So! I have heard from mediaeval historians near-constantly that 'feudalism' is a poor scheme to understand the social relations of mediaeval western Europe. So my question to you is: What are some systems of social and economic organisation that we can observe in different times and places in western Europe during the mediaeval period, and how would you characterise them?

Hello, how would a battlefield wound be treated during the late middle ages and would there have been a technological difference if I were to be treated at Agincourt over Hastings?

How exactly was time told in these periods? Obviously watches aren't really a thing here. Sundials?

Also, not sure if this would be a reasonable question, but how would you tell someone you were going to meet them? "I'll be at 'x' location in an hour"? I feel like hours/minutes aren't truly a thing just yet.

Sorry if these are ignorant questions.

Hi there, I've always been curious about how universities were organized in the late Middle Ages. I have a vague memory from my Medieval History classes in grad school that major universities in France, Spain and Britain were organized along a pattern that would be similar to what we see today, with colleges and lecturers, but is there anyone who can speak to their organization and what student or faculty life would be like? Specifically, I'm curious about:

1. terms, matriculation, graduation -- when did people go to school, and how was that organized;

2. the concept of majors or a concentration in one type of study over another;

3. eligibility for entrance -- were there admission examinations or something similar?

4. how learning actually worked -- were there lectures and discussion groups like we're used to today, or did students study individually and then meet with a lecturer? Or both?

5. anything else really. I've always wanted to ask about this because I work at a university and wonder about how they worked historically.

Thanks in advance!

Are there any important occupations or trades in the Medieval era that we don't hear a lot about?

To /u/michellesabrina, what were the most important and long lasting effects of the plague in Europe?

Second question, for fun--what are the most important or interesting noble families to you in this time period?

So in the 10th century, it seemed like France (West Francia) was on the verge of coming apart at the seams while the Holy Roman Empire (East Francia) was growing more powerful and recentralizing under the Ottonians. By the 13th century, this situation seemed to have been reversed.

I've heard one argument suggesting it was because the HRE was over-reliant upon the power of state offices vs. France which only had power through its direct royal demesne control, but as HRE offices diminished in authority and French demesne control increased in size, the situations became reversed.

Any thoughts on that theory, or on why France gained while the HRE diminished? Or is this question presumptive, in that France could've just have easily diminished in central authority later, and the HRE could've recentralized into a strong state? Was there some kind of a tipping point?

Is it true that Scandinavia did not have a feudal society like Western Europe? If this is true, can you explain how their society was structured?

I suppose I'm more curious in the High Medieval period, if that helps narrow the question.

What did a normal dinner in the area of Sweden during 1300's consist of?

In the Late Medieval Age in Europe, conscripts ceased to be conscripted serfs and paesants from villages and what not, as they were deemed inefficient in combat.

Instead, apparently middle class freemen from towns and cities were conscripted instead, as they were trained better and were able to afford better armor and equipment. Paesants were then downgraded to being skirmishers.

How true is this, and if it is, what can you tell us about these new conscripts?

Who were these men? How were they conscripted? What would be the average number of conscripts available (i'm aware that Medieval armies were not as large as some people think they were)?

Also, how well-off would these freemen be to warrant them affording better armor and equipment? How were they trained? Were there like community efforts to train these men (i'm aware that England did something similar for archers)?

Also, what of the poorer paesants acting as archers and as skirmishers?

How did the belief in the Kingdom of Prester John come about? What was the official position by Popes and other authorities on its possible existence? How long did this belief last, and how was it eventually dispelled?

Anyone know anything about Alchemy in Russia (or other Orthodox Christian places)? It's kind of a black hole for me. In catholic countries it was closely tied to monks and monasteries in medieval times, I was wondering how it differs in russian/slavic orthodox countries.

And if you can't answer directly, any suggestions on what I could google to get a better idea (names, etc.)?

I have been waiting for a medical historian for a long, long time.... Can you comment if diabetes was recognized as a distinct endocrinological abnormality in the medeival ages and how this was treated? Could you also comment on what modern day disease "the sweating sickness" was due to? Thanks so much for doing this AMA!

What would like have been like growing up as a lady in a fairly notable medieval home? Would they have had any sort of lessons? Would they be taught from a young age how to make the most of a suitable/political marriage? Did they have any say in who they married?

How would life have been different for Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke versus Adeliza de Louvain, Dowager Queen of England or Margaret de Roucy, Countess of Claremont?

A question for /u/facepoundr that may be inappropriate because she died shortly before 1000, but I was wondering how much truth there was in the story of how Saint Olga of Kiev avenged her husband's death with, essentially, a flaming pigeon attack. If this likely did occur the way it's told, do you think she would have had the cunning to plan it out, or would she have been acting on the advice of her military commanders?

Also, since Olga was one of the first people of Rus' to be proclaimed a saint - did the early Rus' Christian church not have any moral dilemmas in awarding sainthood to a woman who committed such atrocities on her people?

I'm doing research into how pornography developed in the way it did. To clarify, the earliest forms of pornography took form as religious, social, and political criticism. Of those three, the earliest ones I can find are all religious, or have religious settings, taking place in nunneries and monasteries.

Even the earliest 'pornographer' Pietro Arentino, largely focuses on critique on the church.

I think that porn originated around the nobles of Western Europe, mainly England, France, and Italy, and they used it as a way of critiquing religious institutes and groups that failed to live up to their high standards.

Therefore, I wanted to ask for recommendations and readings on monastic/noble relations, mainly in France and England, but anywhere else you can think of.

