Wikipedia:Peer review/Gerard (archbishop of York)/archive1

Gerard (archbishop of York)[edit]

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I've listed this article for peer review because I'd like to take this article to FAC at some point, and am looking for comments pertaining to prose, polish, comprehensiveness, and the ability of it to be understood by non-specialists.

Thanks, Ealdgyth - Talk 14:25, 12 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Finetooth comments: I always find your articles interesting even though I come at them with next to no background (except what I've gleaned from reading your other work). Here are a few thoughts and suggestions.

The dab checker sees a couple of dabs.

I'm not sure about this, but should "archbishop" in the title be "Archibishop" with a big "A"? It seems to me that it would be parallel to titles like "Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester" that appear in the main text of the article.

Would it be better to move File:Saint Urbain II prêchant la croisade.jpg down a bit so that it is completely within the "Bishop of Hereford" section and does not overlap two sections?

I'd consider moving File:Death of William Rufus.JPG down also so that all of it is in the "Archbishop" section rather than overlapping two sections. Also, would it be better positioned on the right so that the horse looks into the page instead of out?

Lead

"... Gerard worked towards securing a compromise between the claims of the king and the claims of Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, which was finally agreed in 1107." - Would "agreed to" or "achieved" be better than "agreed"?

Early life and chancellor

The terms "early life" and "chancellor" aren't quite parallel. Would just "Early life" be better?

Possibly link chancery? It differs from Court of Chancery, which is what readers of Bleak House may think of.

Bishop of Hereford

"... a diplomatic mission to Pope Urban II regarding Archbishop Anselm... " - Would it be helpful to mention here that Anselm was Archbishop of Canterbury? This is explained in the lead, but it might not hurt to repeat it here in the main text.

"Rufus offered to recognise Urban as pope rather than Antipope Clement III in return for delivering Anselm's pallium... " - Could "antipope" be briefly explained, perhaps in a note, since it would awkward to link it here? Generally, what is the meaning of "antipope"?

"He may have been present with the hunting party in the New Forest on the day of Rufus' death... " - Although the image shows the king with an arrow in his chest, the text doesn't say how William II died. Would it be helpful to add a bit about this? Was it an accident? An assassination?

Archbishop

"Gerard had also secured from the pope a recognition that York was the metropolitan see for the Scots." - Would it be helpful to link "metropolitan see" to Metropolitan bishop? "Metropolitan" in contemporary use refers to a city, but Scotland is not a city, hence the term might seem a bit puzzling.

"Gerard attempted to reform his cathedral clergy by forcing them to give up their wives and concubines, and become ordained priests." - Contemporary readers might find this statement surprising. Would it be helpful to provide a bit of background, perhaps in a note? Were many of the clergy not priests? If not priests, then what were they called? Was it common to avoid becoming a priest in order to avoid a vow of celibacy?

I hope these suggestions prove helpful. If so, please consider commenting on any other article at WP:PR. I don't usually watch the PR archives or make follow-up comments. If my suggestions are unclear, please ping me on my talk page. Finetooth (talk) 18:21, 19 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]