To me, they look a bit like submarines. The proportions seem so off and because the monitors look so heavy, it seems like they should just sink below the surface anytime water washes onto the top.

I'm watching Game of Thrones and in more than one scenario, a prisoner was sentenced to trial by combat. Was this a real thing? How common was it, and why is this a good punishment as opposed to, say execution?

Perhaps this is more of a question about the soldier recruitment process in the medieval ages. Because I can't understand the notion of a sane person willingly putting himself between two murderous masses of men.

Was there an incentive to being a vanguard, like higher payroll? Maybe it was all mercenaries? Or maybe all conscripts, given basic training and fed to the meat grinder?

I have not yet started watching the series, and although I am sure it is good, is this something i can sit down with and actually learn things? I feel that at its 8th episode we should have a decent feel for how the series will develop. Of course there will be minor inaccuracies for dramatization, but is this a decent piece of historical drama or just a bunch of crud from a historians point of view?

Modern sports are constantly fighting against attempts to cheat. What sort of cheating went on at tournaments? Successful or unsuccessful, common, or one-shot, what was done to throw the match, take a dive, use performance-enhancing lances, or otherwise win unfairly? Thanks!

Taking a detailed look at WWI-WWII for example, history shows that Germany had:

• The best tanks and personnel carriers
• Submarines and submarine tech
• Well regarded artillery during WWI-WWII

Further during WWII, Germany launched projects that changed the landscape of engineering far into the future with their:

• V2 rocket programme and
• Jet technology

My question to the historians: what transpired throughout history to make Germans of the WWI-WWII period such efficient engineers?

Any reading on the subject you could provide would be appreciated. I've always read about their wartime and civil engineering feats but I've been curious as to what seemed to lead them to be a step ahead of the rest of the world in this field.

By venerating I mean kissing the icon's hands/feet, as well as having icons (and an altar) in someone's home. I know the act is supposed to aid worship/prayer, like a tool.

I didn't even know of Burgundy until I played EU4, and Wikipedia seems to have sparse information on it. It seems like it went through some interesting times, and changed a lot until France pretty much conquered it. Who were they, how did they start, and how did they end?

Was it entirely slavery? Or were there several factors

What were they planning to do with Israel after winning the war?

Jordan had the biggest border with Israel at the time and could capture Jerusalem in matter of hours because most Israeli troops were busy repelling attacks from the Syrians and Egyptians. so why didn't they took the bait and attacked?

If it weren't for Shakespeare, would Julius Caesar, to say nothing of Mark Antony, be such a universally recognized name?

Today, I've heard something very interesting during History class. The teacher, said that both Hitler's and Napoleon's were prepared for the Russian winter during each sieges, and, thus, winter was not the enemy, but rather, spring, whereas the snow melted, creating a type of mud, increasing the difficulty of movement.

Was the Russian Spring, in this case, Napoleon's and Hitler's biggest enemy, and not the Russian Winter as generally thought?

The impression I get from modern media is of a brave, honest, virtuous man the brilliant tactician and supreme patriot who stood up to the British and soforth, it may be unfair but it feels like the real man has been lost to the legend.

I read once he was instrumental in starting the Seven years war, but what else can you tell me about him? Can you flesh him out & make him more of a real person for me?

I read that knights would also fight on foot in some battles, not the usual horseback-riding. Were knights especially feared by the normal foot soldiers? Knights would have the best armour and good training. I'd like to know about knights on foot, NOT on horses!

So I know the basics of the thing, but I feel that as an American I ought to know how one of the eras that shaped the US today began. Did Stalin take any specific actions that began tensions? And are there any books anyone can recommend on the topic of Stalin's role in the beginning of the Cold War?

I am here replaying The Sabateur and wondered if anything similar has happened in real life. Specifically during World War 2 somewhere in Europe, but other examples would be interesting to me as well.

What was the idea behind the European Union? I know about the Coal and Steel Community and linking the economies of Europe to prevent another war and get rich and all that, but how "state like" was it intended to be? I've been paying attention to the debate surrounding it for some time now and people like Nigel Farrage like to claim that it was always intended to be just a common market, but I've also seen old interviews with people like Konrad Adenauer talking about a future "unified Europe" in a very political sense.