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Wiggy Marie posted:This is more related to the culture: how much of a role did superstitions and folklore actually play in medieval life? There's a perception that diseases = possessions/demons/spirits, etc., and of course there's tons of documents with "monsters" (large fish) and such from the time. Is there any way of knowing how much stock was put into these? I became quite superstitious after reading this paragraph  .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marshal,_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke#The_Fate_of_the_Marshal_Family
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Feb 13, 2013 14:28
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Any recommendations on books about The Knights Hospitaller? I read a few books on The Crusades, in which they were mentioned, and would like to read more about them. Specifically during their years on Rhodes.
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Feb 23, 2013 18:44
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Why were the 'Serene Republics' (Venice, Genoa & Pisa) never conquered during the medieval ages?
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Mar 1, 2013 11:20
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Typically they were for life, but I've read that in the early age of the orders (mostly Order of St. John) vows could be taken for a set amount of time.
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Mar 3, 2013 23:03
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Hogge Wild posted:By the way arrows are shot not fired. What about fire arrows 
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Apr 22, 2013 14:48
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brozozo posted:What was the extent of antisemitism during the medieval era? I know about events like pogroms and the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (although that doesn't really fall into the medieval period), but were those the rule or the exception? Jews were also commonly blamed for plague & disease outbreaks as they were considered 'dirty'. This was typically supported by nobles as they could use this as justification to strip Jews of their wealth. I'll poke around and see if I still have my sources. Also, if Christians weren't allowed to bank due to usury, how did the Medici Banks (and others) arise? And is this why the Medici's were rumored to have Jewish roots?
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Jul 11, 2013 04:14
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How did Byzantine armies & soldiers compare to Western European armies & soldiers in regards to arms, armor, ethnic/racial diversity, organization & formations? Emphasis on towards the fall of Constantinople, but would also like to know more from 600AD onwards.
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Aug 16, 2013 03:11
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Smiling Knight posted:Early Byzantine armies (before 10th and 11th century) were based around a core of highly trained cavalry. Able to use both compound bows and charge with lances, this force was mobile and versatile, perfect for an empire facing threats on all fronts. They were able to perform difficult maneuvers in formation. Belisarius used these as the backbone of his force in reconquering North Africa and Italy. They were usually recruited from Anatolia. I've always considered Greece to be rather populous, was it not? And I've always though of Byzantine as being Greek-centric, but you & everything I've ever read on this subject, affirms that Anatolia was the Byzantine heartland. DId Greece reach its critical mass population wise and people began immigrating to Anatolia? Iseeyouseemeseeyou fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Aug 16, 2013 |
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Aug 16, 2013 04:27
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Slim Jim Pickens posted:Greece is really bad farmland and pastureland, and all these things are important for empire-growing. This makes perfect sense, thanks! I'm watching Conquest 1453 right now, the Turkish film made on the conquest of Istanbul, and boy is it something special 
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Aug 16, 2013 15:29
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veekie posted:As mentioned above, boiling water or hot sand works just as well, and much more cheaply. Neither would present major footing difficulties either, or at least no more than the heaps of corpses are going to give you. You might use pitch if you wanted to set their siege equipment on fire though. Wasn't Hot Sand the worst in regards to damage?
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Aug 19, 2013 17:51
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How true is it that Turkish (Arab, Iranian, etc.) horsemen would rather flee a battle than lose their horses? And are there any other cultures that were like this?
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Sep 2, 2013 08:51
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the JJ posted:Okay, that bolded bit is all sorts of wrong but that aside... not really sure not my area of expertise. Seems pretty reasonable, giving that fleeing would he hard on foot if you're in a situation that's so dangerous to your horse. So it's a case of 'if I stick around here and my horse carks it I'm pretty dead as well, let's GTFO.' I was using Turkish as a catchall for dominantly Muslim groups in Anatolia, the Middle East, etc. And I meant they treasured them, e.g. like a family member, rather than losing their means to escape.
