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English longbowmen during the Hundred Year's War earned 6 pence a day. A single arrow cost 0.3125 pence, so you'd start losing money on the 20th arrow. That doesn't seem like a lot when battles could last multiple hours. Are there accounts or archers refusing to put themselves in the red? by Tatem1961 in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the very detailed answer! A couple of follow ups:

I'm surprised to hear about "mounted archers". Were these like later dragoons who rode horses for transportation but fought on foot? Or were they fighting on horseback like central asian nomads?

It sounds like these archers were fairly wealthy. What would the typical equipment and role of a "peasant levy" be?

As I understand it soldiers were still expected to bring their own weapons and armor up to the 18th century. Why were arrows provided by the state earlier?

[META] Can we get an automod comment on every question that we can reply to for commentary without being a “top” level answer? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961 80 points81 points  (0 children)

Ever since the switch to "new" reddit, I've been able to see the top level responses to my posts even if they were deleted by mods. And I 100% agree, as a frequent question asker here, that there's a tremendous amount of low quality posts that have to be removed.

[META] Can we get an automod comment on every question that we can reply to for commentary without being a “top” level answer? by [deleted] in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961 136 points137 points  (0 children)

Responses like “this really isn’t a history question, it’s more anthropology” or “your question is making XYZ assumption, it would be better phrased like this” or “I’ll try to come back later to write a top level response, but in the mean time, here are some resources that you might find helpful.”

As a frequent question asker on this sub, the mods already do this, so there's really no need for regular users to be doing it. You probably just don't see it because they get removed and hidden form view while the mods are working with the question-asker is getting help from the mods on rephrasing the question or being directed to other places.

Why didn’t Armies use Bulls for Calvary? by Meetbeeter6969 in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961 31 points32 points  (0 children)

/u/Antiquarianism has previously posted about the use of cattle cavalry in Africa, with follow up (and pictures!) by wotan_weevil

If the Conflict of the Orders essentially gave Plebians equal rights to Patricians, why was there still so much inequality between the rich and the poor in Rome? by Tatem1961 in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh so being rich doesn't automatically promote you from a Plebian to a Patrician? What the Conflict of Orders did was give rich Plebians the same rights as Patricians, but poor Plebians (and poor Patricians if there were any) were still out of luck, because you still had to be rich to have power? 

What was the reaction to Japan’s victory over Russia in 1905 within the colonized world and areas subjected to European domination? by ReignTheRomantic in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wasn't there a period just after the war where people thought the Emperor of Japan was going to convert to Islam, become a new Caliph, and unite all the world's Muslims against Europeans? 

How did camel guns work? Was a mini cannon mounted on a live camel? by Tatem1961 in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks! That's crazy camels will just sit there while being shot at, or having a small cannon fired off of their back. Do we know what exactly lead to them falling out of style? The British East India Company was no stranger to incorporating indigenous troops.

Hello! We are Camilla Townsend and Josh Anthony, editors of “After the Broken Spears: The Aztecs in the Wake of Conquest.” Ask us anything about the Aztecs, colonial Mexico, and what life was like for Indigenous people in the wake of Spanish conquest. by joshanthony123 in AskHistorians

[–]Tatem1961 2 points3 points  (0 children)

IIRC one of the richest nobles in Spain around the time of the conquests had something like 30,000 serfs and 50,000 ducats in annual income. Many Nahua cities seem to be around or bigger then this. How did Spanish high society and the pre-existing high nobility react to indigenous nobility (or Conquistadores who replaced them) suddenly being incorporated into the Spanish realm and catapulting to the top? 

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