Medieval - Pre WW2 History Thread

[Fallowfox]

One could say the same of any position of authority.

It's just a joke about the entertaining goofy nonsense the popes got up to.

But to bring relevance to this, the popes themselves have declared each other illegitimate with more vigour than even Sinead O'connor.
There have even been situations where 2 or more popes sat at once, and attempted to declare one another 'antipopes'.

Popes in Avignon, Rome and Pisa all at the same time in 1409.

 

[Frank Gulotta]

I love thinking of alternate history where different powers gain prominence and influence their area in their unique way. Burgundy was ahead in many ways in the mid 15th century. I wonder what Europe would look like today if Burgundy had prevailed. It might've only been up to Joan of Arc in this case. Here's a Burgundian patriotic anthem

Which has a Polish version for some reason which is awesome!

 

[KimberVaile]

Something of a pet peeve of mine, but I find it rather egotistical that people tend to assume they're leagues more intelligent than people in the past, based on nothing but having hindsight on past events. More educated maybe, but that's not the same as being more intelligent.

Civil war surgeons often get flak because of the amount of amputations they performed. Of course that myth that they are incompetent is completely ignoring the fact that a civil war minie ball is going to cause far more immense damage to a human body than a bullet from the highest caliber modern firearm available. When a musket minie ball impacted bone, it shattered it completely 9 times out of 10. Hence, because the bone was shattered, literally all they could do at the time was amputate to prevent death in most cases. It's not due to 'incompetence', it's a giant ball of lead being fired at high velocity, and that's probably going to shatter your bone if you're unlucky enough to get hit by it on one of your limbs.

Civil war surgeons did the best that they could with what tools they had available. They weren't idiots, they were taking the only measure they could to assist the wounded most of the time. Again, what exactly do you do about a shattered bone in that time period?

Civil war amputation is more of a testament to how terrible a weapon the Springfield musket was more than anything to do with 'incompetence'. Yes, some surgeons were quacks, but to make it out to be like that was the standard is inaccurate and plays down how traumatizing it would be to spend each day hacking off limbs.

Civil War Battlefield Surgery | eHISTORY

ehistory.osu.edu

 

[Frank Gulotta]

Something of a pet peeve of mine, but I find it rather egotistical that people tend to assume they're leagues more intelligent than people in the past, based on nothing but having hindsight on past events. More educated maybe, but that's not the same as being more intelligent.

Civil war surgeons often get flak because of the amount of amputations they performed. Of course that myth is completely ignoring the fact that a civil war minie ball is going to far more immense damage to a human body than a bullet from the highest caliber modern firearm available. When a musket minie ball impacted bone, it shattered it completely 9 times out of 10. Hence, because the bone was shattered, literally all they could do at the time was amputate to prevent death in most cases. It's not due to 'incompetence', it's a giant ball of lead being fired at high velocity, and that's probably going to shatter your bone if you're unlucky enough to get hit by it on one of your limbs.

Civil war surgeons did the best that they could with what tools they had available. They weren't idiots, they were taking the only measure they could to assist the wounded most of the time. Again, what exactly do you do about a shattered bone in that time period?

Civil war amputation is more of a testament to how terrible a weapon the Springfield musket was more than anything to do with 'incompetence'. Yes, some surgeons were quacks, but to make it out to be like that was the standard is inaccurate and plays down how traumatizing it would be to spend each day hacking off limbs.

Civil War Battlefield Surgery | eHISTORY

ehistory.osu.edu

I remember reading that people in the past were actually smarter on average than people nowadays, which makes sense as they didn't have as many devices as we do doing their thinking for them.

 

[Punji]

Something of a pet peeve of mine, but I find it rather egotistical that people tend to assume they're leagues more intelligent than people in the past, based on nothing but having hindsight on past events. More educated maybe, but that's not the same as being more intelligent.