How were these relationships construed? Which noble families supported and critiqued religious groups? What sorts of research has been done into these relationships? What are the most notable or important monasteries, or significant scandals around them?

Feel free to answer one or a few of these questions. :)

For /u/Rittermeister:

Could you provide some detail on the peculiarities of knighthood in the HRE as compared to the rest of Europe? I have a (very) general notion of what composed the ministeriales, edelfrei, etc., but I would really enjoy a more in-depth explanation of how that system developed.

Just how common were swords used in the medieval period, specifically in the typical Central European - West European army? I feel like most modern representations of this period (including fantasy in particular) almost always represent the sword as the most used weapon in melees.

I'm curious about the conception of "good government" in this period. In particular, it often seems like the king (in areas that had a king) was far more popular than the aristocracy. Was that because the king was far away and abstract in people's minds, whereas the abuses of the aristocracy were more immediate? Or would you say there was an overt preference for centralization of power, perhaps because it was more "orderly"? And then: how much was this preference for monarchy a factor in the rise of absolutism immediately following this period?

Related question: the local lords often come across looking really bad in a lot of histories (I'm particularly thinking of Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror"). Is this sort of thing exaggerated by doom-and-gloomy chroniclers, in the same way they would exaggerate the size or armies and such things, or could a medieval commoner generally expect their lord to be a murderous, rapacious scumbag who could get away with anything he wanted? How common was it to find a local lord who was actually liked by his people, and what did they like about him?

Thanks a ton for the AMA, you guys are great!

Awesome AMA so far guys! A couple questions:

1. In what kinds of buildings did average people of Italian Renaissance cities live in during the 15th century? Were they multistory apartment blocks like Roman insulae, or something else? Obviously not every urban dweller lived in a palace (...right?)

2. How was warfare conducted between the various Italian cities during the 15th century?

Two questions here:

1. Given the multi-cultural nature of the Holy Roman Empire, would it have been expected of the lords (let's say the emperor, kings, dukes) to know all the major languages (German, Bohemian, Italian, French), or was perhaps only Latin the one language everyone knew? Was the nobility in the HRE thus expected to have better language education than elsewhere in Europe?

2. Let's say I'm a knight in the early 15th century, Western Europe. Where did I learn to fight? If it's too broad, let's focus on swordfighting. Did I have a personal trainer as a youngster, were there other options? Is the idea of a fencing school (an actual place, an academy or whatever) too far-fetched? What were the different schools of fighting I could have chosen from, how were they different? Would my fencing skills find good use on the battlefield against varied opponents with all kinds of weapons, or was the training mainly concerned with duels with similarly-armed adversaries?

Great panel! I've got a bunch:

• For the guild system, who were the winners and who were the losers? Did it primarily benefit those who were at the head of it and disadvantage those below, did it benefit members and disadvantage outsiders? And how did it work in terms of mobility? Could a cobbler's guild member from town X move to town Y with little difficulty?

• Actually, on that topic, how mobile were people in general? Presumably the great majority were essentially stationary, but was mobility still "common"?

• On a sillier note, was there ever anything resembling a Thieve's Guild?

• Changing topics, I love Henry II mostly, well, entirely, because of Lion in Winter. How does his portrayal there match with how you see him in the historical record? On a similar note, what is your view on the whole "meddling priest" business?

• For shipbuilding, what were the primary techniques? I have heard that in the Late Middle Ages there was a synthesis of Mediterranean and North Sea shipbuilding techniques, can you describe these?

• On another note, how did cogs manage to work as warships?

• Speaking of things maritime, how did the Baltic Sea transform from a Scandinavian to a Germanic lake?

• For /u/idjet, I am quite interested in Occitania. What led to the troubadours being so early in terms of vernacular poetry? Also, I have heard that it managed to maintain much greater political cohesion and even continuity from the collapse of Late Antique polities to the Albigensian Crusade. Can you expand on this?

• So what is the deal with wacky medieval marginalia?

• For everyone, what is your favorite Reynard story?

How did town identity differently in Italy, France, Germany, and Poland during this period?

How did that effect the development of city-states and city leagues?

How these changes in this time period have effected entrepreneurship and commerce?

Sorry if this is a broad question, but how much did people at this time look to history? I've heard about other stuff where people look to history and tradition for guidance, almost to the extreme in the way that they fear new stuff.

Preferably things about Sweden cause that's where I'm from and no one told me anything about the history here in school.

Long story short short question (sorry reader of this!) did Swedish rulers base their things on history or just randomly try things?

This question is specific enough that I won't be bothered if it can't be answered... I was re-reading the first part of Dan Richter's Before the Revolution (Belknap Press: 2011), which is primarily a work of Native American history. However, he begins with an extended comparative treatment of pre-contact Native American societies with Medieval European societies, and finds a great deal of similarities between the two. However, I was having a discussion about the book with someone, and we wondered whether the book's presentation of Medieval Europe was too flat and simplified. If any of the Medievalists out there have taken a look at this book, what is your opinion of its presentation of Europe?

My question is basically about the high middle ages, specifically before the Hundred Years War.

How did the levies work at this period? I understand that cavalry are composed by nobles, but how did the logistics of getting infantry work before standing armies? Did a vassal trained his own serfs and peasants to fight? Was it compulsory? Did nobles usually kept a portion of their serfs training part time? Howmuch of an army is composed by mercenaries?

Also, how diferent are infantry tactics from those of Ancient Warfare? Do they use formations like phalanx / maniple?

I have a question for /u/facepoundr. I have taken a couple of survey classes on Russian history. Why is Kiev Rus' considered to be the starting point of what would later become the Russian Empire? Was there no other evidence of organized societies in this part of the world before this time?

