For questions about the medieval era (500-1500AD o.e.) as a whole.
24
votes
5answers
3k views
Is a pig-mounted cavalry possible?
Recently, my neighbour upset me. I have discovered that he plans to somehow improve his trebuchets to throw nasty things across the river. I told him that my pig-mounted cavalry will attack him.
I ...
1
vote
2answers
141 views
How could a medieval society catch a large number of birds in a short length of time?
I was lounging about in my throne room when a man came to speak to me. He had one leg cut off (recently, too) and claimed he was an alchemist. He says that he wants to get revenge on the king of the ...
33
votes
13answers
4k views
How effective is a spoon to mutilate my former alchemist?
I did it. I found the alchemist that turned my pigeons into spoons. He also turned my wife into a giant spoon. Sure, she speaks less now, but I'm still upset as I need to find a new one...
He is too ...
29
votes
9answers
4k views
How long does it take to build a medieval city wall?
There is a medieval city that, for multiple reasons, doesn't have any kind of structural defense, but they decided to build a wall now as there is risk of a war in the bordering kingdom, which can ...
27
votes
10answers
6k views
What can I do to make my son's snowman survive, using medieval technology?
What my son likes the most with winter is making a snowman.
What my son hates the most with winter is melting of his snowman.
I really would like to make him happy and make the snowman survive for ...
3
votes
2answers
113 views
What would a recession look like in medieval times?
I'm working on a fantasy setting for a game, the gameplay of which includes trading and government in a fantasy world that is experiencing a negative trend in trade.
The setting is outwardly ...
7
votes
2answers
329 views
Is a medieval spoon satellite realistic?
I misread an answer to My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages?, thinking it was referring to a network of parabolic reflector dishes made of spoons orbiting the ...
16
votes
4answers
3k views
Is a network of spoon-launching trebuchets realistic?
On a comment to My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages? I joke about creating a network of trebuchets to launch spoons.
Is it realistic?
My concerns:
How far ...
114
votes
21answers
16k views
My carrier pigeons have been replaced by spoons: how can I send messages?
Yup. All my pigeons are now spoons. I knew my court alchemist was a sore loser, but I still think it's inappropriate to do that for a chess game. He vanished and I no longer have any means to ...
3
votes
6answers
330 views
How could a medieval army defeat Sauron's army?
For context : I would like to know if it is plausible to build a realistic european medieval world where Sauron appears at some point
Sauron's army was one of the most powerful in Middle Earth in the ...
1
vote
4answers
117 views
What would the buildings in a city on a marsh be made of?
In my world there is a city built on a mighty river just as said river opens up into a marsh as it hits the sea. The river is quite wide and deep and when it reaches the city has already crossed a ...
7
votes
1answer
206 views
How many generations to lock in androgynous human characteristics?
My story happens in fictional medieval age. There are the usual suspects of peasants, clergy, craftsman, merchants & aristocracy. There is also a specific class of hereditary servants. They work ...
5
votes
9answers
315 views
What reasons would you have to reclaim your spot if the current rulers aren't evil?
Let's say a strict monarch who ruled a kingdom of "hunters" was overthrown by a race/group of "witches" in a way that wasn't proportionate to any crime the recent ruler may have committed, but instead ...
68
votes
20answers
12k views
Which professions warranted travel in Medieval times?
I'm trying to come up with characters whose backgrounds allow them to have homes, histories, and skills, but will still enable or encourage them to travel in a typical medieval setting. I've never ...
2
votes
3answers
195 views
Heavy, immutable steel: armour design
Imagine a metal that can be molded into (almost) any form using magic, but once the process is done the material becomes absolutely immutable. It is not possible to physically alter its form. It can ...
19
votes
13answers
6k views
Would children born in winter be weaker than the ones born in other seasons?
Setting is a dark ages medieval world. Equivalent to Earth circa century V AD.
Agriculture has no crop rotation, and most of the harvest is lost to plagues and pests (those damn wabbits).
Would ...
32
votes
21answers
14k views
Are “Midas” swords useless for warfare?
Are swords, spears, and arrows that turn slain enemies into pure gold useful, in medieval combat, or are they useless aside from free money?
