askhistorians

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How, and when, did what we now call "science" became distinct from philosophy? Eg: when did natural sciences stop being natural philosophy?	16
When did what we understand as "fashion" emerge, and how did it become primarily seen as a female interest?	13
How do historians conduct research on oral history, especially cultures whose main record keeping has been oral?	8
How widespread was literacy in the Western World during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance? Was reading only accessible to the upper class, and were lower class people unable to read signs, or is it an exagerration of Hollywood history?	4
I recently completed a 600km round trip. It involved lots of reading: between planning the route and reading and reacting to signs. In the past, how has rising literacy impacted how people moved in their own countries, and even beyond?	3
Modern history is as concerned with the lives of common people of the past as with the lives of influential people and great events. When and how did the former become part of the study of history?	2
When looking at the history of Imperial Rome, how likely is it that "Augustus's reforms" (or that of any emperor) are directly the will of the emperor, or rather policy thought up by an advisor, given an imperial seal of approval, later attributed to the emperor himself?	1
Because of the crusades, Jerusalem and its surrounding areas changed hands quite a lot of times during the middle ages. How did that affect the common people in and around the city?	1
Every (or almost every) society has or has had a taboo against incest. How is this reconciled with incestuous pairings being common in mythology between positively regarded deities?	1
How mobile was life for the average citizen of the Roman Empire at its height? Was it possible for a more "middle class" citizen (if such a thing existed) to decide to pack up their belongings and move to another province?	1

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