Do any of you recall any instances of what military training or day-to-day military campaigns might have consisted of during the crusades or in general during the subject time period?

I did a fair amount of undergrad research into a similar subject and the training aspect especially turned up very little.

Spanish culture has traditionally been very Catholic. To what extent, if at all, was this a cultural reaction to centuries of Islamic social supremacy?

Second, when the Crusades were launched and large armies left Europe, what prevented the Moorish powers of Spain from lancing northwards into France in retaliation?

Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to do this. Hopefully you can help me out.

My questions concern the latter period of the era in question. For context; I'm writing a novel set in the mid-15th century, the period in which Europe, specifically south east and central, is slowly transitioning from the Middle Ages into the early modern era and Renaissance (some sections faster than others). I've been waiting for this particular AMA topic for ages, to help me strengthen plausibility and authenticity in setting and backstory. I apologise in advance for the tl;dr!

a. Poland circa 1430s. How did the relationship work between landowners and serfs? Was there a significant cultural divide, a la earlier Anglo- serfdom, with land ruled at arm's length by a ruling class, serfs basically slaves, the highest judicial authority available to them being the landowner's own courts, etc? Or was the structure flatter? Would folwork owners be freemen or nobility? Would they (below Voivode-level) have laboured at all, would their families? Were folworks inherited? Would folwork owners or workers be expected to take up arms for their overlords, in the style of earlier lesser nobility? I'm keen to portray a Polish grain folwork and the family that run it, and would love a resource or response that can clear this up.

b. Enlightened Italy, early C15. The exodus of enlightened minds from belaboured Byzantium into South and C. Europe was one of many possible catalysts of what became the renaissance. Assuming that it is true, how early did this start, specifically in Italy? We see strikingly modern infrastructure and cultural works appear in pockets of Italy from the early 1400s, but the rest of the country's progress was staggered. How much of this might have resulted from the Eastern diaspora and the materials they brought with them? Were these advances hindered by the Church? Were there very abrupt periods of cultural evolution, and if so, what triggered them? Would Constantinople have been essentially empty of scholars and artists and philosophers, etc, by the time it fell, did any survive it and stay? I'm keen to see if I can flesh out plausible popular sentiment in various Italian castes, get an idea of the social landscape, and I'm having a hard time deciphering the specifics of the role that the Ottoman conquest played, if any.

c. Troop migration, desertion, military structure in the Balkans, early-C14 to mid-C15. With the political landscape changing so violently and frequently in the region through the period, armies seem to appear and disappear with every new alliance, invasion, siege, and state that formed. How much would individual soldiers have migrated in the region from one fighting force to another? Were there many foreign troops, soldiers of fortune, mercenaries, etc making up armies through the 14th & 15th centuries, or were fighting forces mainly pressganged commoners or idealists? Was troop migration comparable to prior centuries, in which low- and highborn professional soldiers would often find themselves comrades one moment, enemies the next, depending on the conflict at hand? Where would deserters in this region go and what might they do - were they ever recruited back in and made to fight if caught? Bar the obvious major incidents - Hunyadi's capture, for example - where large compaies of men deserted, was it common for individuals or small groups to desert or migrate from one side to another? Apart from forces like the janissaries and Hussars and other famous military entities, were the bulk of fighting forces in the region quite ragtag or quite organised? Were they mostly mounted or on foot?

d. Emergence of Artillery, C to W Europe C14/15. Jean Bureau is well documented, as is the part that ordnance played in bringing the Hundred Years' War to an end. How did gunnery emerge, though, and come to take the form it took in Bureau's day? How did artillery advance in the century preceding it - was it dangerous, expensive, cumbersome, etc, but tolerated? Were rulers enthusiastic about it? Scared? Dismissive? Did it arrive on french battlefields fully constructed and ready to fire, manufacturing techniques imported whole? Or did W European gunsmiths develop the concepts they would come to use? What were the social and financial implications of its use - the carnage it left behind, for example, the level of destruction, the ever climbing cost of rebuilding? Did the anticipation of it or its advent have any noticeable effects on behaviour, the way war worked, organistional structure, etc? Were generals likely to be worried, in the late 14th century, about the arrival of the cannon? Was there the semblance of an arms race at this early stage?

I think that's it, at the moment. The bits I've been stuggling with. Apologies for the tl;dr again - any help at all is appreciated!

I'm not sure if this counts as breaking rules but can I ask what, if any effects of the Carolingian Renaissance were still being felt in this period? I have heard that it's impact was limited and petered out after a few generations so I'm curious to know of any lasting impact it had and/or how it was looked back on in the following few centuries.

Can you talk a bit about the safety of travel? What were some trips (time and place) within Europe that would be particularly dangerous to do without an armed guard? What would be a safe trip?

Presumably some of the danger was political/state-related, like being looted by an invading army, and some was related to outlaws/bandits. Was there a practical distinction? When and where was outlaw activity the dominant risk?

What do we know about who the outlaws/highwaymen/bandits were? Full-time criminals, or fair-weather farmers who turn to crime when necessary? Mostly amateurs at combat, or mostly with military experience?

Are there any large-scale economic, political, or religious effects that can be traced back specifically to unsafe travel areas? I'm thinking of things like regions that failed to develop economically because it was hard to get there safely, or military leaders who gained popularity and power by making some areas safe for travel.

