
Camels in early medieval western Europe (2016) - Thevet
http://www.caitlingreen.org/2016/05/camels-in-early-medieval-western-europe.html
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paganel
Camels were used in present-day Romanian Dobruja up until at least the 1930s,
first introduced there probably by the Ottomans or even the Tatars before
them. One such article (in Romanian) with a couple of not-so-great but rare
black and white photos of said camels:
[http://adevarul.ro/locale/constanta/povestea-camilelor-
dobro...](http://adevarul.ro/locale/constanta/povestea-camilelor-dobrogene-
animale-aspect-apocaliptic-proprietarului-fost-capitan-
razboi-1_59f59a925ab6550cb8980819/index.html)

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richardknop
Europe used to be intertwined with North Africa and current Turkey/Israel a
lot in medieval times (those regions were parts of Roman Empire for quite some
time). It’s quite recent that very strong ties between Europe and North Africa
/ closer part of Middle East have been cut more or less.

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jxub
Would you have some pointers to more information on the topic?

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freehunter
The History of Rome podcast talks a lot about present day Turkey and the rest
of Asia Minor, as well as Carthage and Egypt and other North African places as
they were all parts of the Empire.

I don't have anything more specific about later history, but the spice trade
and the Orient Express are two (I think) fascinating pieces of history that
tie Western Europe to North Africa and eastern Asia. The history of the
Crusades is also integral to understand the mixing of these areas... Europe
wouldn't have cared if they didn't think east Asia was "theirs" in some way.

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icebraining
_I don 't have anything more specific about later history_

The History of Byzantium podcast picks up right where the History of Rome left
off. It's mostly about the east Roman empire, but also covers the all its
neighbors.

[https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/](https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/)

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richardknop
I would continue the Roman story even after the end of Byzantine Empire.
Indirect continuation would be Holy Roman Empire. Very interesting podcasts
could be made about its history, intrigue and power struggles. All the way up
to events which led to First World War.

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fnordian_slip
Great article!

I believe I've heard about their sporadic use in medieval Europe before, but
certainly never in the context of humiliation of ones enemies.

This really supports the whole "reality/truth is stranger than fiction" trope,
as we would probably dismiss a novel or movie set in medieval western Europe
with scenes that depict people paraded around on camels as "unrealistic".

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DrPhish
Another strange historical use of camels was an experiment during the Cariboo
gold rush on the west coast of Canada (central British Columbia)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariboo_camels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariboo_camels)

