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https://thebulletin.org/2024/05/a-plague-comes-before-the-fall-lessons-from-roman-history/

Been reading around the various incidences. Not just the normal, well known ones

The Catalan Company armoured women to defend their camp when attacked by Genoese and Byzantines

https://www.yorku.ca/inpar/muntaner_goodenough.pdf

Quote from: Nick Harbud on May 17, 2024, 04:02:33 PMwhat type of armour will you be considering

I wasn't actually going to do much on armour. Some of Breiding's examples are probably too well worn for even medieval wargamers to have missed they are myths.  For example, there are Youtube videos out there showing men completing assault courses in full plate armour.  The weight comparisons of early 20th century troops equipment and fully armoured men-at-arms were done at least as early as the 1980s, probably earlier. I will do the hounscull and touch on a few other mail-related confusions. The "knights and cranes" myth is probably too familiar to most these days but its origins are interesting.

As to women wearing armour, I can think of a few examples (Eleanor of Aquitaine on occassion, Matilda of Canossa, , Dulle Griet - others no doubt I could dig out) but probably won't focus on that one.

I think I will do "Shire horses are descended from destriers" just for fun

Finally, forewarned - this won't be a great treatise - just a few examples and a call to critically approach information.  Breiding has quite a bit to say about museum curators and art historians and their duty to counter misinformation (this being his profession).

What a large and lovely can of worms to open!  I can just picture all the various myths writhing around in front of me.

Just to complicate the very straightforward list in your original post, what type of armour will you be considering?  I mean, the medieval period includes mail hauberk through to hardened steel plate and everything in between.  Whilst accepting that some of the myths (and their debunking) do not depend upon the type of armour selected, it may be as well to narrow the scope of your article to bring out particular points. 

For example, I am quite willing to believe that neither chainmail not plate armours rendered the wearer immobile.  However, when did women (not just Joan of Arc) start to wear armour and was there any preference for style or type through the ages?

Good luck with the article!

Still mulling this article.  What form will it take, will I have a surge of mental energy that will enable me to write it etc.  However, the "History Myths" genre continues elsewhere.  A recent book by a Dutch scholar includes a chapter debunking the consumption of potatoes in Medieval Europe. I was a bit shocked by this, as I was taught in school sixty years ago that potatoes came from the New World after Columbus. But it does show the problem expands beyond the wargames world.

Thanks Dave and David.  Very interesting article that I came across earlier.  As Anthony notes, the details of the study in the Nature paper are quite helpful in understanding this research.

While the location of pyramids, temples, and causeways in this region has suggested that the Nile River channel has migrated east from abutting the Western Desert Plateau across the Nile's floodplain, the main takeaway is that there is a positive correlation between the perceived level of the Nile and the elevation of these man made features across dynasties.  Fascinating.

Thanks David.  The illustrations in the text of the Nature article are very helpful in understanding what is going on.

The source paper is here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01379-7

https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c99zwkzzrxvo.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17159284833022&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com

Not my field but hopefully of interest

https://greekreporter.com/2024/05/16/history-ancient-greek-city-smyrna/

Hopefully of interest...