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I once heard on reddit that a 17th century noble commissioned paintings of beautiful women he had slept with. Who was this man?
Was there a hero in the Greek canon who was killed after tripping on a stone? Lord Byron denounced Marshal Blucher for pretending to the honors of a hero for the defeat of Napoleon, 'as if a stone could be worshipped because a man tripped over it', and in the movie Troy, Hector trips over a stone in his duel with Achilles. Are they drawing on a common source that's escaped me? I don't remember that being in the Iliad.
When was the active/passive citizen distinction ended in the French Revolution? And why?
2.What is the history of the phrase "the Black Plague"? My feelings about it are similar to those of Lynne Truss about misplaced commas. I had always taken it to be a conflation of "the Black Death" and "the Great Plague" by people who were fuzzy about the history, but in the last few weeks I've seen a couple of usages from people/sources (can't remember sorry) highly likely to be aware of these as two different historical outbreaks. Is it becoming more normalised/acceptable?
May I ask here about the AskHistorians podcast?
Who is/are current producing the podcast? Is it /u/ThucydidesWasAwesome , and/or are there others?
Starting from episode 102, modern-style drumbeats were added to the start / end music, and I'm mildly curious about it.
I posted this in the free-for-all, but perhaps it should be posted here.
I am reading "The Silk Roads: A New History of the World" by Peter Frankopan. I am enjoying the book, but I believe that, every so often, he makes claims that I can't find any justification for.
One of the first claims that caught me off-guard is that, in talking about Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, he states that, based on estimates of public bathhouses and other historical data, that the population could have been as high as 100 Million people. I was skeptical about this right away and, from what I can find, estimates were more around 800,000. Is there is truth to this claim?
The second claim of his was his assertion that Al-Biruni established proof for heliocentrism. Again, I can't find any proof that Biruni established proof for anything...only that perhaps he had discussed the theory or may have believed in heliocentrism. What is the deal with this claim?
Overall, what are historian's view on this book? As a layman, I have trouble believing some of his claims and I worry that there are more nuanced takes that he has that, as a layman, I can't spot that might have no historical backing.
Where can I go or what should I read in order to learn more about Indo-European honor systems? Not even sure if that's the proper academic term, since googling it got me nothing. What I mean is: I've noticed that in all the IE religions/civs I'm familiar with (most Levant/Mediterranean civs) there is a great importance placed upon hospitality, and the good treatment of guests, regardless of circumstances. Also, in the words of my professor, the ancient world in the Mediterranean and Levant placed great importance on "machismo" and a "don't fuck with me" attitude, that he compared to the Godfather trilogy. Fun prof. But I'm out of college now and curious about this stuff on my own. So - where should I look to get an assessment of the common "tropes" (for lack of a better term) in Indo-European honor systems?
Second question. I know that the Greeks viewed the Artemis of Ephesus as a different god from the Virgin Huntress. I also know that different Poleis identified with different gods (Thebes claimed Dionysus, Corinth chose Poseidon, etc.). However, when I looked at patron gods, the overwhelming majority of poleis claimed Athena or Apollo to be their patron goddess/god - which I thought Athens had dibs on pretty much exclusively. So, my question is: is Artemis a special case, or were all the gods perceived in local terms - were there as many Athena's and Apollo's as there were poleis? Surely there's only one Zeus on mount Olympus.
Is there anywhere online where I can look at old age of sail ships logs? Military, commerce, whichever.
Hey guys. I’d like to know more on what were the reasons someone to join the Nazi party?Thanks!
Can anyone recommend any books detailing either American or British life in the early 20th century (say 1910 to 1940 or so?)
I'm looking for something that gives a very broad overview that covers a lot of ground, but doesn't spend too much time delving into any one area of information.
How big was Pennsylvania before the French and Indian War? I assume the eastern border was the Delaware and the southern border was the Mason-Dixon line, but how far west and north from Philadelphia did colonial control extend?
Not sure if this belongs here, but does anyone have recommendations for books on Medieval Military Orders?
Eg. Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Order, the smaller (local) orders in Spain, etc.
I tried the recommended reading list in the sub info, but going to the Medieval section gives me an error :(
Is there anything analogous to the Annual Review of Sociology or the Annual Review of Political Science for History?
