So, as I understand it, a Corregidor functioned somewhat like a federal judge. However, I also read that they often acted as a mere rubber stamp for the hermandads to provide them with more legal legitimacy. I have two main questions:

1. What would happen if they did not go along with the hermandads? Would they have earned the displeasure of the king/queen or would that only have been an issue after the Catholic monarchs formed them into a more cohesive group?
2. Did the Corregidor serve at the pleasure of the Regidores? If so, then what if the hermandads wanted an outcome that was at odds with the Regidores?

Thank you and sorry if I got any of the terms wrong.

I have done a little bit of research on this topic and I've found a lot of examples of antisemitism throughout history lasting thousands of years, but I've never seen anyone bringing up points as to why it exists, why it started in the first place. Do people just need a "boogeyman" of sorts to blame their problems on? Is it pure ignorance? Is it simply a case of "if the Jew did not exist, the anti-semite would invent him."?

I personally am agnostic, but I love history. I've always found myself asking the question "but why the Jewish people?"

Hi.

Smothering would have been the most merciful method to have killed an infant so what's with these "facts" about these horrible deaths (and I'd think that people in the past would have understood that suffocation caused death)? Were they made up by rival nations to smear the reputation of those societies?

Thank you.

I've always been interested in the Vikings, specifically the horns on their helmets, I know they never actually had horns so I wonder where they originated. I've heard things like they originated in Opera, or they originated in british wives tales. Is there a true origin?

It's a well known story I've heard many times but I was wondering if there is any actual evidence for it, the newspapers at the time didn't mention anything.

Anyway, the story is that for the premiere of Pinocchio in New York at the Center Theatre on February 7th 1940 a group of dwarfs/little people were hired to stand on the marquee dressed as Pinocchio.
At lunchtime they were given alcohol and things got a bit wild, they started misbehaving and even undressing.

Eventually the police was called to carry them down.

The basic premise is true, there is a photo of them on the marquee, but is there any evidence of what happened next?

I've heard much about slave revolts in Rome and Greece, but what about China? Did they even have slaves?

I've recently started learning about the history of Rome (thanks to The History of Rome podcast and a long work commute) and am really fascinated by how sometimes successors to a previous regime they held a grudge against would try to erase the previous ruler from existence. Is there a case where this was successful? Are there generals, consuls, tribunes or similar figures who we know must have existed and done something significant but can't identify them because they were erased by vengeful successors?

I am aware that most historians do not like to compare post-industrial revolution concepts such as capitalism and socialism to historical societies, presumably this would be an example of such a practice.

Could the system of government the Haudenosaunee people had be compared to any other forms of government?

The citation for this claim on Wikipedia is as follows: Zinn, Howard (1992). Columbus, the Indians, & Human Progress: 1492-1992.

I’m thinking of homes in the US. I’ve seen the interiors of many homes owned by wealthy families and I’ve always wondered about this. There are usually very small closets and no other spaces in the house dedicated to wardrobes but these are people who would have had clothes for every occasion and season. Bedrooms that still contain the original furniture often don’t have much in the way of dressers or wardrobes either. Where did they keep their clothes?

Welcome to Tuesday Trivia!

If you are:

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Come share the cool stuff you love about the past!

We do not allow posts based on personal or relatives' anecdotes. Brief and short answers are allowed but MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. All other rules also apply—no bigotry, current events, and so forth.

G'mar chatima tova - Yom Kippur is this week and as such, this week's theme is Judaism. Want to share the story of a member of the faith whose name you think should be better known? Or something about the religion, traditions, people, or land associated with Judaism that you want to share with the AH community? We've saved a space for you to do so!

For this round, let’s look at: Judaism!

Was shaving a sign of social status/or wealth? Is it known whether specific cultures adopted it more readily than others?

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms [of government] those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”

-Thomas Jefferson

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“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. ”

-Thomas Jefferson

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"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. ”

-Thomas Jefferson

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“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”

-Thomas Jefferson

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“And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms….The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants”

-Thomas Jefferson

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“Whenever governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.”

-Rep. Elbridge Gerry, 1789

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“The ultimate authority...resides in the people alone...The advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition.”

-James Madison, 1788

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“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined…The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.

-Patrick Henry, 1788

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“To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them…”

-Richard Henry Lee, 1787

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“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government,..”

-Alexander Hamilton

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“…but if circumstances should at any time oblige the government to form an army of any magnitude, that army can never be formitable to the liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in discipline and use of arms, who stand ready to defend their rights… ”

-Alexander Hamilton

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“…to disarm the people (is) the best and most effective way to enslave them… ”

-George Mason, 1778

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“I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.”

-George Mason

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“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States ”

-Noah Webster, 1787

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I have no idea why it keeps trying to set the flair to Judaism. I just wish I had the option to manually set it. Bot, please...

Are there records of any victim groups sending expeditions to Scandinavia to look for their people who were taken as slaves?

I notice that a lot of war movies and games portray storming the beaches of Normandy as a very grueling and violent undertaking for the allies - but then I have to ask, could the pillboxes at the top of the beach have been destroyed by the battleship guns if pointed the right way?

Why didn't the allies completely pulverize the beaches as to ensure all German reinforced defensive positions were destroyed - seeing as the allies knew exactly where they were going to land and probably had done reconnaissance and likely saw the pillboxes and barbed wire etc?

Today hats are often seen as a novelty article of clothing, but Whenever you see pictures from this time period, almost every man is wearing a hat, especially when their outside. Why did they do this? What caused this ubiquitous fashion choice, and why it it go out of fashion?

I am currently doing research in order to compare how the Bulgarian and Ottoman (as in the lands of modern Turkey) educational systems develop. The period from 1762 to the late 1800s was one of stagnation for the Ottomans,however Bulgarians experienced a cultural resurgence and rapid modernisation of society.

I have already done my research on Bulgaria,but I haven't been able to find much in sources for the Ottomans.