Civil war surgeons often get flak because of the amount of amputations they performed. Of course that myth is completely ignoring the fact that a civil war minie ball is going to cause far more immense damage to a human body than a bullet from the highest caliber modern firearm available. When a musket minie ball impacted bone, it shattered it completely 9 times out of 10. Hence, because the bone was shattered, literally all they could do at the time was amputate to prevent death in most cases. It's not due to 'incompetence', it's a giant ball of lead being fired at high velocity, and that's probably going to shatter your bone if you're unlucky enough to get hit by it on one of your limbs.

Civil war surgeons did the best that they could with what tools they had available. They weren't idiots, they were taking the only measure they could to assist the wounded most of the time. Again, what exactly do you do about a shattered bone in that time period?

Civil war amputation is more of a testament to how terrible a weapon the Springfield musket was more than anything to do with 'incompetence'. Yes, some surgeons were quacks, but to make it out to be like that was the standard is inaccurate and plays down how traumatizing it would be to spend each day hacking off limbs.

Civil War Battlefield Surgery | eHISTORY

ehistory.osu.edu

Just to imagine the pain of a completely shattered bone. Not only the pain from the impact and initial wound but the numerous smaller stabbing impacts of bone fragments splintering through the periosteum into the muscle tissue.

The huge amount of pain and blood and fear and knowing if he survived it would be as an amputee would be horrifying. The poor men who fought in these wars were braver than most.

 

[Baron Tredegar]

I remember reading that people in the past were actually smarter on average than people nowadays, which makes sense as they didn't have as many devices as we do doing their thinking for them.

It pains me to think of how much knowledge was lost in the Libraries in Alexandria and Baghdad.

 

[Nexus Cabler]

What a medieval toilet in a castle looked like.

Homicidal rabbits in manuscripts.

A medieval surgeon repaired this broken bone with riveted copper plate

These are cat prints still imprinted on old manuscript from the 1100s

 

[Baud]

I am just slightly obsessed with WW1 so here's some of the stuff I got. First a German M18 gas mask modified to fit French M17 filters to be used by the Belgian army during the war:

From left to right: an Italian propaganda booklet from 1917 titled "If the Germans came...", piece of barbed wire from an Italian battlefield, British foldable wire cutters, Austro-Hungarian stahlhelm helmet, Italian bayonet for the Carcano 91, French Adrian helmet, two shards of French shells, Austro-Hungarian mess tin with gas mask container on top, and finally the mask from above:

An Italian Adrian helmet will probably join them in a few days.

 

[The_biscuits_532]

Been reading on Portuguese and Brazilian history recently

Apparently Emperor Peter I and IV of Brazil and Portugal was a notorious womaniser, but his first wife tolerated it because she was absolutely into him. Like completely crazy about the guy.

Anyway so she died and John suddenly realised "oh fuck what is wrong with me she was the best thing ever and I treated her like actual garbage"

On one occasion shortly after her death it's said his current mistress walked in on him cuddling his ex wife's portrait crying about it.

He swore to be better and tried to arrange a marriage with one of the European powers but they were all totally aware of his reputation by that point, so it was kinda difficult. He eventually did remarry, to a woman from one of the smaller German principalities, and he kept to his word, and was completely faithful to her.

Honestly that entire generation had so much goddamn drama

- His grandmother (Queen Maria) and grandfather (King Peter III) were uncle and niece but were so into each other that when he died, her mental health just imploded and she spent the rest of her life bedridden and screaming

- His mother (Charlotte) was constantly trying to undermine his father's (King John) rule. Despite Peter's own activities later in life, he despised her for her affairs, and went on record calling her a bitch as an adult

- Peter was told by his father to declare independence from Portugal. King John could tell it was inevitable anyway so he felt having his son rule in Brazil was the best option. Despite this, the throne did still pass to Peter. For like a minute before he threw it at his daughter, who became Maria II

- Maria was planned to marry her uncle, Michael, but he backstabbed both of them and seized power in Portugal. Peter had to abdicate in Brazil to travel back to Europe and help.

- His son, Peter II, became Brazil's second and last independent monarch. He was by all accounts a super cool guy who was loved by everyone, and he reigned for nearly 60 years - until the army overthrew him for abolishing slavery.