askhistorians

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How did banks/banking families in the early modern period (Medicis, Fuggers, Genoese, etc) withstand the huge financial shocks when European monarchies regularly defaulted on huge loans they had taken out?	2882
Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary once wrote to his wife suggesting that shirtless Bedouin guides must be the reason why “English women so happily and frequently like to scale the pyramids”. Was this a common stereotype other 19th century Europeans had about English women being "thirsty"?	440
Roustam Raza, Napoleon's Mamluk bodyguard and manservant who he brought back to France with him from his Egyptian campaign, lived on in France after Napoleon's downfall, only dying in 1845. What was his life in France like after Napoleon's final exile to St. Helena?	129
For the people in the 1990s who spent thousands of dollars (or more) on beanie babies hoping that they'd appreciate in value as collectibles, was there any historical precedent with other toys that explained their belief?	111
Prior to the 19th century, what made it difficult for any single power to unify all or most of Italy?	95
Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary once wrote to his wife suggesting that shirtless Bedouin guides must be the reason why “English women so happily and frequently like to scale the pyramids”. Was this a common stereotype other 19th century Europeans had about English women being "thirsty"?	69
As the Ottoman Empire expanded its territory further and further into Europe in the 15th-17th centuries, was there a sense of existential dread or fear that they were unstoppable or would conquer the rest of Christendom?	51
What did mercenaries throughout history do when they weren't actively on someone's payroll? Did they "go home"? Did they have secondary jobs to subsist off of when they weren't fighting?	46
After the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain, how were the Dutch stadtholders regarded by the royal houses of Europe?	37
Why did the revolutionary French Republic even consider, much less actually launch, the seaborne invasion of Egypt in 1798, given the Royal Navy's dominance of the seas around Europe at the time?	35

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