AskHistorians

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Catharism was a militant heresy that gained strong support in Southern France in the 13th century before being suppressed in the two decade Albigensian Crusade. Two or three centuries later, Southern France again became a bastion of militant religious heresy with French Huguenots. Any connection?	45
Why did Nero have a strange neckbeard in the 1st century when no other Roman emperor was depicted with a beard at all until Hadrian in the 2nd century, and even then it was a full and normal kempt looking beard? Did Nero just not care about his appearance even in statues?	42
The book The Shakespeare Stealer is about people who secretly watch live performances of Shakespeare and copy down the lines in cursive so other theater companies can perform the plays since there is no such thing as copyright. Is this historical? How did Shakespeare make money from his plays?	37
How much of the Jacobite rebellions in the British Isles from the late 17th-early 18th century was based on principled support for restoring the Catholic Stuart monarchy, and how much was a pretext for advancing Irish and Scottish nationalism against England?	36
Is there evidence of widespread sexual abuse in the Catholic Church prior to 20th century?	35
The 12th century nun Hildegard of Bingen drew diagrams of "fiery cosmic eggs" that appear to resemble a female vagina. Was this intentional and what was the social context/significance of it?	32
Adolf Hitler seems to have been sexually restrained and even puritanical in his personal life and views on sex. Is there any indication that he disapproved of the notorious sexual profligacy of high-ranking Nazis like Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich?	29
How reliable is August Kubizek's account of his friendship with the young Adolf Hitler before WWI considered to be?	27
What was Montezuma II of the Aztecs actually thinking when he trusted Cortes and let the conquistadores stay as guests in his palace until he ended up their prisoner?	26
How accurate is the depiction of Spartan hoplite warfare in the historical fiction novel Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield?	26

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