Hello, I'm writing a space opera of sorts and I need help with some European culture. In the novel European countries launched ships into space that would travel for hundreds of years. Eventually cultures changed from what we know them today and turned classical culture up to eleven. for example the English have created a culture right out of the king Arthur legend, the Germans are governed by a Kaiser, and the Russians by a Tsar. I have a passable knowledge of history, but I'm rattling my brain in regards to other European countries. I'm american and the most we learned about France is the revolution and the Spanish in south america. I really just want to do some justice to the cultures of Europe so any material anyone could recommend about more specific cultural facts or give some culturally significant stories like the king Arthur legend for the English, that would be very helpful in my endeavors. Thank you kindly
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your creative project, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists and the like, based on past experience: some people working on creative projects have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.
For more general advice about doing research to inform a creative project, please check out our Monday Methods post on the subject.