User:Gerard1453

I have a background in maths, physics and electrical engineering. Obviously, I like all physics, great and small. But I am also interested in history: Byzantium and European history, period +/- 500 (Baptism of Clovis I) up to and including the 14-th century (Petrarch).

My approach to history is, to first-order:


 * If an account of a historical period cannot be confirmed or refuted in any way by independent means, it is probably fiction (I subscribe to the historical-critical methods employed by The Bible Unearthed),
 * No guts no glory, no coins no story,
 * Manuscripts shown in wiki-articles should be supplied with: where and when found and by whom; in which library of museum it can be inspected in principle; the peer reviewed journal where its authencity was approved - or rejected. Lacking any accompanying information, it must be consideren fiction and/or a forgery,
 * I do not believe in cultural periods that follow preceding ones without any transition - no jumps.