77
votes
How do we know baroque art depicted obese ladies because of a different ideal of beauty?
Art does not exist in a vacuum, but is rather only one part of the historical record. Just as people comment on our modern standard of beauty today, so does early modern writers on theirs. Fortunately,...
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51
votes
Accepted
Were there luxury restaurants in East Germany?
Yes, there was 'luxury' in gastronomical areas in East-Germany.
This yes comes with a slight caveat: that was more rare than in the West and also in a 'reduced amount', often catering to international ...
- 80.6k
44
votes
Accepted
Did any British working class men have the vote before 1918?
The film said this un-extraordinary working man had the vote, my calculations show it was possible he had the vote. But the 1918 act gave "working men the vote". So one of these 2 statements must be ...
- 97.2k
26
votes
How do we know baroque art depicted obese ladies because of a different ideal of beauty?
A lot of the paintings were commissioned as portraits, why would people pay for themselves to be depicted in an ugly way?
Wealth nowadays is associated with a slim, tanned, and shaped body because ...
- 261
20
votes
Accepted
What do Marxists mean by "class basis of law"? As seen in linked article
Marxist Theory
Marxism, as taught and practiced in the USSR, claims that human society consists of
base: economic structure (ownership of means of production, relationships between the owners and ...
- 26.9k
19
votes
Accepted
How many British navy officers were from lower classes at the end of 18th century?
In his book "A Social History of the Navy 1793-1815", Michael Lewis gives the following breakdown of the background of Navy officers based on their parents' social status.
Social Status of R.N. ...
- 18.8k
18
votes
Was the 35 year age minimum chosen for US president roughly equal to the average life expectancy for a reason?
The Wikipedia article about life expectancy incudes the following:
Life expectancy increases with age as the individual survives the
higher mortality rates associated with childhood. For instance,...
- 339
15
votes
Were freedmen part of the "familia"?
Short Answer
How true Jeanne Marie Neumann's statement is depends on, firstly, the definition of familia used and, secondly, the circumstances of individual freedmen and freedwomen. As one classicist ...
- 108k
13
votes
How do we know baroque art depicted obese ladies because of a different ideal of beauty?
Q How do we know baroque art depicted obese ladies because of a different ideal of beauty?
Do we really?
We don't. The anthropological constant to be observed is: "women are considered 'attractive' ...
- 80.6k
13
votes
Were there luxury restaurants in East Germany?
In addition to @LangLangC answer, some background information.
Restaurants were clasified into Preisstufen (price levels) which were clearly specified outside on the shown menu. The higher the number, ...
- 9,490
12
votes
Accepted
Why were gravediggers, actors and former gladiators (but not slaves) banned from the Colosseum?
Slaves and prostitutes weren't of such a low status modern people like to assume. At least, not all of them. Also, some actors (like senators or even the 'bad' emperors, like Nero, and others fighting ...
- 80.6k
8
votes
What do Marxists mean by "class basis of law"? As seen in linked article
I remember a British TV episode where someone sarcastically remarked on the majestic equality of English law, where the millionaire and homeless man are equally forbidden to sleep under bridges.
That ...
- 18.6k
7
votes
Who was a "gentleman" in USA in the times of Tom Sawyer?
In the 19th century U.S., there were basically two types of "gentlemen."
The first was the landed gentry. Obvious enough, the idea came from England and Europe generally. This may have represented 1% ...
- 104k
7
votes
Did any British working class men have the vote before 1918?
All men over 21, with no property restrictions, and women over 30 or some property owning women. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_of_the_People_Act_1918
- 7,901
7
votes
Accepted
Until when did Castile consider all Basques to be noble?
Apparently, it is still valid. If you can read Spanish and you have a stomach for legalese, you can try to digest this. It is a relatively long but definitely dull exposition on what you should do in ...
- 562
7
votes
Was the 35 year age minimum chosen for US president roughly equal to the average life expectancy for a reason?
The other answers touch on this point, but I think it needs to be emphasized: The quote in the question demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of the concept of average life expectancy.
Overall ...
- 211
7
votes
What legal test, if any, distinguished gentlemen from commoners in Tudor England?
I only have a conjecture, it is derived from one case.
But I suppose it is typical.
George Green was a miller in Nottingham in the first half of 19th century. He owned a mill and worked in it. He was ...
- 38.4k
6
votes
Accepted
Which French Revolutionary figure thought black slaves could oversee monkeys for labor?
There are many mentions from French Enlightenment writers, which is not the same as Revolutionary, but I think more adequate to what you are looking for. This is because influences of Linnaeus and ...
- 2,489
5
votes
What do Marxists mean by "class basis of law"? As seen in linked article
Marxists claimed that all aspects of the social life were determined by the class struggle. This included law. In other words, they claimed that all laws and all legal procedures were established to ...
- 38.4k
5
votes
Accepted
What was the social class of priests' children in Imperial Russia?
There is a very detailed discussion of this issue on pages 281-284 of
Законы о состояниях (Св. зак., т. IX изд. 1899 г., по прод 1906, 1908 и 1909 гг.). / Сост. Я.А.Канторович. — СПб.: Право, 1911. —...
- 6,265
5
votes
Were surname upgrades a well known practice in the Spanish Empire?
This is more a long comment than an answer.
There are two questions here, one related to the upgrade and another related to the
fictitious surnames.
About the upgrade. There are several surnames ...
- 4,875
4
votes
What household servants would a Tudor gentleman have had?
Suggest you start here: P.W. FLEMING, Household Servants of the Yorkist and Early Tudor Gentry, in: Daniel WILLIAMS (ed.), Early Tudor England (Harlaxton Medieval Studies, O.S., 4), Woodbridge 1989, ...
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4
votes
Which French Revolutionary figure thought black slaves could oversee monkeys for labor?
James' answer cleared up a critical factual error I had in my memory of this Frenchman's ideas. It was indeed Abbe Sieyes, but the the hierarchy for labor was different.
I offer the following from A ...
- 1,006
4
votes
Accepted
Who was part of the Raznochintsy class in 1800s Russia?
They were the people who did not fit in any of the traditional strata of feudal society
Russian society in the period you mentioned was roughly divided in four groups: nobility, clergy, peasants (...
- 11.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Was the 35 year age minimum chosen for US president roughly equal to the average life expectancy for a reason?
The two are unrelated, and any "resemblance" between the two ages is coincidental.
If the "life expectancy" was 35, it would be a weighted average of the ages of people who died in childhood, and ...
- 104k
3
votes
Accepted
What social relationships existed between the popular mobility and the political elites in the revolutionary American colonies?
The most obvious cross-class social relationships of the late 18th century American Colonies were religion and Free Masonry.
The numerous small Protestant sects throughout the colonies, especially ...
- 71.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Who was a "gentleman" in USA in the times of Tom Sawyer?
Difficult question, and I doubt there is an objective answer. Tom Au's answer is correct, but I believe it is.... perhaps incomplete... "Gentleman" was an important cultural concept for Americans of ...
MCW♦
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