Talk:Royal intermarriage

Is there a need for this article?

There are subtopics within articles on inbreeding that mention royalty. All another article would really be good for is citing examples (which would be inexhaustive and include all royals). I have edited it, but I do not think it is necessary. Charles 17:09, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

It is only referenced in other articles and did form the basis for a great deal of international politics. It would be helpful if that could be built up. Yanksta x 12:23, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Modern example

That modern example is a huge blob of words I wonder if anyone can rewrite it so it is comprehensible Owlofcreamcheese 17:01, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps a family tree would be usefull for illustrating the relationships. - cgilbert^{(talk|contribs)} 22:38, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I added a family tree which I hope helps to clarify. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.150.233.137 (talk) 22:29, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Byzantine Empire

I've tweeked the section a little, based on the input from Llywrch, added a few more links, and expanded it a little based on my own (very quick) research. What do you think of it? Sotakeit (talk) 10:47, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

Lists of examples

I've tried to strip down some of the longer example lists to just give examples that illustrate the point. Overly long lists aren't useful to the article and they make it look a little messy. Sotakeit (talk) 08:18, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

I've restored some of the European examples: those involving living royalty or members of still-reigning dynasties. There are only 10 monarchies left in Europe and only one realm's monarch, Elizabeth II, is currently "royally intermarried". There are extremely few living royals who are now married to other royals and their number continues to dwindle -- yet finding out who is in such a marriage is a substantial reason for readers to look up this topic. Given that there are only a handful of such couples left, there's no reason to prevent readers from accessing that information here merely to prevent the article from looking "a little messy" (for instance, the 1964 marriage of Princess Irene of the Netherlands to the Carlist pretender, Prince Carlos-Hugo de Borbón, Duke of Parma nearly provoked a constitutional crisis in Holland and affected politics in Franco's Spain. And Princess Barbara of Liechtenstein is married to a sometime Serbian pretender whose previous wife was a daughter of Umberto II of Italy, but because she's only a 2nd cousin of the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein, it's very difficult to find these facts out anywhere except in specialized literature -- or right here in this article). Citations substantiating "royal intermarriage couple" status were added but the couples were removed anyway (squandering the effort and time taken to source and then convert to the citation format newly imposed on this article despite CITEVAR). FactStraight (talk) 21:34, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

Point taken, and well explained. In regards to the reference style, when I first started editing the article, the references didn't have a consistent style. Since then, I've been the only major contributor so I thought the recent style change would be the covered by 'defer to the style used by the first major contributor'; I agree, perhaps I should have sought some consensus on such a major change though. Sotakeit (talk) 23:22, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Royal intermarriage/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Tim riley (talk · contribs) 09:23, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Beginning first read-through. More soonest. Tim riley talk 09:23, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Interim comment while I read the text: if you click the "disambig links" option in the toolbox on the right you will find details of several links that go to disambiguation pages rather than to the article you intend; the "external links" option shows one cited website that is no longer accessible. Tim riley talk 09:28, 27 June 2014 (UTC) Later: I've fixed the broken external link, but I'll leave you to tidy up the internal disambiguation links. Tim riley talk 09:41, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

I've fixed the disambigs and redirects now. Thanks! Sotakeit (talk) 09:49, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

I much enjoyed this article, and most of my comments below are minor drafting points. But my comments on the referencing, I am sorry to say, are not minor. The references are a mess and don't in my view come up to GA standard.