To /u/michellesabrina,

I've only ever heard of Hildegard Von Bingen through her musical works, and I only just did a quick search when I saw that you mentioned her, and realised she was actually quite a lot more. I'm curious as to how a nun became such an educated, artistic and educated woman, and as some say a polymath. So my questions are:

1. How influential were Hildegard's works on Western writing, art and music?

2. How important were her scientific writings on the future physicians, biologists etc. of Europe and abroad? Was she ever challenged for perceivingly doubting, or understating, God's power through these texts?

3. How was it perceived during the her time that a woman could become so intellectual and highly regarded? In fact was she highly regarded or well known during her time?

Thank you for your time.

Some of the greatest music was written during this time in Europe- Machaut, Peronin, Leonin, etc. Some isorhythmic motets are written for several voices all singing different texts, and sometimes even in different languages, all at the same time.

Are there other, non musical, examples of such complexity - military, education, politics?

The music is amazing from this time period, so old sounding that is has become fresh again! I know a little music history, but otherwise am pretty ignorant of this time period. Thanks.

Thanks for doing this guys! I had this as its own thread, but got no traction, so...

What was the impact of prose and written history on the culture of medieval courts, circa 12th-14th century? My limited take on this is that literacy among the courts of Europe was a social thing--books were more to speak aloud than to read in quiet contemplation. Poetry lends itself to oral recitation much more easily than prose. It seems that the courtly class was so in love with Romantic "poesy" and Chansons de Geste that they hadn't much room for historical prose, by my limited take on it. Jean Froissart was recognized (by his own account) as a historian by his peers, but it seems that all he ever recites to them is his poetry (again, by his own account). Is it the case that prose works (particularly historical works) were mostly read for individual consumption, poetry for groups? In other words, when a "sir" read to aloud to "his lady," or stood up in front of the court to recite literature, was it ever a prose reading, especially of history? Was the work of someone like Geoffrey of Monmouth at all influential to concepts of court etiquette and aesthetic, or were courts more likely to get their history from something like Troyes's poem lancelot, the Knight of the Cart? I know that Andreas Capellanus wrote his brief work "On courtly Love" in prose, but even it devolves into list form by the end, and it is not history and so does not compete with the historically-minded poetry of the era. Furthermore, Capellanus does not seem something that would have been read aloud. Well, I'm getting long winded by now, and I'm sure you understand the intent of the question, so...

How common was the use of artillery in the 100 years war? I know that it was used to some degree by the English at the siege of Har Fleur, but was it used prior to that either by Edward III or the Black Prince or their French equivalents earlier in the war?

Oh, excellent! I've been reading through James Hannam's God's Philosopher's lately, and I've got a few questions.

• How much secular power did the Church have? I know they had considerable influence in the secular government, but how much actual power did they have? Was there a limit to who the Inquisitors could investigate, like could they investigate a nobleman?

• After the printing press was invented, I read that a whole lot of books started being produced. Who were these books for? Before, books were very expensive and only the rich could afford them. Afterwards, when mass-publishing kicked in, could the common folk afford them? Did they have any interest in them? Galileo wrote Dialogues in Italian, and in a rather simplified way as a book to appeal to the non-scholars. Was this just for the less-educated rich, or did the common folk read this sort of thing as well?

• A question on Medieval Russia! I know that the Catholic Church had a vast role in maintaining education and learning in Europe, did the Russian Orthodox church have a similar role in promoting education creating universities and all that?

Thanks for the AMA!

I've a question about abdication that it seems /u/Rittermeister may be suited for.

Were there any interesting situations of a king or other noble peacefully abdicating outside of war/conflict? I presume if a king/grand prince abdicated, he would revert back to being a count/duke of his lesser lands, but what would be the case of a member of the lower nobility (such as a baron or the like)?

Any good book recommendations regarding the plague and its effect on medicine?

Here's an art question! Hope you guys can answer it, but I understand, since it's none of your specialties.

The dominant form of art in Europe during the Medieval ages was cathedral sculpture. Very few specific artists are mentioned when discussing Medieval sculpture, and for each cathedral or other structure, the sculptures and reliefs have an incredibly similar style, almost like they were done by the same artist throughout. My questions are:

How many sculptors typically worked on a cathedral? Did they all study and practice their design together in a guild in order to get a similar style? Did they enjoy sculpting, or did they view it as a duty to the church they must perform?

Also, who told them what to sculpt? Did the architect give them specific instructions, ("I need a jamb of Moses here and here, and the Apostles on this Tympanum") or was it left up to the sculptors ("I need X amount of jambs, feel free to sculpt whatever you want, within the Christian scope")?

How urban was Western Europe during the middle ages. I'm under the impression that few places in the west had cities greater than a couple thousand around the middle of the medieval period, until they began to grow again towards the end of the period. Is this understanding accurate?

Also, could you comment a bit on the return of urban development?

Can I still ask a question? I am wondering about the literal Dark Ages; why did religion and church become so powerful and established institutions, and how the general population of Europe reacted to these actions. The Inquisition (although a but later?) and similar/other religios practices, how it was viewed and seen as, from the public.

What were the leading factors to Portugal finishing their Reconquista roughly ~161 years earlier than 'Spain'? (I use the single quotes, if only to speak of Spain as we know it, without breaking them up into the regions of the time, such as Castille/Aragon/etc.)

Did any of the internal regions of Spain have an easier time with their Reconquista than others? (For example, did the Castillans manage to oust the Moors more effectively than the Aragons did?

A question probably for /u/telkanuru. I've read recently Revolution in Time by Davis S.Landes. In this book, the author suggests that the need for Cistercian monks to pray together lead to the early developments of the mechanical clock. He argues that the member of the Cistercian order were the first to acquire a "time discipline". I've never heard of that before so I found it really interesting, so what do you think of this idea ?

