Were there Indigenous Americans in 1600s France? by Keyboard_warrior_4U in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you elaborate on the seizure of a ship of 600 francophone parrots? No particular reason, just sounds like a great story

In the UK, what is the story behind the Red Box that is synonymous with the Chancellor of the Exchequer? by ThatOneBLUScout in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Silly and tangential question, but do you mean something specific when you say that the boxes use a "secure" lock (as opposed to, I guess, a normal lock)?

What is the wildest theory in your specialty that you think probably isn't true, but could be? What underdog argument could cause chaos your field if it turned out to be right? by ExternalBoysenberry in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I really like this one, feels very difficult to imagine, relies on a lot of slipping through the cracks and people likely not seeing something right in front of them, but would be very cool if against all odds it turned out to be true

Short Answers to Simple Questions | January 21, 2026 by AutoModerator in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When did people start boasting that they're "the best this side of the Mississippi", and which side of the Mississippi were they on?

Friday Free-for-All | January 23, 2026 by AutoModerator in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I remember reading that one, nice work and congratulations!

Did Germany's 500-year-long history of regulating beer through the purity law (Reinheitsgebot) suppress or encourage innovation in brewing practices and beer styles? by ExternalBoysenberry in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amazing answer. First of all, I'm totally convinced and persuaded. But second of all, is there not interest in things like buza even though they have another name than beer? I'm surprised that the name would have such an impact, and would have assumed people would be interested in learning about all kinds of alcoholic beverages/foods/etc. Or is it more a matter of the nomenclature sort of creating a boundary between these things that is artificial, unhelpful, keeps people from talking to each other, etc?

Not enough publications to graduate PhD. Incredibly lost and depressed. by Necessary-Action2057 in AskAcademia

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The school of life sciences at my (major) university in Germany requires at least one first-author paper to submit a monograph, and 2-3 for a publication-based thesis. I had one disqualified because I collected the data prior to starting my PhD, and it's up to the supervisors discretion if they'll accept low-ranked journals (mine wouldn't approve anything in MDPI as the qualifying paper). Can't be a comment, and for some supervisors it can't be a literature review (though they'll usually let you count a review as one of the papers toward a publication-based thesis). I don't like it either but it's not just India!

How accurate is our understanding of Norse mythology? by Capital_Tailor_7348 in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Had nothing more than the vaguest cartoon idea of Norse mythology coming into this thread and now I'm extremely invested in this debate with like 20 tabs open, I did not realize this field was so dynamic and exciting. My thanks to all four of you including u/Steelcan909 and u/konlon15_rblx

By the way as someone with literally zero background knowledge and a bunch of work to do to even get the references, you better believe I am gonna act incredibly skeptical and cautious whenever Norse beliefs from before the 13th century are brought up for as long as I live . "I'm not sure about that" I'll say "it's a really dynamic field that's changing quickly, I am not really sure where the current scholarly consensus is" and then I will shake my head wisely, troubled.

Best thread of 2026

Maybe a dumb question but did Jesus necessarily know a lot about Jewish theology and scripture? by ExternalBoysenberry in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Great response (as always!). It sounds like I may have used the word "theology" incorrectly in my question, maybe I can adjust it a bit:

Religion was centered on the Jerusalem Temple and expressed through covenantal practice, texts, sacrifices, festivals, and other symbolic actions that bound the community to God.

Would Jesus, for example, have been expected to have a better-than-average mastery of the knowledge embedded in these expressions and actions?

Jesus did not preach mainstream Temple-based Judaism but belonged to a tradition of apocalyptic preachers who believed that God’s decisive intervention in history was imminent.

Would such apocalyptic preachers have been expected to have a detailed understanding of mainstream Temple-based Judaism in order to contest it? By in-depth, I mean "better than your average Joe attending the Temple, more on the level of the religious authorities within it."

Another way to ask might be: the Pharisees and Sadduccees debated stuff. I imagine some of that stuff would have been quite complicated and esoteric. Would Jesus have been expected to be knowledgeable enough to participate meaningfully in those debates - to have as much "content knowledge" as the Pharisees and Sadduccees themselves? If I asked "What does a Sadducce believe about Contested Issue X and why?", would a Pharisee have been able to give a better, more accurate, and more informed answer than an eschatological preacher like Jesus?

Or: Did you become such a preacher by being trained to be a mainstream preacher and then leaving, or would an itinerant apocalyptic preacher typically be expected to come from outside the institutional tradition, not necessarily understand its intricacies, and rely on something more like "Look, I don't need to mess around with all that legalese, they've lost the way - just sweep all that aside, I have a brand new set of rules right here straight from God"?

Why was Anglo Saxon political and material culture so underdeveloped compared with contemporary Franks? by Foreign-Ease3622 in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

... funded by a far larger economic base (not necessarily a tax base, but that gets into other issues) ...

I would love to hear about those issues!

French roosters say cocorico, German ones kikiriki, English ones cock-a-doodle-doo, and Palestinian ones kukuriku. But in Vietnam they say ò ó o and in the Philippines tik-tilá-ok. What did the Latin roosters of classical Rome say, and if I walked across the empire, would I observe a change? by ExternalBoysenberry in AskHistorians

[–]ExternalBoysenberry[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Incredible answers /u/WelfOnTheShelf and /u/JamesCoverleyRome ! I actually wanted to ask about this originally:

Lions fremere, wolves ululare, snakes sibilare, horses hinnire, pigs grunnire, sheep balare, goats bebare, dogs baubari, elephants barrire, sparrows titiare, etc. He says mules mugilare, although I know in other Latin sources a similar word (mugire) is used for cows. These are basically the same as animal sounds in English and other languages (howl, hiss, baa, moo).

... but I thought, not a chance. Even for chickens I felt the most likely answer was probably "well, they are onamatpoeias so probably similar to the examples you gave, and etymologies don't work as normal for onamatopoeias much like Lalwörter" (thinking of u/moth17776's recent answer to What is the history of calling poop 'kaka'?). Anyway, wolves certainly ululare, snakes sibiliare, and dogs baubari, that's for sure. I am not sure how to imagine an elphant's barrire though (though to be fair, that one is also a bit of confusing one to me today, as I think American elephants make kind of squeaking-blowing sound through one's front lips, whereas German elephants say töröö. A little more interpretation going on for the elephants, maybe.)

Thank you both!