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150 votes
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Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?

Lyon's theory is rather flawed. First of all, the Etymologiae was written in the 7th century. Just because one paragraph from one chapter in the book might possibly be construed as implying a flat ...
Semaphore's user avatar
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75 votes

Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?

Thomas Aquinas wrote a number of works in the 13th century, some of which were introductory (at least to medieval students - less so to today's students, who are not familiar with scholastic ...
Stephan Kolassa's user avatar
55 votes
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How did people put down a drinking horn?

In short, either when it was empty or it had a stand. Drinking horns were used by many different cultures on different continents (Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe e.t.c.) and in different time ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
47 votes

Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?

Well, it isn't exactly true that medieval scholars understood the world to be round. They were much, much more subtle in their thinking that that. You see, it was quite clear that the world couldn't ...
pokep's user avatar
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29 votes

Why didn't pre-Norman English kings build stone town walls?

They did. The Anglo-Saxons still used fortified areas and cities or towns, re-used old ones and build them anew. It just takes a bit of time, effort and money to develop those walls and fortifications,...
LаngLаngС's user avatar
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27 votes

Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?

You can see De sphaera mundi by the astronomer Johannes de Sacrobosco (c. 1195 – c. 1256) : "it was one of the most influential works of pre-Copernican astronomy in Europe. Though principally ...
Mauro ALLEGRANZA's user avatar
27 votes

Are there any medieval manuals relating to castle building?

You might be interested in Guedelon Castle, which is a project to rebuild a 13th Century castle from scratch using original methods. It's not exactly a manual, but it's probably as close as you are ...
DJClayworth's user avatar
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25 votes
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Size of Viking armies and raiding parties in 9th-10th centuries?

You might want to find a copy of the 1990 translation of Hans Delbrück, The History of the Art of War - v.II IIRC, if not III. He discusses the size of Viking forces beseiging Paris, and how small ...
Zither13's user avatar
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23 votes
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Why did monarchy become common practice after the fall of Rome?

The short answer is that it didn't. Monarchies did not become more common, and Europe in general did not adopt absolutist rule, immediately after the fall of Rome. First, to answer your literal ...
Semaphore's user avatar
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23 votes
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Why did Latin disappear so completely in Britain after the Romans left?

The short answer is, of course, that Latin didn't completely disappear from Britain at the end of the Romano-British period. However, the use of Latin did decline much more than in Britain than it did ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
23 votes

Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?

Medieval Scholars were much more sophisticated than they are usually given credit for. Knowledge of the shape of the Earth were never really "lost". Apart from their own observations, there were ...
andejons's user avatar
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21 votes
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Why was there an Anglo-Saxon law banning sheepskin covered shields?

Because King Athelstan was concerned about the quality of soldiers' shields. Sheepskin was a cheap but poor quality option for covering shields. A key theme of Athelstan's Grately Codes is dealing ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
18 votes
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Why didn't pre-Norman English kings build stone town walls?

Pre-Norman English (or Anglo-Saxons) didn't build primarily in stone for their town defenses because a) it would have been prohibitively expensive; b) it would have required much more time than they ...
gktscrk's user avatar
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17 votes

Size of Viking armies and raiding parties in 9th-10th centuries?

Initially, raids were sporadic and for the wealth of monasteries and slaves. They were quick, and would get away once finished with their err... business. So the English could not effectively put up ...
Rohit's user avatar
  • 3,780
13 votes

Size of Viking armies and raiding parties in 9th-10th centuries?

The numbers involved in Viking raids on 9th and 10th century England are not easy to gauge, but it is possible to come up with some estimates. First though, it is useful to get a clearer overall ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
13 votes
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Were children often renamed in late Saxon England?

Baptism is one time only in a life in the Roman Catholic Church. So this fiction has a major research fail: an Anglo-Saxon (AS) Christian will be Roman Catholic Church, not Protestant anabaptist ...
Zither13's user avatar
  • 2,232
13 votes

Did Anglo-Saxons make use of large-scale, non-military Roman ruins?

There are several cases of Roman era ruins being repurposed by Anglo-Saxons, though I'm not certain if you'll call them "large scale". As the other answers noted, the Anglo-Saxons generally ...
Semaphore's user avatar
  • 96.9k
13 votes

How often would monks leave their monasteries in the Middle Ages?

Typically, a significant minority of the monks were priests. But each order would have its own rules about the movement of its members. The more strict orders would not accept that one of his ...
Luiz's user avatar
  • 4,047
13 votes

What are the precursors of the Bayeux Tapestry?

The issue with finding other similar works is that barely any of it survived to this day except as references in documents: Little physical evidence survives to reconstruct the early development of ...
Denis de Bernardy's user avatar
12 votes
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Why are Vikings singled out for raids in Britain and Ireland when records may indicate most raids were by local rulers?

The situation in early medieval Ireland was rather unique, as I explained in an answer to another question. The situation there was largely a legacy of the fact that the early monasteries had been ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
12 votes

Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?

I have a tiny bit of evidence of another type to add about medieval belief in a spherical Earth. A globus cruciger is a globe or orb topped by a cross, and part of the regalia of Christian monarchs. ...
MAGolding's user avatar
  • 18.4k
11 votes

Why did monarchy become common practice after the fall of Rome?

1) Long before Rome fell it had abandoned Republicanism. After Diocletian and the Crisis of the Third Century the Emperors no longer felt any need to consult with the Senate. The Senate's role in ...
MCW's user avatar
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11 votes
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What crops were part of the medieval spring harvest?

Well, I found a fairly good description of the Medieval Farming Year, and it does not support a 'spring harvest' as you suspected. From the above source, Concerning winter crops specifically in ...
justCal's user avatar
  • 37.2k
11 votes

Did the early Christian community on Iceland require the import of wine for liturgy?

Short answer Wine was imported but was often scarce and always expensive. It was a liturgical requirement, but it was not one that was always (or even often) met without bending the rules a little. ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
10 votes

What would a 9th-century German count do if he wanted to spend some time with his wife?

A count in the 9th century? Well, then we are speaking not just about a very rich person, we are speaking about a head of his own state. He is not subject to any other state authority except loose ...
Anixx's user avatar
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9 votes

How did marrying off one's daughter help secure an alliance, in early medieval Europe?

Such marriages were usually part of wider treaties, including a dowry, non-aggression and/or mutual support agreements. The king didn't just get a queen, he got a chunk of land, possible inheritance ...
TheHonRose's user avatar
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9 votes
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What did Vikings wear in cold wet conditions at sea?

This is an interesting and difficult question. Unfortunately, not much is known of Viking equipment, including clothing, because such military goods were relatively expensive and rare. For example, in ...
Tyler Durden's user avatar
  • 37.7k
9 votes

Was the date skip of the Gregorian calender reform understood to skip weekdays accordingly?

The change over to the Gregorian Calendar happened over a period of over 300 years across the western world. Consequently the number of skipped days varied by country depending on when they changed ...
Steve Bird's user avatar
  • 18.8k
9 votes

Why did Latin disappear so completely in Britain after the Romans left?

(This answer is intended as a complement to Sempaiscuba's.) The British experience is not as unique as you may think, as there were many other places where Vulgar Latin died out after the collapse of ...
J. Siebeneichler's user avatar
9 votes
Accepted

Why did Danish people not "connect" with neighbor nations until Viking Age?

Note: I'm taking "Danish people" to mean people that lived in Denmark. they could have attacked what is now Germany, Poland, Belgium, Holland and even Lithuania and France, traveling near the coast,...
Semaphore's user avatar
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