askhistorians

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Toyotomi Hidetsugu, the nephew of the Second Unifier of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was accused of “atrocities” and his entire family line including women and children was exterminated. Why did Hideyoshi think such a brutal purge was a good idea and what would be an atrocity for a daimyo?	13
The Tang era Confucian scholar-poet Du Fu wrote many poems about his relationship with the exiled Buddhist Abbot Zan. Would such a relationship be considered seemly by his contemporaries? Would Du Fu have considered himself a “Buddhist” in a meaningful sense?	13
In response to the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, several insurgent forces called “Righteous armies” were formed, including Buddhist monks and purged Confucian officials. What motivated these groups to rally to the defence of a state that had persecuted them?	12
Ramsay Macmullen makes the argument that Christianity limited the range of acceptable expression for women in Late Antiquity rather than widening it. How well supported is this idea in the scholarship?	9
Did the Empire of Japan seriously try to make conman Ignaz Trebitsch-Lincoln the 14th Dalai Lama?	9
The 5th century Roman poet Claudian was called a “adversary of the name of Christ” by St Augustine, yet he received honours from the Christian court of Honorius. How might this have happened?	8
The Christian apologist Jerome quotes the Hellene senator Vettius Agorius Praetextatus as saying “Make me Bishop of Rome and I will become a Christian at once”. How sybaritic had the Catholic Church become by the fourth century AD?	7
What kinds of Soviet Citizen in 1936 were relatively safe from getting caught up in the Great Purge?	7
The Tang era Confucian scholar-poet Du Fu wrote many poems about his relationship with the exiled Buddhist Abbot Zan. Would such a relationship be considered seemly by his contemporaries? Would Du Fu have considered himself a “Buddhist” in a meaningful sense?	7
When did the trend of Swedish monarchs consulting fortune tellers and occultists, begin as Charles XI did of Elin Håkansson and Gustav III did of Ulrica Arfvidsson? Were other monarchs aware of their habits and what did contemporary religious figures think?	5

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