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.
Every week I like to identify some of "The Real Questions" of /r/AskHistorians! Here, we honor the more atypical questions that get asked here: the bizarre, abnormal, strangely niche or oddly specific, interestingly worded or built on uncommon premises, or otherwise amusing questions that make me say, "Finally, someone is asking the real questions!" We look at little-known customs, unexpected historical anecdotes, unusual cultural traits, and other more unique questions that go beyond the regular brand of sociopolitical history that this subreddit so fabulously covers.
Halloween was last night, and so ends my favorite time of year. Spooktober brought about some great questions this month, so make sure to give them a look!
Below are my entries for this week! Questions with a ‡ feature a link to an older answer(s) instead of or along with a direct reply. What do you think were the realest questions this week?
Halloween has come and gone and we find ourselves on the first day of November. Have no fear, the Sunday Digest hasn’t vanished into the void like the Ghosts and Ghouls of last night. We’ve got plenty of fantastic threads for you to peruse on some great history.
/u/dhowlett1692 joined us for the awesome, and perfectly timed, Hello- I'm Dan Howlett, a PhD student at George Mason University and Reddit's Salem Witch Trials expert AMA.
Look for some good book ideas in the Thursday Reading and Recommendations!
From Demon summoning to ghastly ghost stories, it’s a Halloween filled Friday Free For All!
We also had a META thread on Where the Answers are.
Once again, thank you to all the amazing contributors, writers, question askers and community members who are Among Us for another week. Treat yourself to the digest, enjoy the week, and I’ll see you next Sunday!
Shout out to those fascinating questions that caught our eye, but alas, still wait for an answer. I was looking for plenty of Halloween questions, so they’re a bit more over represented then usual, but I liked them!
/u/Zeuvembie is looking for help with What Was Eye Care Like In Ancient China?
/u/Count_Blackula1 asked I've heard the Glorious Revolution of 1688 characterised as a 'Dutch invasion of England' with little distinction between it and past invasions of England e.g. 1066. What do historians generally think of this viewpoint?
/u/Limited_myLes asked How effective was siege warfare in the medieval ages for attacking armies?
Playing catch-up...
/u/aethelric on To what extent were the European Wars of Religion political? Alternatively, to what extent were they based on the genuine religious and theological differences of the factions involved?
/u/AksiBashi answered Did Greek-speaking citizens of the “Byzantine” Empire consider themselves primarily as Greek or Roman?
/u/ayebraine on Why do so many Russian surnames seem insulting or negative?