Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 October 4

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October 4[edit]

Smallpox blankets[edit]

Hi! Is the deliberate giving of blankets infected with smallpox fact or a hoax? I couldn't see an article about it. 2405:4803:F220:7277:3896:1588:9344:C51F (talk) 00:56, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You could start with Siege of Fort Pitt. Then use Google to find more info on the general subject. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 01:03, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
See also Smallpox#Biological warfare. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:38, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hagia Sophia re-mosqueing, scholarly refs[edit]

Greetings,

It is now more than a year of re-mosqueing of Hagia Sophia. I was searching Turkey related refs for some other article and realized that since then some fresh academic/ scholarly research studies and opinions about seems to be becoming available. Article Hagia Sophia as of now seem to cover some instantaneous reactions but is yet to cover analytical scholarly discourse in proper fashion. So I have started a new Draft:Intellectual discourse over re-mosqueing of Hagia Sophia with pro and against one opinion each to begin with. (shall decide on whether to keep it separate or merge in Hagia Sophia once it will be reasonably done)

I did collect few possible bibliography. As of now from users of this desk I am seeking help in more scholarly citations so we can pick up as many dimensions of scholarly views as possible. Doing alone I might miss some useful citations, a help will in finding refs will be useful.

Thanks and warm regards

Bookku, 'Encyclopedias = expanding information & knowledge' (talk) 09:08, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps: Yilmaz, Ihsan (May 2021). Creating the Desired Citizen: Ideology, State and Islam in Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-1108832557. Alansplodge (talk) 09:44, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
For legal aspects; The Hagia Sophia Case from the Harvard Law Review. Alansplodge (talk) 12:07, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Gladstone's father[edit]

I have been given a copy of a 1954 biography of Gladstone by Philip Magnus. He mentions in the first chapter that his father, John Gladstone, was MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency) until 1827 "when he was unseated for bribery". No further details and a Google search hasn't shed any more light. Can anyone find more? Alansplodge (talk) 14:00, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Fiveby (talk • contribs)

(above unsigned not posted by me) Could that be a reference to Berwick-upon-Tweed being a corrupt borough? Per [1]. Much more details in these contemporary sorry tales of both him and his opponent: [2] and [3]. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 15:20, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
A little in Jenkins, Roy (1995). "A Liverpool Gentleman?". Gladstone. Macmillan. pp. 5–6. ISBN 0333602161..

Then in 1818 John Gladstone became a member of Parliament. His parliamentary career never prospered. He was too old (fifty-four) when he started. But there was more to it than that. He was like an elderly philanderer who always had to buy his favours, and failed to make neat transactions. Liverpool rejected him, and he went to Lancaster. Most of his two years as member for that borough was occupied with fighting off a petition alleging that he had been corruptly elected. In 1820 he transferred to Woodstock, where the Duke of Marlborough had a seat going cheap - for £877 to be exact. But by 1826 the market seemed to have improved and John Gladstone failed to come to terms with the Duke for the renewal of his mandate. With a fine indifference to locality he once more removed himself, this time to Berwick-on-Tweed. There he was elected in second place (in a two-member borough) by a margin of three votes, but was once again subjected to a petition for corrupt practices. This time it succeeded, and his far from splendid parliamentary career much of it devoted to defending the rights of West Indian slave-owners, of which he was a leading example) came to an end in 1827.

He was defeated (humiliatingly, according to Jenkins) in Dundee in 1837, and in 1841 "flickered towards the prospect of a nomination for either Aberdeen or Leith". DuncanHill (talk) 17:43, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Many thanks all. More than enough to update the article. Alansplodge (talk) 17:47, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The History of Parliament Online article may also be of use. He seems to have fallen out with his Berwick contacts, after being expected to procure patronage for his supporters. DuncanHill (talk) 17:53, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Folklore about Viper Reproduction[edit]

There was a page on wikipedia which detailed myths or folklore about viper reproduction, with one part about how vipers were depicted as humanoids with a crocodile or serpentine tail. I can't seem to find this page, or any information about it. Where is it? And if it has been deleted, are there any other sources with the information? Quick Trundleteacher (Talk) (Inputs) 21:10, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I looked through AFD archives and couldn't find anything that matched your description. Right now Serpent (symbolism) seems like the main article about snakes in folklore and mythology. bibliomaniac15 23:33, 4 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Also Snakes in mythology, but nothing that matches your recollection. Our article on Vipera berus, the common European viper or adder, lacks a section on folklore but the lead paragraph points to “Everyday adders” - the Adder in Folklore (again, nothing that matches). Alansplodge (talk) 10:41, 5 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Surprised Echidna (mythology) not linked in snakes in mythology. fiveby(zero) 12:06, 5 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It is now. :-) Alansplodge (talk) 12:20, 5 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
This site mentions a crocodile tail and the Physiologus. 176.247.148.163 (talk) 20:03, 5 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
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