What I mean is are there journals that primarily publish review articles, articles on theory and methods? AHR publishes too many original research pieces in addition to its review articles. I think History Compass is similar to what I want, but was wondering if there were others.
(I asked this question as its own post, but that it might work better here/sorry if there is a rule for double posting, I'll gladly delete either or both.)
Was [Hendes Kongelige Højhed Princesse Marie af Denmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Marie_of_Orl%C3%A9ans_(1865%E2%80%931909)) tattooed with an anchor on her left upper arm?
In "I read that a lot of monarchs had tattoos, such as Catherine the Great, but can’t find any images of these tattoos. Do descriptions and or pictures of her tattoo exist?" last month, /u/mikedash wrote, "Meanwhile, Princess Waldemar of Denmark (neé Marie of Órleans, 1865-1909) sported what's described as 'a honking great anchor on her arm', which can be seen in this portrait."
Given the story of her life given there -- having her own fireman's uniform, riding a bull -- it would hardly be surprising ... except I found a page of pictures at http://glucksburg.blogspot.dk/2016/05/princess-marie-dorleans-spouse-to.html. The one about a third of the way down, labelled "Princess Marie d'Orleans and Prince Valdemar in his naval uniform": that's the exact same picture of her, but without an anchor. (I am no Photoshop expert, so I can't tell by the pixels; I just see the identical creases on the dress and identical butt position w.r.t. the arm of the chair.) Someone did photo manipulation on one of them, and that glucksburg.blogspot.dk page looks pretty authoritative.
Anyone have data?
What did poorer Romans think of the first Triumvirate around the time they were rising to power? In particular, what did they think of Crassus?
When Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, what kind of administrative unit was it? In other words, was it a state, a province, a region ... or does the concept not really apply?
Was the Belgian Congo a better regime to live under for Africans than King Leopold's Congo Free State?
Why didn't Tanu Tuva become independent after the collapse of the USSR?
How scholarly is Adrienne Mayor's "The Poison King"? I've seen the book catch some flak for the author filling in some gaps in source material with reasonable speculation and for portraying events and people through Pontic eyes. Did she completely omit important sources, evidence, common historian beliefs, or events to suit her narrative or is her work sound?
Anyone have a map for the Colorado Territory as it were in 1873?
What’s a good, unbiased biography of Wilhelm II? I know he had a very, very dark side, but a lot of people seem to want to paint him as Hitler 0.5, and contemporary sources seem to me to have the idea that he’s a Trump-esque figure of mockery who’s nonetheless dangerous because of his instability.
Hi. Where does the name uSigidi for uShaka kaSenzangakhona fit in?
According to a pop article:
Senzangakhona, his father, never called his son Shaka. He named him Sgidi and the child resented being called Shaka
According to the South African Military History Society webpage:
By the time he was given a captaincy he had already woven a legendary allure around his name, to which were soon added praise names such as Sigidi ((Conqueror of) thousands)
Anyone know better? Thanks.
According to my grandmother, my great grandfather (her father) flew with the American volunteer Lafayette Flying Corps in WW1. I haven't been able to find his name in any documentation online. Where could I possibly find a record of his service, if any exists?
I accept the possibility that it could be untrue, but the fact that his own daughter is so sure leads me to assume there must be an air of truth to it; perhaps another less famous unit of American volunteers, or such a short stint of service that no records exist. We do have a photo of him from c.1916 in French uniform with a biplane (unfortunately I'm not sure about the exact model, and need to get a scan of the photo).
Another complication is the strong possibility he used a fake name; that branch of my family is descended from 19th century German immigrants, and he may have avoided using his actual German last name. Thanks in advance for any insight!
Any recommended books on Benjamin Franklin? I only know the peripheral story of his genius and I really want to know if there's a comprehensive biography that could get me fully up to speed.
Visited Appomattox Courthouse this weekend. The tour guide mentioned that a slave girl was hit in the arm by a stray cannonball and she later died. Did civilians in the civil war try and flee before battles were fought? Or, did they not have much of a choice but to stay?
If there was no marriage ceremony, did it count as marriage in medieval times?
