askhistorians

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In the film Barry Lyndon, a child's coffin is placed in a white hearse and pulled by sheep rather than horses. Is this an accurate depiction of an 18th century child's funeral procession?	518
Why are Seychelles and Mauritius so (relatively) well off while Comoros and Madagascar are quite poor?	117
In the docudrama Culloden, when asked why he supports the Jacobite cause, a Jacobite captain responds "Because Prince Charles is part Scot, and I am a Scot, but the King in London is a German". Was the ethnicity of their sovereign really sometimes a problem for Europeans in the early modern period?	56
"Monastic levies" in Viking Age Ireland	32
Modern artistic depictions of Late Roman soldiers often show them wielding spears painted with stripe patterns. How do we know they did this, and did it have any purpose beyond decoration?	30
Robots in science fiction often say something along the lines of ‘does not compute’ when they don’t understand something - where did this trope originate?	22
Most of Jan van Eyck's 'The Annunciation' is painted in his signature naturalist style, but it also features accurate recreations of earlier medieval art and icons in the background. Is this the first historical example of an artist deliberately imitating a drastically different art style?	22
How did members of Scottish Highland regiments in the British Army react to no longer being allowed to wear the kilt in combat?	21
Who was responsible for the manufacture/purchase of a Gladiator's weapons and armor?	5
Did Scotland have a standing army or any other kind of national military infrastructure before the Union of the Crowns?	5

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