Thank you very much for your AMA !

I am currently researching Robert of Belleme. Orderic Vitalis presents Robert as a 'merciless butcher' and as a man who enjoyed torturing his victims. Do you believe Robert's reputation is justified, or do you see him as merely following the social norms of eleventh century chivalric behaviour, and Orderic emphasises his violence due to Robert's activities near to St Evroult (Orderic's monastery) and Orderic's affinity towards Robert's enemy Henry I?

I would appreciate your thoughts on this!

Crusading question!

What did the common person think (from various countries) about the Crusades and how did the view change over time as there were more and more?

What about the sack of Constantinople during the 4th Crusade? How did common folk feel?

What would people do in their free time? What kind of games would they play? In other words, how did people amuse themselves

Was and , if so, how was religious debate conducted in medieval Europe?

Hello! I don't know if any of you will be able to answer this, but here's a question I've been sitting with for a few weeks. I read Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose earlier this month, and it struck me how Humanist the main character William of Baskervilles seemed. Would a medieval person really be so moderate and thoughtful, or is this character pandering to a modern audience?

Also, thank you all so much for coming here to answer our questions!

This is mainly for /u/alfonsoelsabio: What sort of polemics did the Christian Iberian kingdoms use against the Moorish states? I know in the martyrdom of Saint Pelagius there was a reference to the caliph making sexual advances on the young martyr, how common was this sort of portrayal--Islamic courts as corrupt, degenerate, etc.?

The Renaissance in Italy is always presented as a RE-discovery of classical ideals. However, at least in terms of architecture, Italy never looks like it strayed far from classical Roman forms. What is the most accurate way to describe medieval Italy's relationship with it's Roman past? What (if any) examples are there of Roman traditions that persisted throughout the "middle" ages?

Just how unified was the HRR? Would I be wrong in considering it a single entity?

Sorry if this is too broad, but a question for all the panelists who care to answer-

If you could show me Europe during the period in question (1000-1450) through the lens of your specialization, what do you think is one of the most important or interesting facts/stories/trends I could learn about this time?

Another way of phrasing it - what is something about about your specialization that makes you passionate about this time and place?

Thank you for doing this AMA! I have a genealogy-related question. What was the actual situation with Jews in Wales around/after the 1290 expulsion from British-controlled territories? Did most of them really leave, and if so,where exactly did they go? Perhaps most importantly (to me, at least) are there any extant records that might list the names and any other information about Jews in that particular place and time?

we're brought up in Western Civilization to consider the Middle Ages to be a brutal, nasty period. but I'm also aware that much of this perception is driven by the propaganda of the Enlightenment, which sought to overturn authority for the kingdom of reason (without necessarily considering the role of reason in what had come before). some historians have since begun to try to revise this perception, some even going so far as to cast the High Middle Ages as the pinnacle of Western Civilization - the period when we reached the apex not of technology but of the continuity and coherency of the West as well as its attractive power beyond its own borders and capacity to bring new peoples into its sphere. in this view, the modern era represents a slow decline.

does anyone want to attack or defend or revise that view?

Just a small little question: Why did they use flat topped helms in the 13th century? Was it cost, or did they lack the metallurgy to make rounded steel helms?

What was the reaction "back home" in Europe to the derailing of the Fourth Crusade?

Did the area that encompasses modern day Greece have greater infrastructure/wealth than Western Europe? This was during the decline of the Byzantines and I'm curious when Greece finally fell behind irreversibly.

What was political life and social structure like in independent Veliky Novgorod (Novgorod the Great)?

Hi! If you could tell me a little of the general state of the Balkan area during this time I would be appreciative. Did Croats, Bosnian and Serbs already exist as tribes at the time? Did they have kings or Lords there?

This must have been the final few centuries before the area was disrupted by the Ottoman empire.

I apologize if this question is general and poorly worded, but I'm having a difficult time phrasing it in my head:

The Holy Roman Empire was infamously decentralized, the Emperors not having the absolute authority that the kings of, say, France or England would have had. But to what degree would this have been realized or even recognized across Europe? For example, if Poland came into conflict with Bohemia, would Bohemia have been seen (by Poland) as part of the Empire and as such any aggression against Bohemia would be taken as aggression against the Emperor? Or would Poland see it more as "Bohemia is included in a large confederation of allies which will support it?"

That's a bit of a poor example, I realize, as the distinction in that situation would be subtle, but I suppose what I'm asking is did other European kings actually recognize the German Emperor's authority over all his states?

Bonus question: how did this change with time? in 1000 CE, the HRE had only been around for a few decades and was obviously quite raw. However, by 1300, the HRE had been around for quite some time. Would other kings and dukes have looked upon the Emperor's control differently?

Dear Panelists,

I do not have a specific question about your areas of expertise. I only wish to learn more.

Can you provide a reading list of books that define your area of expertise? I studied economics, and have a strong (yet, undeveloped) interest in history. If your list can be tailored to books that analyze economic successes, failures and the like... I would find that to be particularly interesting as well.

Thank you all for doing this AMA.

The holy roman empire. was it ever holy, roman or an empire?

Should the title not read "Central and...", I've always heard that it's more appropriate to call them the central middle ages and my professors keep telling me they're trying to lose that term (high) from there vocabulary.

How much was the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate felt by common people, particularly outside of Cordoba? With the emergence of the Taifa kingdoms, did the daily lives of the peasants or even the minor nobility change much at all? I know your focus is on the Christian kingdoms but perhaps you have some insight into this situation.

Wow, there are some very specific questions here.

What exactly does High mean in this context?

