Today:
Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.
I took a long look at the evidence to suggest that William Rufus – son of William the Conqueror and the second Norman king of England – was murdered. The most outlandish theory, considered in detail, is Margaret Murray's contention that Rufus was a sacrificial victim to a pagan fertility cult, but I also examine claims that he was killed on the orders of the French king, Philip I, or his brother, who succeeded him as Henry I.
The topic on why the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan was criminally overlooked. There were multiple good answers by multiple users covering a variety of parts of the issue, and it's not often a question about the NBA comes along in here.
Spring has come! It brings fresh air, warm weather, and a huge amount of rain. In my neck of the woods at least I’ve kept floaties in my backpack. But as Eric Idle say’s you’ve got to look on the bright side of life. My bright side has been even more time spent reading wonderful posts on the best subreddit around.
The regular fare was great as always, along with a couple of special threads!
A new episode of the podcast is out! Run, do not walk, to listen to AskHistorians Podcast 132 - The Missouri Compromise of 1820: A tale of slavery, politics and foreshadowing with /u/freedmenspatrol (With /u/Freedmenspatrol!)
You absolutely 100% HAVE to go check out Tuesday Trivia: Tell me about relationships between people and animals in your era! This thread has relaxed standards and we invite everyone to participate. Amazing animal stories throughout history from a host of different people!
The Friday Free For all Saw a fair bit of action.
Don’t forget the Saturday Showcase!
I asked about the transition between Cuneiform and modern writing in a post on Saturday that sadly doesn't have an answer. Maybe there's someone around in the coming week who might be interested?