I took a detailed look at the murky history of the holiest relic in Christendom.

In what circumstances, exactly, was the True Cross re-discovered in Jerusalem in c.330 – and by whom? What did the relic look like? And, when it was looted by the Persians after the fall of Jerusalem in 614, what happened to it next? Was the Cross that was returned to the Church of the Holy Sepulchure in 630 the original? Or did the Emperor Heraclius conspire with his former enemies to pass off a fake onto the Byzantine faithful?

Sunday Funday, it’s digest time! There’s been some excellent threads this week, on a huge variety of topics as always. And we’ve seen the first two Floating Features of the summer campaign! Lets get rolling and you can check out the fare below!

Have you ever dreamed about becoming a flair? Maybe you just want to contribute to the best darn sub on reddit? The Floating Features are the perfect opportunity for you. Each one is an open ended theme that gives you a chance to write just about anything on the topic. No more waiting for a question that fits your niche, bring your niche to the front page!

The first one was Monday, and was Floating Feature: From Sea to Shining Sea, Come and Share the History of North America!.

The second FF was Floating Feature: From Ansel Adams to Warren Zevon, Share Your Stories from the History of Art! Which had just a mountain of people contributing to it. Was a huge hit! And still open, so if you want to contribute yourself, now’s your chance!

The next one will be all about the Middle East! Happening Thursday August 1st, it’s your next chance to start building that flair portfolio, or just introduce some people to your favorite history.

Tuesday Trivia: Heroes of the Battlefield—When They’re Off the Battlefield had a very different perspective on some military minds. The next one will be on Femme Fatales, so bring your favorite story about some badass women!

Thursday Reading and Recommendations!

The Friday Free For All was banging, and had some great discussions and more casual chat.

The Saturday Showcase featured /u/Sunagainstgold dealing with medieval women writers, /u/WelfOnTheShelf on the Islamic reaction to the Fourth Crusade, and /u/Klesk_vs_Xaero continuing to write an entire novel on the Italian Facism. All great stuff!

Meanwhile there is no escaping… the META questions about deleted comments. Come witness several of us reiterate the same talking points as usual.

Hats off to the many writers and their fantastic work! It’s a incredible wealth of history to read through. See ya’ll next week folks!

/u/bacarruda answered "The New York Times published a report on how progressive the USSR space program was with sending minorities to space, however growing up my Russian grandparents described the soviet space program as disgusting and racist, using minorities as test dummies. Which is true?"

/u/systemmetternich on "France has many Cathedrals called "Notre Dame" in reference to Mary, mother of Jesus. Why did France name so many religious sites after Mary?"

"The Song 'John Brown's Body' and its influence on Union soldiers during the American Civil War" got responses from both me and /u/Red_Galiray.

I also tackled "Why does the Boy Scouts of America have so much Native American lore/practices in it’s history?" solo, while Red also jumped on "Why didn't the confederacy pursue a more defensive war?"

Upcoming Events

• This week's Tuesday Trivia topic is Femme Fatales! Come share your stories of history's female spies, assassins, black widows, cagey politicians, and more!

• And on Thursday, stop by our Floating Feature to talk about Near Eastern history! There are like eighty documentaries called "secrets of the pyramids"--I expect to learn at least some of those, so don't disappoint me!