April 2012
166 posts
Anonymous asked: Read as much of Anne Barstow, Christine Larner, Alan MacFarlane, Erik Midelfort, Darren Oldridge, Diane Purkiss, Lyndal Roper, Rodney Stark, HR Trevor-Roper, and Gary Waite as you can. The burning times are quite interesting, so have fun :)
Anonymous asked: ... [cont] Most primary sources from the period were also falsified or incomplete, and remember that many people used witch hunts to settle personal vendettas. Communities targeted helpless women, esp. widows and the aged. In other places (I think) the perscution was more gendered b/c women had their breasts mutilated etc. but the burning could really be seen as a form of social control. Consider...
Anonymous asked: For the witch hunts - be careful that your information pertains specifically to England because there was immense regional variation, especially between England/Scotland and the Continent. For a primary source try Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) by Reginald Scot, it's used by a lot of modern historians as a rational (but still contemporary) explanation of the Witch Hunts, but he was massively...
lipsredasroses asked: A good book on women's education in the Renaissance is The Birth of Feminism: Woman as Intellect in Renaissance Italy and England by Sarah Gwyneth Ross. Another good book that gives an overview of women and the Renaissance is Women of the Renaissance by Margaret L. King. The University of Chicago Press has a series titled "The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe" and many of the...
i-like-to-obsess asked: What do you know about Renaissance-era women's education? Do you know where I can find more information? (I'm doing a paper about it) Thanks!
obiwanmikel asked: Can we just confirm that was ethnography and that indeed not all Chelsea fans are jerks? ;) Love your blog by the way, keep it coming!
March 2012
201 posts
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Worst Poem Ever?
This poem is by the Rev. William Cook of Salem, Mass., from his 1873 booklet Talk About Indians:
Corn, corn, sweet Indian corn,
Greenly you grew long ago.
Indian fields well to adorn,
And to parch or grind hah-ho!
Where shines the summer sun,
And plied his hoe or plough
Blessings to men have you not gone
Making food of your dough?
In England, in France and Germany
At morn, at eve, at...
purple-muffin-bunny-deactivated asked: I read the post about ethnography vs. stereotyping, could you explain to me in a different way, I didn’t quite understand what you were saying. Thanks ^^
kawphyquotes asked: Does size matter; ethnography vs. stereotyping? (a culture vs an individual)
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“If you can dream it, you can do it”
– One of the most famous quotes ever, by Walt Disney (1901-1966)
Anonymous asked: to the person who wanted help. a lot of people used to believe in fairies and changelings and they would burn people they thought were fairy changelings. does that count as witchcraft?
three-hallows asked: do you know much about witchcraft in england/can suggest any websites? I'm doing a historical investigation on the burning times and your input would be valuable! :)
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Anonymous asked: what is your favorite and least favorite "Empire" and why?
keenky asked: Hey, buddy. I'm starting my summative for my Ancient History to the 16th Century. I just want to know, what civilization do you think is best? Olmec, Aztec, Mayan, Incan or Tetihuacan?
Anonymous asked: Do you think the right to keep and bear arms under the 2nd amendment of the US constitution applies to individuals all together? Or just individuals connected to a state militia?
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Every member of President Teddy Roosevelt’s family owned a pair of stilts, including the first lady. Tragically, no photos survive.
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Anonymous asked: I'm not trying to defend colonial atrocities, but are dumdums really any worse than flamethrowers, phosphorous, napalm bombs and the endless chemical weapons like agent orange and nerve gas. All of which have been used in the past 50 years by our 'civilized' Western nations and often indiscriminately against armed and unarmed people.
Anonymous asked: What do you think is the most prevalent or most frustrating misconception about history?
Anonymous asked: you have quite the bleeding heart, eh?
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“History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another.”
– Max Beerbohm
avatareverlark asked: Interesting. If that's so, then how would you judge the Pax Britannica? Was it truly the "Peace of Britain" or was it a misnomer?
Anonymous asked: Which has been the better superpower: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and (Northern) Ireland or the United States of America?
Anonymous asked: Long time follower, first time asker! Your response about Tamerlane and Jackson seemed to be rather lazy. With the logic you used to describe Tamerlane, you could say "Jackson was not a bad President to live under - if you were White". And, I mean...Tamarlane was a murderer too. Anyways, just my thoughts!
avatareverlark asked: As a historian, do you think we live in a Pax Americana?
opanranger40 asked: i live in TN and people here basically worship Andrew Jackson almost as much as Reagan. thanks for keepin it real
avatareverlark asked: The have been some people who allege that King George III was just plain insane. What do you think?
robbercar asked: What's your favorite era of history, then?
robbercar asked: What are your feelings on Andrew Jackson? Tamerlane? Wallenstein?
drcarlsonalbion asked: Except she never said it, it was bad press, and believed by the french, because they hated her for being austrian from the before she was married to he french king, and the french really hated her mother, as well, also the so-called 'ancienne regime' was mostly newly titled people, wealthy first, not the ancient 'nobility' that they are made out by the revolutionaries and their...
Anonymous asked: RE:At the mall in the 1980s. Which one is you?
letyoursoul asked: Perhaps I'm reading this out of context, but Anon, Antoinette did not actually say the famous quote "Let them eat cake!" That was attributed to her by a reporter years later, and was widely accepted as a factual quote. She was a young ruler, and honestly did her best. In a time of crisis, the people need someone to blame for their suffering, and she ended up taking the fall...
galileo--galileo asked: I thought that a) Marie Antoinette may nevever have said that, given that it was attributed to all sorts of leaders thought of as lavish and out of touch before then, and b) it may have been a reference to the fact that it was common practice to make cake the same price as bread in times of hardship? It's what I read, anyway (I probably saw it on QI)
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Anonymous asked: Wasn't the point of the anger toward Antoinette the fact that she said this while neglecting the deeper cause of the impoverishment of France? She was kind, but she was lavish while the rest of France starved. When what was required were reforms, she instead goes: "Oh, just give them our brioche." Kind of justifies the anger, I would think.
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An Onion A Day Keeps Seth Away
A basket of onions was considered a respectable funeral offering in ancient Egypt, second only to a basket of bread. Onions, with their circular layers, represented eternity and were found in the eyes of King Ramses IV who died in 1160 B.C.
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In the beginning of the twentieth century, up to a third of all patients in mental asylums were thought to be suffering from tertiary syphilis.
No commentary, just thought I’d let the world know.
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Chemistry or Aliens? You Decide
In 1961, three prospectors in California found a sparkplug encased in solid rock.
It was originally thought to be 500,000 years old, which would put it in a class with the Kingoodie Hammer and the Dorchester Pot.
More recent investigations say the “rock” is just a concretion of iron oxide produced by the rusting plug, which may date only from the 1920s.
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“My work has escaped my control, and I have produced a monster; an immensely...”
– a letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to his publishers, February 1950
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Anonymous asked: hey can you give a list of all modern nations once controled by spain. (i know the hapsburgs had something to do with this,but i don't know how) also some facts and/or info on spain would be great
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How To Take Over France 101
In 1812, former musketeer and all-around French guy Claude Francois de Malet had a great idea: He was going to topple Napoleon’s government. Never mind that he had zero support from the military, or that he was living in a sanitarium when he came up with the plan … none of that mattered. He had support from a few royalists who wanted a king on the throne, so while Napoleon Bonaparte...
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