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Sep 2, 2013 18:02
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Slim Jim Pickens posted:Okay, well "Turkish" isn't a catchall for any of those groups at all so just use their actual names in the future. I realize I forgot to mention any specific time frame, but I meant after the Arab conquests & before the 13th c. Wouldn't Arab & Turk be synonymous? Slim Jim Pickens posted:And lots of people loved their horses. Are there any specifics to this horse-adoring that you remember? "It should be noted that the Arab, Iranian, Turk and generally Muslim horsemen felt a great affection for their horses, so the Byzantine spearmen, archers and javelin-throwers had to target the horse more than the rider. It is known that many Muslims preferred to flee rather than lose their horse, a choice that led to the disruption of their battle line."
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Sep 2, 2013 20:17
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fspades posted:There was also the problem Ethiopian Christians would have been considered heretical by others. The Crusades were a Catholic endeavor. Weren't the Ethiopians just Miaphysites, like the Armenians? And did this ever led to conflict between the crusader states and the non-Catholic (Miaphyisite, Nestor, etc.) before the fourth crusade? On the second question, I'm assuming Catholics wouldn't encourage conflicts with their Orthodox populations as they're still Christian and papa Byzantine was still alive and reasonably powerful.
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Sep 4, 2013 00:36
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the JJ posted:Nah it was a big deal. Cathar heresy, Arian heresy, Gnostic heresys, hell, even Islam, kinda problematic to the church's claim to authority. Was Catholicism or Orthodox larger throughout the medieval era? And was there any kind of religion-swap between Byzantine & the Catholic states similar to the 1923 Greek-Turk pop. exchange, or would they (followers of other religions) just be converted?
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Sep 4, 2013 04:28
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HEGEL CURES THESES posted:Pikes, shorter pikes, those combat axes with the picks on the back,war hammers, morningstars, cinquedeas. Everything that has armor also has joints, force something through the joints. Wouldn't a gun shooting diamond tipped war picks still be better? 
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Sep 8, 2013 04:20
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OhGreatAGinger posted:First off, amazing thread Railtus! I'm a huge medieval nerd and this thread makes me all warm n fuzzy inside! As far as I'm aware, a serjeant was essentially a knight minus 'knighthood'. Still a professional soldier and all that jazz.
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Sep 26, 2013 01:47
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HEY GAL posted:(1) I'm incredibly anal I thought sodomy would be a big no-no in medieval reenactments? Randarkman posted:The Crusader States also relied a great deal on the military orders for their armies, especially the Templars and Hospitalers, I think at Hattin the Templars and Hospitalers together provided about 1/4 of the army, and made up more than half of the heavy cavalry, and as the Crusader States got more and more on the defensive they became more and more dependent on the orders for actually providing the manpower for their armies. I know there were a lot of smaller orders. Could you [all] talk about the relationship between the bigger (hospitallers & templars) and smaller orders? Templars and Hospitallers are typically portrayed as being rivals, was there similarity between the other orders? Was there conflict over recruits, etc.? Iseeyouseemeseeyou fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Oct 19, 2014 |
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Oct 19, 2014 21:47
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How commonly were mercenaries used by the Kingdom of Jerusalem? I read recently that Acre provided more in annual revenue for the KoJ than England did for the king of England and I'm having trouble rationalizing what they spent all that dosh on.
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Apr 22, 2015 19:21
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Jamwad Hilder posted:I don't really understand how mercenaries enter your question but Acre had a population of roughly 25,000 people during the Crusader era (the second largest city after Jersualem) and it's a major port for a region of perhaps 2 million people. Contemporary England is something of a backwater and most of it's rulers are French who don't necessarily view it as their primary land/title, and that doesn't change for some time. Richard the Lionheart, for example, is probably one of the most well-known English monarchs and the dude spent maybe 6 months of his adult life there and couldn't even speak the language. I'm aware of it being considered a backwater, but I assumed England still produced a large amount of tax revenue given Richard was spending £7,000 in the last 1190s on English castles & defences when he had a total revenue of around £30,000. My understanding is that European monarchs spent most of their funds on castles and similar defenses, and that in Outremer most castles and defences were funded, owned, and manned by the religious orders. From that I was confused on what they spent all of their funds on and presumed it had to be mercenaries, etc., although I've never heard of any accounts where that takes place. I don't know anything about medieval courts and am probably underestimating their costs.
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Apr 22, 2015 20:16
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