I'm somewhat unfamiliar about the periods before 1600's. May I ask for an unspecific question? For example, perhaps a few of paragraphs summarizing the High and Late Medieval Europe? How were the states? Technologies/breakthroughs? Relations to other parts of the world?

I'm curious about the historiography of Kings Richard I and John. How have they changed over time, John was bad, John was not so bad. Richard was great, Richard wasn't so great. Are there any good sources explaining this?

How important and/or prestigious were the roles of gatekeepers, drawbridge lowerers, etc?

How would a landing be conducted, how was it possible to get an army off a fleet if there was no safe port to dock in?

What are some things we'd be surprised to learn about gender relations during this era? For example, important career tracks that were open to women?

Did the crusades have any effect on the Jews? Were many Jews killed because of their faith during this period of time by either Christians or Muslims?

How did people keep track of time during this period, particularly in Sweden and other places with more dark hours than light?

Who would you say is the single most interesting person in your field of study?

This is a question for /u/alfonsoelsabio. I don't know if this question is appropriate, but are there any remaining Muslim influences in modern day Spain or Iberia that can be traced to before the Reconquista?

What was the political landscape of the whole of Russia during this time? Was it yet established as an Empire, or were there various states that have since disappeared vying for control of the territory? It's a bit of a broad question, but I'd like to know anything, or what to look further into.

I've always been interested in how people were back then in terms of smell, their breath and looks.

Did the women have as much make up, with fixed hair and all that? Were muscles popular for men? How did they handle the smell and other trivalities that we take for granted in modern life?

Sex too! In the beginning of Assassins Creed 2 Ezio gets told by his mother to stop sleeping with women. I assume that it was very frowned upon by religion but how did it go in secret?

How is the emergence of Europe as the dominant force in the late middle ages explained?

Seeing as Richard I was in the Middle East for most of his reign as king, how exactly did he rule? Was John Lackland basically in charge?

Do we know how the mongols treated their injuries? They don't appear to hold hygiene in high regard on most accounts of their society.

They were an very mobile force armed with bows, but I think that for the scale of the conflicts that they had more people would have died due to combat wounds.

1. Is Martin Guerre really the first known instance of identity theft?

2. Where was the first recorded riot?

When did alliterative verse (as seen in Beowulf) go out of style in favor of couplets and sonnets? Was it because of the shift in the English language, or just general popular opinion?

How in depth or accurate would you say our understanding of Old English is? How did English manage to shift over time rather than fading in favor of other languages (like French)?

Is there any record of what sort of pranks and/or games a child of this era might engage in? I'm sure contemporary pastimes like tag appeared in some form.

Where there any large difference between Scandinavian Armies and Western European Armies during the High Middle Ages?

Most informative AMA EVER! Two questions:

1.) In the cities of this time period were there slums or poverty stricken areas and what would they have been like in regards to food and shelter? Was there greater crime in these areas as we see in many poverty stricken areas today?

2.) I saw a question concerning diet and what meat was most available but I wonder how often did people eat meat? Would it have been daily? It's always been my impression that hunting was illegal for those outside nobility and I would assume the raising of livestock would take enough time that meat wouldn't be an everyday occurrence. Am I wrong?

How was same-sex attraction -- and other forms of non-normative sexuality -- viewed in the average European village or town in the late Middle Ages?

Thanks for this wonderful AMA. My question is: Did people of that age, especially towards the late period, have any sense of the future? In the sense of asking themselves and hypothesizing "what the world will be 100, 200, 1000 years from now?" Did they write about that? Did they feel history as changing things around or past and future were static, in their perception? Conversely, how did they see their past?

How was Russia able to expand to cover such a vast territorial empire? Where there simply no one else living east of the urals so they just walked in and said this is ours now? How were they able to effectively govern without the benefit of modern communication?

What legal recourse did british medieval peseants have before and after Richard the third?

If there were jury's selected in the 13th century what qualified people for those jury's.

What was social mobility like during this period? Was it possible to rise in class? If so how would you have likely gone from 'peasant' to 'middleclass' or from 'middleclass' to 'upperclass'/nobility.

Sorry if these arent the correct terms for the time but i hope you understand what i mean.

I'm considering modding Crusader Kings 2 to more accurately represent Judaism, and, knowing that they were often restricted to mercantile professions by the Church during this period, I plan to focus on this aspect. As such, I was wondering whether there are any records of notable Jewish merchant families during this period, especially in any of the Italian merchant republics? If so, which?

How did the Seljuk Turks rise from obscurity to being a superpower in the Middle East and how did their existence affect the politics between Byzantium, The West and the Middle East, with particular detail to the Fatimid/Byzantine relation? And how did Byzantium go from being the dominant force of the Mediterranean ca. 1025 to being an ailing state only 75 years later?

In England how often did Lords fight each other and for what reasons?Would there be town rivalries? What would be the size of the battles?

Okay! I have a few questions for you all! I'll number them for ease of use, and I know they're kind of all over the place, but I'm taking a class in Medieval British literature right now, am thinking about becoming a Medieval scholar, and I've had a good deal of thoughts brewing in my mind. Don't feel like you have to answer all of them!

1. St. Christopher, the cynocephalic saint. Did people believe in him in the same way they believed in 'human' saints? I know he had a feast day that was entered into a Martyrology at the end of the tenth century, but I don't know when he was taken off/if ever.

2. Were there established theaters at this time? Specifically in England, but I'd be interested throughout the rest of Europe, as well. I know there were traveling troupes and passion plays, but I'm curious as to how the establishment of theatrical spaces came about.

