Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Beorhtwulf of Mercia

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by SandyGeorgia 20:48, 31 January 2009 [1].

Beorhtwulf of Mercia

Nominator(s): Mike Christie (talk), Angus McLellan (talk)

Another king of Mercia; Wiglaf of Mercia would be a good comparison FA. Thanks for all input. Mike Christie (talk) 10:57, 20 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Comments - sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:16, 20 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Image review - The lone image has a verifiable license and an adequate description. Awadewit (talk) 18:50, 20 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Additional image checks out. Awadewit (talk) 05:01, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Query ~~A map would be helpful, unfortunately the ones I found in History of Anglo-Saxon England are too far out in either direction~~ Were Spiel Chequers 20:54, 21 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've added a map of Britain as it was in about 800, and labelled it "early 9th century". Not much changed by Beorhtwulf's day; Dumnonia was possibly reduced or overrun by Wessex at that time, but I think the map can stand with the caption I gave it. Mike Christie (talk) 23:39, 21 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, thats about the same time as File:Britain 802.jpg the 802 CE one, which I prefer slightly as it at least names Lincoln though not Lindsey, and it does have Cornwall in Wessex. What do you think? Were Spiel Chequers 18:29, 22 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There are a couple of things I don't like about File:Britain_802.jpg. One problem is that it shows boundaries; these are somewhat speculative and almost all modern secondary sources don't do this. The map I used doesn't have boundaries; instead it shows the location of the kingdoms. The boundaries changed over time and though in some cases and at some times they can be fairly well documented, generally it's safer not to show them. Another problem is that the map shows Bernicia and Deira, which had long disappeared as independent kingdoms. There are anachronisms, too; some places such as the Solway Firth and The Wash are named with modern names, whereas others use names of the period. "Witby" is mis-spelt; it should be "Whitby"; so is "Nectanisnere", which I believe (I don't have a ref to hand) should be "Nechtansmere". The map gives the names of kingdoms in England and Scotland, but not in Wales, which seems inconsistent. Finally, I don't think I've ever seen a secondary source divide the British territory into "North Wales" and "West Wales" in that way. I do recall sources for "West Welsh", but the secondary sources almost always use "Dumnonia" for that territory. I've never seen "North Wales" used that way. So I'd prefer to stick to the map I have in the article at the moment. Mike Christie (talk) 13:31, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would agree on the borders, and then there's the gigantic "Strathclyde", most of which should be Northumbrian likely. For the record, this map (number 1) shows where the new BBC history of Scotland series put Nechtansmere. Angus McLellan (Talk) 17:13, 25 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Support - Not much known about this guy, is there? I particularly liked the "Background and sources" section, which greatly helps a reader such as myself, who is not familiar with the history and documentation of this period. This is a well-written, comprehensive, and well-researched article. The map is a nice addition. Two small suggestions:

Beorhtwulf (also spelled Berhtwulf) (died 852) was King of the Mercians from 839 or 840 to 852. His ancestry is unknown, though he may have been connected to Beornwulf, who ruled Mercia in the 820s. Beorhtwulf restarted a Mercian coinage early in his reign, initially with strong similarities to the coins of Æthelwulf of Wessex, but later with independent designs. - I found the sudden discussion of coinage confusing. Most readers will not understand its importance, so perhaps we should add a sentence about the lack of historical evidence for Beorhtwulf or something like that as a segue?
Done; I think the fact that he had to restart the coinage is the thing that's interesting to the reader, so I elaborated a little on that. I hope that makes it a little smoother. Mike Christie (talk) 10:51, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
~~Should "Æthelwulf" and "Ælfflæd" be redlinked? There are other names that seemed like they could be redlinked as well.~~
"Æthelwulf" is linked once in the lead and once in the body. I sometimes link a name again if it hasn't been mentioned for a bit -- let me know if you think that would be a good idea here. "Ælfflæd" is quite probably not well-known enough for an article; I don't think she's mentioned at all in the early sources, and is known only from the later life of Wigstan. I looked through for other links and found two: Æthelbald and Æthelstan, both of which should definitely have been linked; I've fixed them. Mike Christie (talk) 10:51, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A pleasure, as always. Awadewit (talk) 05:01, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Mike Christie (talk) 10:51, 27 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Support. Excellent work. Karanacs (talk) 16:36, 29 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Support. There's a bit of confusion about the order of his sons, which I've mentioned in the talk page. Additionally, the map makes it rather surprising that Mercia controlled London, as I would have guessed that there would have been an Essex / Wessex boundary in the intervening territory. I'm not sure how the map could be improved. Perhaps moving "Essex" slightly to the south-west? Or perhaps space out the letters in "Mercia" slightly, and rotate it a smidgen clockwise? But neither of these points are enough to object to the nomination. Bluap (talk) 02:46, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Angus has fixed the issue with the sons; it's not known which is the older. Improving the map is hard because boundaries can't reliably be drawn -- see the comments above to WereSpielChequers. Mercian control of London is well-established; I will take a look and see if there's a sentence or two that could be added about that. Mike Christie (talk) 11:34, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Support - beautifully written and meticulously researched. I am sure that this will achieve FA. I cannot believe that it is still rated as a stub. Graham Colm ^Talk 20:23, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.