askhistorians

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Why did Castilian become the default "Spanish" language, instead of the Aragonese language, after Castile and Aragon were united as Spain?	681
In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was seemingly expected for average men to wear suits in their everyday lives. Were suits in the past more affordable for the average person than they are today, or did the average person simply spend much more money on owning less clothes?	650
I'm a knight in the Medeival era. I've just charged into the enemy army and my lance made a solid blow..... what now?	491
When the Romans conquered a new territory, how was it decided who would remain a free person and who would be taken as a slave?	275
In the Bible, Jesus' first miracle was famously to turn water into wine. What kind of wine could typically be found in Roman Judea and, assuming Jesus was a skilled amateur vintner for his Era, would the wine be considered "good" by modern standards?	266
Was full plate armor ever made or used prominently by cultures outside of Europe?	227
How did Medieval kings react on the rare occasions when their vassals went off on some adventure and ended up on the thrown of their own independent kingdoms?	210
If the use of magic was seen as heresy in the Catholic church, why was Merlin, a renowned wizard, seen as a good and admirable figure from the Arthurian legends?	199
When and why did pasta become practically universal in Italian cuisine? What caused it to be so popular in Italy while rare or practically nonexistent in the traditional cuisines of other European nations?	168
In the Odyssey, why had the now-grown Telemachus not inherited Ithaca and ran away his mother's suitors by the time Odysseus returned?	143

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