Talk:Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Sarastro1 (talk · contribs) 21:19, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Looking good generally. Just a few little nitpicks, and I did some light copy-editing. Nice work! Sarastro1 (talk) 22:11, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Lead:

• ”Æthelred's descent is unknown”: Given that this is the lead, could we put this in terms that may make more sense to the general reader, for example “His parentage” or “family”? However, I’m not too sure of the best way to do that!

Changed to "ancestry".

• ”He is probably first recorded as the leader of an unsuccessful Mercian invasion of Wales in 881”: Similarly, for the lead, maybe a bit less history-speak? What about “He may have been the leader…” or “He was probably the leader…”

Done.

• "In 886 Alfred restored the Mercian town of London”: Again, general reader.

Revised.

• ”At some time in the decade after Alfred's death in 899 his health declined”: This could refer to either Edward or Æthelred, and may lead to confusion.

Clarified.

Background:

• ”Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century, and it maintained its position into the early ninth…”: I think this could be combined a little to avoid repeating things; something like “Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England from the eighth century until 825 when it suffered…”

Revised. OK now?

• ”The Mercians had a traditional overlordship in Wales”: Should this be something like “traditionally held overlordship of Wales”?

Revised.

• ”They then moved on to Nottingham in Mercia, where they spent the winter of 867/868.”: According to WP:DATERANGE, the MoS says we have to give this range as 867–68, using an ndash.

Done.

Early rule:

• Unless I’m missing something, we never actually explicitly mention in the main article that Æthelred took over Mercia after Ceowulf.

Revised to clarify that it is not known when he took over.

• ”and Charles-Edwards suggests that in 881-882”, and “and in 882-883 Æthelred accepted…” : More WP:DATERANGE things.

Done.

• ”Anglo-Saxon London, called Lundenwic, was located a mile west of Roman Londinium, but this was undefended”: This seems to be repeating some of what we have in the previous paragraph.

Deleted in previous paragraph.

• The part about Worcester seems to be stuck in the middle of the London section and feels slightly out of place.

Moved Worcester.

General:

• Spotchecks OK, images OK, sourcing OK. Sarastro1 (talk) 22:11, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

I'll place this on hold for now, but I think it's an easy pass. Sarastro1 (talk) 22:11, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. Are the revisions OK?

Do you think this article is suitable for nomination for A Class and FA? Dudley Miles (talk) 09:38, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

Looks good, passing now.

I think it's probably worth a shot for FAC and A Class. The fact that not all that much is known about him may be a problem for some reviewers, but it should be fairly easy to demonstrate that this covers everything known about him. Sarastro1 (talk) 22:31, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

Thanks very much. Dudley Miles (talk) 22:59, 2 March 2014 (UTC)