3. Alchemy, astrology, and thaumaturgy- the writings of Hermes Trismegistus existed, but were they often read? Or did that not come about really until the Renaissance?

4. Where did people hear stories, like Beowulf? Were there traveling storytellers, or something along those lines? An epic like Beowulf had to have an audience, but I'm unclear as to when a typical Medieval person would hear that long of a story.

5. What was the development of Iceland like? Did the Icelanders have much contact with the rest of Europe? It seems so far removed, but I've read about texts like Alexander's saga, which point to a good deal of cultural exchange. Did it have a large population at this time? When did it grow into its own national/cultural identity?

6. How long would it have taken to traverse Europe at this time? Say, from Normandy to Istanbul? Or from London to Rome?

7. How strong a hold did the Catholic church have on the doctrine of outlying churches? To my knowledge there was a lot of cultural appropriation, from pagan into Christian doctrine (the creation of Hel/hell, for example), but I'm wondering if the bishops in Rome would've considered this heretical. Or did the church not start becoming so doctrinally focused until later?

8. What effect, if any, did the passing of the year 1000 have? Were they even using our calendar then?

9. Did the Norman invasion of England fundamentally change anything in the daily lives of the Anglo-Saxons? I've read poems as late as 1200 that seem to have very little Francophone influence, so I'm curious as to whether 1066 was just the start of a gradual change, or if it was a gigantic deal at the time.

10. Are there any good online sources to learn Anglo-Saxon/Early Middle English that I could use? I'm not sure if my school is going to offer it as a class before I graduate. If there are any books that might be of use, I'd appreciate that as well!

I will stop there. That's probably enough questions for now, but I couldn't help myself! Thank you all, and I apologize if any of my questions sound stupid or trite.

What was a peasants typical day during this period? And how and why would they join the army?

How long after a conquest was it possible for a ruler to raise troops from that area? Did medieval armies, outside of the steppe, ever hire foreign non-mercenary troops on campaign?

So, if we're asking you anything; how were 14th century men's hose held up?

I've often wondered how detailed is the information found on medieval wars and large scale conflicts? Do historians find any records for smaller scale skirmishes, or are only the largest/most-impactful battles known? Moreover how common was it for large scale warfare to break out between the upper rungs of society? Did they happen frequently within the same generation, or are they more scattered between decades of relative peace?

/u/idjet, I have a couple questions regarding troubadours and Cathar heresy. I realize that no written music exists pointing to there actually being Cathar troubadours, but were there?

After and during the Albigensian Crusade there were some troubadours composing sirventes that highly criticized the clergy, but there was a distinct separation from directly criticizing the Catholic faith. Was this to protect themselves from the Inquisition? Was this veiled Cathar sympathy? (I find the works of Peire Cardenal to be the closest thing to blatant faith bashing, but he doesn't usually go beyond the priesthood.)

I am a priest, just given my blessing and commission. Would I be in a local parish, sent somewhere near, or somewhere far? What would I expect my daily life to look like? Why might I have become a priest?

Thank you so much!

Would it be possible or likely for a landless knight in, say, 13th century Germany [or northern france] to make a living on the tournament circuit? How big a circuit would it be?

How would a high profile court case play out in medieval times? How much of a factor did bias play in the trial? Were there lawyers and judges, or was is more of a public forum where you stood up for yourself? How common was it for the death penalty to be sentenced? Did the accused have a realistic chance of winning their case, or was it usually a sham once the public turned on the person in question?

I have been involved in my genealogy for the past 13 years or so. My last name is French (the word not the people) and I have read it is theorized that the name began with a man named Thomas involved in the Norman conquest with William the Conqueror. I know it is too much to ask specifically of Thomas, but what happened to most of the "common" Normans after the Conquest? How did it affect the lives on the native population?

was the "dark ages" really a thing?

What is the current state of the field regarding the start of a monetary economy? I have no idea when this took hold in the Italian countryside, or the towns of Iberia. When did people find it normal to pay with coins, instead of a reciprocal barter system or personal relations for transactions?

Slightly related: how fixed were the prices of goods and labour, and who did the fixing? To what extent were high and late medieval economies 'free market economies'?

How religious was the Mediaeval peasantry? How did this religiosity express itself? How closely did their religiosity closely follow official Church doctrine?

Hello, esteemed historians! I have a couple questions for you as well:

1.) Before the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, was the Roman (Byzantine) Empire looking to make a recovery? I was in a Middle Ages class at my university last year and, having read the account of the Fourth Crusade written by Villehardouin, it seems that Byzantium was doing rather well until Constantinople was taken. I know the Komnenian Restoration had taken place, but I do not know the extent.

2.) When the Mongols arrived in Europe, was there ever a genuine attempt/crusade to help the beleaguered Hungarians or, more distantly, the Rus?

Sorry I am so late. I was just reading the book "The Great Mortality." My question is about personal hygiene throughout the Middle Ages. Is it an exaggeration to say that people really went without bathing for as long as a year and that they wore the same clothes for days on end? Also, if all sorts of waste was dumped into rivers, and wells used for potable water, were these wells only hand dug and and not very deep? If so, were they often subject to contamination from dead animals, run off from cemeteries, and leakage from outhouses?

For /u/alfonsoelsabio, Could you tell us about the Almogavars? Why were they never included as part of the regular military? (or maybe they were and I have that wrong) What was up with all the looting and pillaging in the Byzantine empire?

Thank you!

