15
votes
Why were so many female members of Hapsburg family named Maria something?
Because they are Catholic. No other reason. Doesn't matter if you are a boy or girl. It's very common practise to give children many baptismal names, including Maria. To both girls and boys. Perhaps ...
- 20.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Why did Ottoman Army use camels in the Siege of Vienna 1683?
SHORT ANSWER
The Ottomans used camels because they have several advantages over horses. Among other things, they can carry more than horses and adapt well to a variety of climates (even cold ones) ...
- 108k
12
votes
Accepted
Why did so many ruling European families hold on to Catholicism during the Reformation?
One reason was that a number of these Catholic "secular" kingdoms actually derived a lot of their power from the Church. Two of these were Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
Ferdinand and Isabella of ...
- 104k
11
votes
Accepted
How exactly did Franz Ferdinand hunt?
It is possible to kill a ridiculous number of birds in a day, if you do driven game shooting. The Wikipedia article specifically describes grouse shooting, but pheasant and partridge can be shot in ...
- 31.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Long time to reach news in Thirty Years' War
The 1618 Prague defenestration took place on May 23th, 1618 and Oñate's news about it arrived to Madrid in July 1618. This is compatible with the duration of the communication to be 5-7 weeks which is ...
- 2,742
6
votes
Why did Ottoman Army use camels in the Siege of Vienna 1683?
I believe it is much simpler than put forward in other answers - One uses the beasts of burden one has.
Here is the Ottoman Empire a few decades before the Siege of Vienna:
It is readily apparent ...
- 72.3k
5
votes
Why did so many ruling European families hold on to Catholicism during the Reformation?
A somewhat blunt analysis, but Catholicism was hierarchical and prescriptive, Protestantism more personal and individual - the Bible etc in the vernacular. Kings were appointed by God. To oppose the ...
- 7,939
5
votes
How exactly did Franz Ferdinand hunt?
The German wikipedia page of the Archduke gives an even higher number. Specifically it says that he shot on a single day in June 1908 2763 black-headed gulls. They even cite a book as a source just ...
- 51
3
votes
Why didn't the Austrian Empire have Household troops?
There were five guard units formed by Maria Theresia in 1763, which were considered household troops in Austria-Hungary. These are the:
Arcièren-Leibgarde
königlich-ungarische Leibgarde
k.u.k. ...
- 1,208
3
votes
Westernmost and easternmost locations that Charles V visited in his empire?
Westernmost Location: Charles V was in Galicia, in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela (42°52′N, 08°32′W) in 1520, where he called for the Cortes (Parliament) of Castille:
Ref.:
Biography of ...
- 501
3
votes
Why did Charles V divide his holdings as he did?
Various details of the partition in the 1550s were more or less negotiable and no doubt were negotiated quite intensely. But at least one detail was not negotiable.
Why did Ferdinand become emperor ...
- 2,172
2
votes
Influential kings/emperors at the time of Maria Theresa
Reign of Maria Theresa as Archduchess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and Croatia, etc., Queen of Bohemia, Duchess of Styria, Carinthia and Carnioila, etc. 1740 to 1780.
Reign of Maria Theresa as ...
- 19.1k
2
votes
An Austrian Emperor who thought taking his own sweet time about rewarding his underlings was the best way to inspire respect?
This was Joseph II, the son of Empress Maria Theresa. The mother was considered an "enlightened" monarch for her time, and the son was a well-meaning reformer, who proved that "the road to hell is ...
- 104k
2
votes
Why did so many ruling European families hold on to Catholicism during the Reformation?
They were Catholic, because their subjects were Romanised at a deep enough level to prefer being Roman Catholic. If you look at where the Roman empire's borders were:
You can see that it very closely ...
- 171
1
vote
Why did many Hungarians support Maria Theresa?
In large part because she asked them to do so.
Almost no "king" would do this. But Maria Theresa was a woman, and a young, attractive, one at that. So she turned her woman's "weakness" into a ...
- 104k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible