AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Who can we blame for the simIlarity of the uppercase "I" and lowercase "l"?	5298
My childhood church taught that the Haitian Revolution involved a deal with the Devil in which Satan would drive out the French in exchange for 100 years of spiritual dominion of Haiti. Was this conspiracy specific to that congregation, or has it been around for many years?	490
Is it true that a member of parliament named Thomas Massey-Massey wanted to change the name of Christmas to Christ-tide, because of disdain for Catholic mass, and was completely destroyed by another parliament member who suggested that he be called Thotide Tidey-Tidey?	362
People often reference the Northern Crusades as especially brutal, but no one ever says anything specific. Were the Northern Crusades notably violent relative to other Christian campaigns?	311
Is the Dying Gaul a precursor to the Noble Savage? How has French culture favored or disdained the Dying Gaul through the centuries? Did Roman descendants like Byzantine or Italian culture maintain or revise the trope?	62
I've read the word "cataphract" used to describe cavalry in full-body armor from hugely disparate places and times throughout Eurasia (although the term seems to be entirely distinct from mounted knights). What is the broadest generally accepted definition of "cataphract?"	36
Did Margaret Cavendish' 1666 book The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing-World influence later sci-fi, utopian fiction, or other genres, or was the book just an obscure weird thing?	34
What were Mamluk tactics, equipment, and organization like during the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt? How did the Mamluks adapt to infantry squares, modern fire-arms, and disciplined infantry?	31
Is the Dying Gaul a precursor to the Noble Savage? Did Roman descendants like Byzantine or Italian culture maintain or revise the trope? How has French culture favored or disdained the Dying Gaul?	29
I've read about dismounted knights participating in sieges, assaulting or defending fortifications, but I've never read about any other mounted force used in this way. How would cataphracts, horse archers, or other cavalry be deployed during a siege?	28

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