*Sfdebris.net

Philippe VI de Valois was the nephew of Philippe IV le Bel. His father Charles was Philippe le Bel's brother. He was not a "random aristo" at all. He was truly the next in line. Also, the hereditary rights in France went through males. Isabelle de France could not transmit to her son Edward a right...

I'm not sure you need to assume that JMS would need to have less control in order for the show to be 'messagey.' B5 pushed a fair number of lines which were - for its mid-90s airdate - fairly controversial. A sample from the early seasons: Season 1 Narn-Centauri conflict quite intentionally evokes t...

Article cites Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (PLC) and Bohemia as elective monarchies which only lasted 2 centuries as proof that Holy Westerosi Empire is unstable. Article does not cite other elective monarchies which only lasted 2 centuries, such as Jerusalem, Dutch Republic, Latin Empire, USA. I...

Holy cow Naldiin, I just read your analysis and I thought it was fantastic . I walked away from the last episode thinking... "Holy cow, I think this arrangement is a disaster ." and it was a pleasure to read a confirming opinion from someone who has a far greater command of history than I do. 10/10...

Thanks for the reply, I found that to be an interesting and informative read. Glad to. I think part of the reason academics and universities right now get a 'bad rap,' as it were, is that most people don't know what any of us do or why it is important or useful or enriches the human experience in a...

Out of interest, how does a professional historian make money? The word professional implies a sustainable career after all. So - this is a great question. I find a lot of folks - including my students - don't have a strong sense of how the field works. I have a Ph.D. in history and teach at a univ...

The article fails to account for some Westeros-specific details. Bran legitimizes himself by virtue of having the support of all the current major players and time. As long as the current lords of the houses live, they will presumably support him and it stands to reason that this amount of time equ...

Having lurked these forums for the better part of an age, I thought, since I've written something, I might as well post it and see what people thought: https://acoup.blog/2019/05/20/new-acquisitions-elective-monarchy-and-the-future-of-westeros/ It's a historian's take (I am a professional historian,...

I have no idea if it will be a good show, but that's honestly a pretty poor trailer. 1) I have no idea what this show is about or what the intended tone is. The main character is basically an internal spy, people are getting thrown off buildings, and we're in a military organization - all of which w...

I always assumed the whole idea of Jeffries Tubes was to show how cramped living and working would be on a starship. Then you have the ridiculous size of the crew quarters on the E-D and I'm not so sure. I wonder how many of the E-E's crew wouldn't have been assimilated in First Contact if they had...