/u/Oozing_Sex's posts in /r/askhistorians
The new Netflix series 'Frontier' portrays the 18th century fur trade as extremely violent and competitive. Was it really as brutal as the show depicts?
3294 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
Prior to the introduction of firearms, did militaries ever have archers, slingers, etc. that acted as "snipers" or marksmen?
892 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
How accurate is James Clavell's "Shogun" in terms of medieval Japanese culture, social systems, warfare, etc.?
304 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
In Desmond Seward's "The Hundred Years War", the author refers to a royal bride as "sluttish". This struck me as a very harsh word to use in a history book, but I had also never heard it before. Why use this particular word over something like "promiscuous"? NSFW
219 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
In Robert Louis Stevenson's *Treasure Island*, a pirate is given the 'Black Spot' and reacts as though he was given a death sentence. Was there any real equivalent to this among Caribbean pirates?
212 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
How did European late medieval/early renaissance pike squares compare to classical phalanxes? Going head to head, would a phalanx of Athenian hoplites stand a chance against a square of Swiss pikemen?
81 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
75 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
What is the consensus among historians about the Sacred Band of Thebes? Were they really 150 pairs of lovers? Or is that just a legend?
57 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list
5 upvotes
Mark as read: Add to a list