Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 February 19

= February 19 =

raw-foodism and Nazism
Is there a link between the two? Or could a convincing case (argument) be made that there was? I mean, it's the same kind of pastoral-romanticist ludditic mindset that worships everything pre-industrial and rural that also gave rise to Nazism ("blood and soil" ideology specifically.) I do understand that people may believe similar things for very different reasons, but still? Asmrulz (talk) 15:54, 19 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Reductio ad Hitlerum. In any case, those Nazis were so pre-industrial they built massive motorways and huge quantities of tanks, aircraft and even ballistic missiles. Paul B (talk) 15:59, 19 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Yea, I don't understand that. Perhaps they are confusing them with another genocidal regime, the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot, which most definitely did believe in a return to agriculture and abolishing industry. StuRat (talk) 16:27, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Asmrulz -- Hitler was personally a vegetarian, but did not expect it of other Nazis. Not sure what the connection to raw-foodism is; Fads and Fallacies: In the Name of Science does not mention any such connection (though covering a number of Nazi-related pseudo-scientific endeavors). Gardner mentions only Jerome I. Rodale... AnonMoos (talk) 16:58, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Inaccuracies in Francis Brett Young novel "They seek a country"
Prisoners land at False Bay near The Cape. They escape North on foot. But are picked up and rescued from starvation a day or two later 500+ miles away near Grahamstown 146.90.38.137 (talk) 17:14, 19 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Is that what the novel claims, and you want us to fact check if it actually happened ? (It would seem to be impossible to move that far in 2 days on foot, but they might have found some faster mode of transport.) StuRat (talk) 17:45, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Just looking at a map, it seems they'd be better of by sea than by land. Any mention of them finding a boat? I'm far from a nautical expert, though, no idea if that's a feasible distance to cover. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:50, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Château Gaillard architect and workers
I see in our article on Château Gaillard that it says, A master-mason is omitted, and military historian Allen Brown has suggested that it may be because Richard himself was the overall architect; this is supported by the interest Richard showed in the work through his frequent presence.

The article also says, Amongst those workmen mentioned in the rolls are quarrymen, masons, carpenters, smiths = all these sound like skilled craftsmen. Does that mean that Richard himself may have taught them these trades and skills, since many of them were needed in a short time period?--Doug Coldwell (talk) 19:54, 19 February 2015 (UTC)


 * No, Richard wouldn't have had those skills himself and wouldn't have taught them to other people. Richard could have designed the castle himself, in the sense that he told them what he wanted and they carried it out, but an actually qualified mason would have been in charge of the construction. Something similar happened with Abbot Suger and the Basilica of St-Denis...Suger is generally credited as the architect, but I somehow doubt he was sawing wood and carving stone with his own hands. It's kind of like Richard was the executive producer of a movie. He gave them all the money and showed up to see how things were going, but he didn't actually do anything. Adam Bishop (talk) 21:20, 19 February 2015 (UTC)


 * Also the article says, ...carters who transported the raw materials to the castle. What the heck is a "carter"? (Don't say a Jimmy!) AND what raw materials did they carry from where to the castle?--Doug Coldwell (talk) 22:07, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
 * A carter would probably be someone operating a cart. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:15, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
 * O.K. - so, in this case, what raw materials might they be carrying to the castle?--Doug Coldwell (talk) 22:25, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
 * P.S. - would the cart have been by man power only or pulled by an animal?--Doug Coldwell (talk) 23:02, 19 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Normally the cart would be pulled by a beast of burden. The occupation of carter (Anglo-Norman careter, French charretier) has fairly recently been superseded by modern carriers and methods of delivery.  The building materials would need to be transported.    D b f i r s   08:41, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
 * The main materials would have been stone and wood in enormous quantities. It's possible that they could have been transported by barge on the Seine, but then a cart (or rather, LOTS of carts) would have been needed to get them to the site. Alansplodge (talk) 09:12, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks everybody for all the great answers. Now I can sleep!--Doug Coldwell (talk) 11:18, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

family of Jesus Christ
Do not ask duplicate questions, see the miscellaneous desk. μηδείς (talk) 23:56, 19 February 2015 (UTC)