What is the difference between manors and tower houses? Are manors just a noble residence, and the tower house a semi-defendable version? How long would tower houses and castles take to build? I have heard that castles sometimes took up to two decades to be fully completed. Would the noble and his household move into a castle before they were fully completed? Would a noble have to have permission off a king or similar to construct a castle, or could it be constructed if he was wealthy enough? And, final question, would a noble who was given a tower house have dominion over a village in the same way a castle owning noble would?

What are some good resources on the Counts of Celje?

Hey guys!

Thanks for this panel, this is amazing.

I've had a burning question for a while about the nature of cavalry attacks, especially in this period. I can't imagine a cavalry charge into any massed formation (even a disorganized rabble) being survivable for all sorts of reasons. Not the least of which being all the sharp/hard equipment and lumpy bodies underfoot would surely cause the horse to falter or to injure itself.

Similarly, the front of the charging formation would probably slow on contact, wouldn't their brethren behind charge right up the horses arse?

Can you give me a better idea of what the "moment of contact" in a charge would be like?

EDIT: I realize I'm technically 23 min late to the party as its technically the 15th. My bad.

How does one even differentiate between the "dark ages" and the "high middle ages"? Did some substantive change happen, or is this just some fissure we have imposed on the past?

How connected was late medieval Europe within itself and with the rest of the world, economically and intellectually? (I'm particularly interested in how much exposure German stonemasons would have had to ideas from outside Europe, and how freely they could travel as journeymen or to work in a new town or city.)

What we called a European Dark Age is being revised as Late Antiquity—is a similar reappraisal underway in late medieval historiography?

How pervasive was religion in day to day life in "Christian Europe"? Would somebody who expressly disavowed Christianity or religion have faced legal repercussions?

First question is a broad one that I hope can get some specific answers. The term Dark Ages has fallen out of favor among historians (and for good reason). Do any of you feel like there was a period of decline after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and if there was a period of decline, how long do you feel like it lasted?

I'm inclined to feel like there wasn't one at all, or if there was it lasted just a few hundred years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to maybe the start of the Caroliginian Renaissance.

/u/suggestshistorybooks What prompted the change for historians to stop referring to a medieval "Dark Age"? Was there any seminal work that started the process or just a gradual shift in attitude?

/u/idjet How much of the start of the Albigensian Crusade was motivated by political reasons? Any of it? What kept it going so long?

/u/mI13 In your opinion why did the English keep the bulk of their army with the longbow for so long when most other European armies were filled with crossbows? The English certainly weren't adverse to using crossbowmen in their wars, and the expense of shipping in wood for bows must have been something to think about?

What is the most glaring error/issue that people hold/ is taught in schools?

How important was the Breton War of Succession in context of the 100 year war?

How did the Spanish in Iberia manage to not only stop the Moor invasion but reconquer the entire Peninsula?

When was a "Spanish" identity formed? How did Palayo (sp?) and the other Visigoths that fled North to Asturias, become Spaniards over time? When did this switch occur?

Are all Spaniards (from Asturians, not including Mozarabs) descendants of the Visigoths?

i guess i'm late to the party but anyway

what was happening in bohemia around the year 1400? before hussites basically

why would wenceslaus not want to be emperor? why would sigismund imprison him? why would he plunder bohemia instead of taking over? how was wenceslaus freed?

in addition to the sigismund/wenceslas specific questions above i'd be grateful for any easily accessible general information about bohemia in 1400, i know it's too early for hussites but something must have been happening, no matter how mundane

more questions in http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1x9k9x/bohemia_in_1400after_charles_ivduring_wenceslaus/

Hi, I am currently researching medieval English towns as part of my PhD and have come across religious guilds. I have a couple of questions on them, first, is there a different between a guild and fraternity, or are they essentially the same thing? Second, what was the role of the religious guild? And third, do you have any further good books/articles for me to check out?!

How did the lords and landed knights go about levying and collecting taxes? As in, if they instituted an sales tax, how did they even know that a transaction took place to be taxed if they didn't have some type of record like a credit card transaction? What type of taxes were levied on people, and were the surfs taxed? Thanks!

What single event best reflected the political climate of medieval Europe? What motivated it?

How did the invasion of the Mongols affect the political and social climate in medieval Europe? Were any notable alliances formed? Did any sky themselves with the Mongols themselves? What did the Mongols do with people residing in captured territory?

What sorts of effects did the Crusades have upon the daily lives of people in Europe? Did the vast dedication of resources to the conflict hurt those not directly involved in it halting greatly?

How did the life, conditions and rights of a slave in 1300s-1400s Christian Western Europe differ from those of a slave in the Americas in the 1500s through the 1800s?

For frame of reference, I know slaves existed in limited numbers in late Medieval Europe, the obvious rule being that Christians couldn't enslave Christians. I've read mention of enslaved Guanche and Muslims POWs in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as some early traded sub-Saharan blacks in Portugal and western Andalusia, possibly Muslims as well in Italy, and Lithuanians and others in Germany and the Baltic. What were these slaves used for? Was their presence opposed by free workers and serfs who would have to compete with them for work? Could they get married? Would their children be considered slaves as well? Where their owners required to teah them the Christian faith? If so, wouldn't they be obliged to release them once they were Christians, as per the no enslaved Christians rule?

And a second question only loosely related to all that: What is the history of Roma (Gypsy) slavery in Romania and how did it start? Is there any relation between this and the fact that Roma are much more numerous in Romania today than in other European countries?

Hey. This might be a little late, but I'll give it a shot.

In the high middle ages, kings and cities were aligned in that they both wanted to take power from the nobles into their own hands, and one of my books describes them as being "allies". I'm wondering what exactly such an alliance means; to what extent were these elements working together out of common interest?