greek and Roman history?

People speculate all the time, Andy Kaufman, Elvis Presley... Has there ever been a documented successful attempt of someone faking their own death?

In Merchant of Venice the main driver of the plot is a jew by the name of Shylock. The short version is that he lends money and then goes to court when the person he's lent money to can't pay. Antonio, the debtor, has promised a pound of his own flesh. Shylock pursues this beyond what is sane and is ruined for his obsession. Are Shakespeare's personal feelings on Shylock's religion known? To the society Shakespeare lived in would Shylock's religion been another flaw added to the list? Was Shylock's monologue showing Jews as equals to Christians ("if you prick us, do we not bleed?") seen as some radical view at the time or would there have been a discussion about the issue?

I'm not really concerned with how Jews were treated, or with what Shakespeare thought specifically, but rather what the history of political sentiment on the issue of antisemitism. Would some of them be disgusted when a Christian in the play spits on Shylock? What was the state of discourse on the subject at the time of the play's writing?

I know this board has dealt with presentism and other problems. There have been historical figures like Galileo or Giordano who were turned into representatives of current ideas. Narratives have been shoved into the past. Like there being "a war between science and religion" even if one or both of them were absent in say, Europe for a large chunk of history.

History has also been treated like a work of entertainment with labeled "bad" or "foolish" people with the "wrong ideas" fighting the "good" people who might have "had the right ideas". I've seen examples in both the entertainment industry (see Cosmos' version of Giordano and various films like Braveheart) and out of it.

And there's how past cultures are still being treated with contempt, as if they were lower beings paving way for later eras. For example, the Medieval Era is treated like a time where after the Roman Empire fell, Europeans forgot how to bathe, paint, use tactics in warfare, etc. Until the Renaissance fixed everything. Such as bringing back perspective, etc.

Are there any statistics on whether wars/battles are typically won when fighting from west to east, north to south, etc?

What the title says. Did any historical empire (e.g rome, greece, e.t.c) use what we would call use special op's? were there navy SEAL like teams used in the ancient world?

What herbs and ingredients were used to treat more common diseases or discomforts like headaches or fever? I'd also like to know what they did to your body and what diseases/discomforts they cured or eased and how they were consumed.

Texas became a state immediately when it was annexed, but Hawaii was a territory for 50 years first even though it was also independent like Texas. Why weren't they both states right away?

Such as Dutch becoming Afrikaanz and English losing most declensions.

As the title says I'd like to know how saltpeter was manifactured during the golden age of piracy. Although I am intrested in knowing where it was manifactured (any dominant exporters), the process of making it, and what saltpeter was valued at. Sorry if I bombarded the question with questions but google wasn't really my friend when it came to this topic.

Did they have radios yet? Or did they simply receive orders in person while at "headquarters", and then have to carry them out without the ability to radio for backup?

This was inspired by comments Dan Carlin has made (not sure how you all will feel about that...) about how modern history is much more concerned with narrow issues of constructing and interpreting relatively minor pieces of history than on broad analysis or interpretation.

Though I am a complete outsider, this does gel with my other limited experiences of reading this subreddit, listening to lectures, reading the occasional book, etc. History used to be considered a part of the humanities like philosophy (my major) and literature, but now it seems to be viewed as a social science. I think Dan Carlin made a similar point himself.

It strikes me, though, that while it is intrinsically interesting to find out what happened in the past, there could be a lot of interesting interpretation and analysis of history that leans more towards the humanistic side of things and eschews the micro for the macro. I don't just want to know why events unfolded how they did but theories about what it means. I don't expect a grand theory to rule them all to emerge from this, that doesn't really seem to happen in the humanities, but it would be interesting and useful to see those discussions and perspectives.

So, am I missing something? Does this already happen? If so, do modern historians generally like it or dislike it?

If it isn't happening, should it? Should historians do it or somebody else?

When did depictions of Buddha shift from the relaxed, calm figure to the joyful fat guy?

Did they have totalitarian dictators? What were their economic policies like?

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As today is Halloween I figured I'd ask this, I had heard a theory years ago that in medieval times in eastern Europe there was a type of rye bread that when turned moldy was a bit of a hallucinogenic. One year due to shortages and bad weather many regions were forced to eat this moldy bread and during their hallucinations started the hype of werewolves, vampires and a lot of supernatural beings. My question is has anyone heard of this and is there any evidence of this theory?