Notes about the weapons:
flesh wounds don't turn people ...
8
votes
4answers
343 views
Is a mainly kicking combat style like Muay Thai, or Taekwondo realistic for a giant humanoid of around 15 feet?
I'm working on creating a realistic species of giant humans. I've changed the proportions, such as creating elephant like feet and muscular pillar-like legs to support the weight. They also possess a ...
1
vote
0answers
37 views
Nourishment of cave dwellers? [duplicate]
My world is set in a post-thermonuclear war scenario. Most life on the surface has died, but a few humans who survived in underground shelters.
Once the radiation levels reached a non-lethal level, ...
42
votes
11answers
10k views
How to avoid the language barrier when there is no time to learn the other language?
In my medieval world, population A and population B have not had any contacts for thousands of years. But pressing events will make them look for each other.
However when they meet... how are they ...
11
votes
4answers
249 views
Wading through high-inertia particulates: how could pre-modern technology best approximate a protective, slick, waterproof suit?
In the supernatural plane of existence known as The Exhibition, time appears frozen - nothing is moving, falling objects are suspended motionless, the works. In addition to this, while outside ...
19
votes
5answers
4k views
AIDS vs Great Plague in medieval period
The Great Plague is known as one of the worst pandemics in human history as it killed between 75 and 200 million people from 1347 to 1351 (according to wikipedia).
I would like to know if AIDS had ...
6
votes
4answers
169 views
How long could an alien species survive at sea?
The species in question are Herbivores, bipedal in nature, around 50 to 80 pounds on average, and require around 2250 calories per day to stay healthy.
The ships these populations would live on are ...
-1
votes
2answers
106 views
How often would an isolated village be visited?
Let's imagine a very tiny medieval village with a population of 20 to 50 people.
This is the furthest village, the land next to it is very difficult to use. It is in the rough part of the country, ...
3
votes
2answers
169 views
Can a two handed sword bludgeon when swung?
Would a large, two handed sword have enough weight behind it when swung, swung, not thrusted, to bludgeon heavy armor like chainmail or plate? So If you swung this giant sword and it hit someone's ...
10
votes
9answers
3k views
How to justify that people forgot the past and that they have neighbours?
Let's say that there are 2 countries with very different inhabitants. Country A has no idea that country B exists. Country B may or may not know about Country A. Country A is surrounded by large ...
41
votes
4answers
8k views
Is it possible to create a Gas Mask using only Medieval Technology?
This question was inspired by this one, which brought up the concept that a lot of the issues with a sword that created toxic fumes would also kill the user (that question also has one of the best ...
2
votes
5answers
1k views
Weaponry made from brittle steel: splintering projectiles
This is about a fictional material that is meant to be very similar to steel, but very brittle (under regular conditions). This means it breaks under stress instead of being strained signficantly ...
6
votes
5answers
545 views
How would a deity best reform his Church peacefully? [closed]
The Beginning
A deity of good aspects (Justice, Light, etc.) has guided mankind since the dawn of Creation, helping them develop and prosper. He was always a powerhouse in terms of raw divine power, ...
56
votes
10answers
10k views
Is it possible to create a practical sword that's naturally toxic?
While doing research, I stumbled across the alloy "arsenical bronze", in which copper is smelted with arsenic instead of (or in addition to) tin. This apparently gives you "a stronger final product ...
8
votes
9answers
348 views
How to effectively force celibacy among a large mixed medieval army?
I have a large army, Let's say 100,000 male and female adolescent soldiers, my commanders are old veterans and they are few but they need a way to prevent pregnancies among my shieldmaidens.
How do ...
12
votes
4answers
5k views
Would it make any difference If I use diamonds as arrowheads?
Let's say I have a plenty of supply of diamonds for my archer's arrows and my blacksmiths can easily work with diamonds.
Would diamond arrows be superior to iron arrows?
1
vote
2answers
183 views
King Arthur in Connecticut [closed]
In the middle of a joust, King Arthur receives a severe blow to the head and is somehow transported in time and space to Connecticut in 1889. After some initial confusion and his capture by the local ...
