Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Simeon I of Bulgaria

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 16:41, 26 March 2007.

Simeon I of Bulgaria

I've devoted quite a lot of time to the article, bringing it from this to its current state. It is extensively referenced using authoritative sources, thorough and, I believe, exhaustive, well-illustrated with media such as own-made SVG maps, miniatures, quotes and a family tree, accurate, neutral and stable.

Very importantly, the article is up-to-date with the modern historiographic treatment of the more obscure moments of Simeon's life (such as the 912 coronation and the proclamation of the patriarchate), for which I consulted Ian Mladjov, an instructor at the University of Michigan, via e-mail. As I'm not a native speaker, I requested a copyedit, which was carried out by Bcasterline, in order to meet the "well-written" requirement.

I chose to have footnotes in the lead section because I generally like to have even the general observations and summaries referenced. The article has had a peer review (though, unfortunately, by only a single person). Todor →Bozhinov 18:40, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Strong support - well-written, extensively referenced, has the requisite nice pictures. Also informative, as it's on a topic the general reader may not be familiar with. Biruitorul 22:10, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support. One comment after reading this interesting article: instead of writing "(In German)" or "(In Bulgarian)" in your references section, I believe it is standard practice to use the language icons like this: {{In lang|bg}} for (in Bulgarian) and {{de icon}} for (in German). JHMM13 03:15, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hm...perhaps not. It appears to be a problem with the citation template. Oh well...nevermind what I said then. :-D JHMM13 05:55, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support - Wow! I've never seen an article with that many references before! Puts my Archaeopteryx above to shame! And considering it was in that state not long ago - this is a wonderful article. 10/10 for me - This deserves to be a FA. Well done. Perfect in almost everyway I can see. Regards, Spawn Man 06:57, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support -this is really splendid article : ) It has good range of maps and contemporary images which perfectly illustrate the well-written and informative text. --Gligan 09:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support - very well put-together and thoroughly polished. cheers, Casliber | talk | contribs 11:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong Support per above. A benchmark. Manderiko 13:28, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Against --Poemsnewly 16:32, 22 March 2007 (UTC)removed as sock by Bonaparte. /FunkyFly.talk_ 19:56, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Suspected sock puppet, now blocked. He should have at least provided some arguments, so I could work to improve the article... and to match his standards :) I'd appreciate it if someone strikes the vote. Todor →Bozhinov 19:09, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Support. Per nom. /FunkyFly.talk_ 18:32, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support per nom.--Domitius 19:35, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
An opponent of the Byzantine empire?!! Agrrrr!!!! Well, you know ... I'll support, because it is a great, great, great (I want to make that clear!) article. Just a suggestion: Todor, it is not nice to have 3 or 4 citations in a row as you do in two occasions. You could combine these citations in one in various ways: just check what Sandy did in Tourette syndrome, me in El Greco, and Cla68 in Battle of Edson's Ridge. Just a suggestion you could think about.--Yannismarou 21:36, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your support! I really like your suggestion and tomorrow I'll revise the citations so as to leave only one footnote at each place and no rows of two or more. The bullet way to do that (as in your impressive El Greco article) seems most appropriate and neat, particularly where I have three or four citations and simply listing them separated by commas might be somewhat confusing. Todor →Bozhinov 22:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Done, though I decided to only merge clusters of more than two citations (per your suggestion), because if I'd merged those of two only, that would have required too large a reorganization of <ref name> tags and at the same time wouldn't have been of too much help. Thanks! Todor →Bozhinov 17:00, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Absolutely amazing. Michaelas10 ^{Respect my authoritah} 17:39, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Few nitpicks: 1) "Boris, who had retreated to a monastery" - do we know which monastery? 2) "punish Vladimir" - how? 3) possible article to be stubbed (I notice the article has no red links - this is not good, as it discourages creation of new articles): assembly in Preslav, Gavril, Nikephoros Phokas, Byzantine navy, Leo Magister, Constantine Doukas, Leo Phokas, Mihailo Višević, Theodore Sigritsa, Marmais, Pavle Branović, Zaharije Pribisavljević, George Sursuvul 4) "Simeon's two encounters with the enemy in Northern Dobruja were unsuccessful" - was he defeated? Sounds 'weaselish' 5) "which was largely what Simeon had planned to do" - how? 6) some language is a little unencyclopedic: lots of 'annihilations', 'desperate pleas' amd such. I'd say that the article is very pro-Simeon, but as I have little knowledge of that period and place I will not object based on my fillings - but are all sources presenting him as such a great and wise rulers? Is there no criticism? --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk} 04:01, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, I don't think we know the name of the monastery.
According to some sources, by blinding him, but I don't think this is relevant in the context of the article. We have Vladimir of Bulgaria, after all :)
In the past I've been criticized for leaving any red links, and some of the figures you've listed, while notable, are very scarcely attested, so I don't think we could have anything more than stubs on most of them.
Well, I am criticizing you for not enough red links :) --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk} 17:14, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, he was defeated, but I thought my wording makes it clear... it seems like I'll have to reword. Done
This is mentioned several times. E.g., by betrothing his daughter to the infant Constantine VII, by forcefully conquering Constantinople...
Romanos' pleas really were desperate. Would you like some? :) He says he "wouldn't fall silent, would clatter, would constantly remind [of the peace] and reprimand, until Simeon's heart opens for sympathy" and he "wouldn't spare neither gold nor silver nor precious garments nor any other necessary thing", as long as Simeon agrees to peace. As for the annihilations, that's what the sources say, and I'm inclined to think they really were such. The Byzantines themselves say they were "infamously slain" at Anchialos, for example.
Yes, there was criticism, mainly related to the "Byzantineness" of Golden-Age Bulgarian culture and its supposed shortage of originality, as well as to the endless campaigns towards the end of his reign, which according to some exhausted the Bulgarian state. But notice I haven't said he was wise and great anywhere :)
And... thanks for the support! Todor →Bozhinov 10:34, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Support — a very impressive article (note: I formatted the References section). Happy editing, S.D. 23:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! Are you sure references have to be small? I was so accustomed to seeing them in standard size that they look somehow weird to me now ;) Todor →Bozhinov 08:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Feel free to change them back (I was just following El Greco). Cheers, S.D. 11:04, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment Please eliminate the jump to an external website in Legacy and popular culture; it can be added to external links or cited as a reference, but external jumps shouldn't be in the text. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 00:51, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done Todor →Bozhinov 08:38, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article review. No further edits should be made to this page.