33
votes
12answers
7k views
Weaponry made from extreme light-weight steel: swords and daggers
Imagine there was a material that was mostly identical to steel in almost every way, but instead of a density of $7.85–7.87 g/cm^3$ it would be a tenth of that. That is about 4 times lighter than ...
-2
votes
2answers
106 views
Creating a medieval fireball thrower weapon? [closed]
I want to create a medium-distance personal weapon that hurls fireballs with medieval technology for light infantry against heavy infantry. It needs to be similar like a crossbow. Is it possible to ...
2
votes
2answers
139 views
The flying state, estimating an “ideal” size
The in-universe solution to the Infinite Sea problem, crossing millions of kilometers of landless ocean, is actually "create a flying island of X acres and take the trip in style" because there is ...
1
vote
5answers
246 views
Could a powerful Roman Empire exist alongside the British Empire? [closed]
I hope this question isn't too big and broad. In my post-apocalyptic series set in the years 2050-2200 in New Zealand after a nuclear war. (this question pertains to pre-war history) This version of ...
-2
votes
2answers
149 views
Can a city go from a population of 5000 people to 50000 in a 600-year period?
I have a few cities in my story that have anywhere from 30000 people to 70000 people. Is it possible that these cities have blossomed to such a number in a span of 600 to 700 years? I am going to give ...
0
votes
3answers
91 views
Getting out of a gang [closed]
The setting is a high-fantasy medieval metropolis. This is for a Dungeons and Dragons background.
I have a character that was adopted into an orphanage at a young age. Unfortunately, the head of the ...
28
votes
13answers
8k views
Medieval ways to tell time, without a sun or stars
I am looking for ways to tell time when the sky is completely blacked out all the time.
I am aware of nails and other metal objects inserted into candles. Due to vegetation dying due to this calamity,...
20
votes
10answers
6k views
Medieval method of measuring temperature
What methods could a medieval society (technology level around 1475-1500 AD) use to measure the temperature of a liquid?
The world is similar to medieval Britain/Europe, but with more trade
so ...
12
votes
2answers
221 views
Reality check: Buddhist Aztecs
Idea
Is the following alternate history setup conceivable:
Central Mexico has been converted to Buddhism by missionaries arriving from East Asia or South-East Asia hundreds of years before European ...
151
votes
26answers
28k views
Can a substance be more lethal in smaller doses?
Yes, I realize this question is a bit ridiculous, and there are no cases of it in reality (that I can find), but with a bit of truth twisting, could it theoretically be possible?
In my fantasy world ...
5
votes
4answers
146 views
Convincing a large medieval city of an incoming catastrophe
A tiny subset of a medieval city's million-person population is aware of an imminent magical cataclysm via dreams or visions. They are unaware of each other.
Magic in the world is rare and limited. ...
16
votes
16answers
9k views
Can rope tied to a sword hold a person? [closed]
So there is a scene in my novel, one of my characters is on a cliff and he is holding a rope, so his friend can climb up. Suddenly the character is attacked by bandits and has to let go of the rope. ...
1
vote
0answers
60 views
How can you derive a meter if you were transported in a world with no knowledge of the metric system? [duplicate]
I'm making a novel where the protagonist is reincarnated into a world in a medieval setting? How would one go about this? Note that the world he is in may not necessarily be the same size as earth.
10
votes
5answers
405 views
Is it realistic to “salt the earth” in a kingdom/around a city?
I have a story in which a King, knowing his kingdom will fall, would like to have a scorched earth policy. The King would order all residents to begin salting the earth to ensure nothing there can ...
5
votes
9answers
581 views
Is it realistic to sleep outdoors while traveling along roads
Did research on map-building to get an idea of how to make a good fictional area, and get an idea of travel times. I consistently found it said that Towns are roughly a days walk apart, and villages ...
2
votes
6answers
275 views
Medieval “Morning After” Pill?
We've all probably heard of the "morning after" pill women take after sex to try and prevent pregnancy, right? Is it possible for a culture with largely medieval technology to create such a pill, or ...
33
votes
11answers
6k views
What measures might an early-medieval society take to deal with draugr?
The Background
I have an early medieval/late dark ages society roughly equivalent to Anglo-Saxon Britain or Viking Scandinavia. Everything's fairly normal...apart from the fact that people who drown ...