• Lead
  • "initiate, re-enforce or guarantee" – I wonder about "re-enforce": it is a reasonable construction, but it is possibly a typo for "reinforce"? Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Medieval and Early Modern Europe
  • Second paragraph: the "is" and "will" look a bit odd. Perhaps "was" and "would"? Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
  • and "their countries during peace and war" and – not sure why the quotation marks. Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
  • Fifth para: the words "if they wished to ever inherit" seem superfluous. Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Byzantine Empire
  • "low born wives" – I'm not an expert on hyphens, but I'm fairly sure you need one here. Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
  • Third para: Andronikos II Palaiologos gets a duplicate blue link Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Members of two reigning houses
  • "Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden" – year missing Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:43, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• China
  • Third para: dup link of Mongol Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Africa
  • King Solomon – the Holy Land isn't in Africa Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Ottoman Empire
  • "neighboring" (both paras) – this is the first American spelling I've spotted. You have "neighbour" earlier in the text Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
  • Both paras: link to "religion": WP:OVERLINK Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
  • "Muslim princesses were prevented from marrying Christian Princes" – inconsistent capitalisation Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Morganatic marriage
  • Duplicate links to Habsburgs, Romanovs and dynasts Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Inbreeding
  • More dup links: Habsburg and Bourbon Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:14, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
• Notes
  • Notes 6 and 9: Why the italics? I've italicised them as they're direct quotes from the referenced sources. Should I undo this and have them in standard type, or should I explain that they're quotes 'So and so says in such and such...' ?
    • I'd definitely do the latter, but I don't think the present version though not as approved by the MoS would disqualify the article from promotion to GA.
• References
  • These need work to get them up to an acceptable standard:
    • Some page numbers have a space after "p." (e.g. note 33) and others haven't (e.g. note 32) Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:31, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • References to page ranges or multiple pages should read "pp." rather than just "p." Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:31, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • Some references are too vague to match to the listed sources: I can't match up refs 35, 49 and 51 to the sources below. That isn't to say they aren't there but the somewhat impenetrable method of citation makes it hard for the reader. I went for WP:SFN as the formatting was becoming a bit overloaded with text. Source 35 matche: '"Queen Anne Marie". The Greek Monarchy. n.d. Retrieved 5 June 2014.' ; Source 49 matches: 'Alexander, Harriet (31 August 2013). "Andrea Casiraghi, second in line to Monaco's throne, weds Colombian heiress". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 June 2014.' ; and Source 51 matches: '"Princess Astrid". The Belgian Monarchy. n.d. Retrieved 4 July 2014.' . The three of them are news articles with no listed author, so I've had to list them by the article title and not the author name. Sotakeit (talk) 08:39, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • The system of referencing is inconsistent within itself: why, for instance, give the Kobo page number twice – once in the References and once in the Sources? Done - removed page numbers from list of sources, as per WP:SFN Sotakeit (talk) 08:31, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • There are some unexplained quotation marks at the end of ref 34 and others. Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:31, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • Some of your press references have the title in single rather than the approved double quotes.
    • Retrieval dates are inconsistently cited: Keller is "Retrieved 2008-04-29", but Haag is "Retrieved 27 June 2014". Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:31, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • Some ISBNs are hyphenated and others are not. Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:34, 30 June 2014 (UTC)
    • Some of the books are given day and month of publication (e.g. Stengs) and others are not. It is unusual to give day and month: the year suffices. Done Sotakeit (talk) 08:31, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

The question of the references is serious enough to necessitate putting the review on hold to give you time to address the problem. Once that is done, the article will be ready for GA. Tim riley talk 09:27, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

I've largely tackled the referencing issues you've pointed out. The only one I'm unsure about is 'Some of your press references have the title in single rather than the approved double quotes' - can you point out which ones they are? I've used the {{cite web}}/{{cite book}} tags etc so they should be automatically generated. Sotakeit (talk) 08:47, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

How odd! I swear I saw them, but they're all properly double quoted now. Tim riley talk 20:25, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

Right, in my judgment you've done all that is necessary. Stand well back:

Overall summary

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

1. Is it reasonably well written?

   A. Prose quality:

   B. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and lists:

2. Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

   A. References to sources:

   Well referenced.

   B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:

   Well referenced.

   C. No original research:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. Major aspects:

   B. Focused:

4. Is it neutral?

   Fair representation without bias:

5. Is it stable?

   No edit wars, etc:

6. Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?

   A. Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:

   Well illustrated.

   B. Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions:

   Well illustrated.

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

Excellent work, Sotakeit. Tim riley talk 20:25, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

Habsburg motto

Can we get a better translation of the Habsburg marriage motto, please? (Bella gerant alii; tu felix Austria nube.)

The one given is awful; the Latin just does not say 'Let wars be led by others' - there's no verb 'to lead' in there, and no passive. The literal translation would be "Let others wage war; you, fortunate/happy Austria, marry". If you don't need a source for translations, go ahead and use mine. I know a translation could be sourced to Wheatcroft's The Habsburgs: Embodying Empire, but I don't have my copy to hand right now. AlexTiefling (talk) 21:26, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

I agree. I'm not sure where this translation came from, or who added. Although I can't comment on the actual accuracy of the translation, your version seems the most idiomatic at least. I think it's just a case here of being bold and going for it. I'll change it now. Sotakeit (talk) 08:10, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! Now it's bugging me that 'bella' is plural and we have 'war' singular; but 'wage war' is more idiomatic in English. Thoughts? AlexTiefling (talk) 09:22, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

I think I'd go with 'war' over 'wars'. A quick Google search confirms that 'war' seems to be the most common translation, and only 1 of the first 10 Google book results for the latin phrase gives the translation 'wars' over 'war' ([1]). Sotakeit (talk) 09:29, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

And if it makes you feel any better, I think in the phrase 'Let others wage war', 'war' would be considered a mass noun. Sotakeit (talk) 09:30, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

I added the quote and quite agree that AlexTiefling's translation is both better and more usual -- although translations need not be literal and I don't consider this one distortionate. The reason I included it is because I also couldn't lay hands immediately on a source which provides the better translation and felt that I should not include the cite while altering its version of the quote. I'll look for a source with the preferred translation. FactStraight (talk) 00:30, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Western Europe bias

"Medieval and Early Modern Europe" section is biased towards Western Europe, from which virtually all examples are taken. Russia (Romanovs) are mentioned once, Poland. Bohemia/Czech, Hungary and other Slavic lands are not mentioned at all. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 12:14, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

There doesn't seem to be any bias. Both the Romanovs (much of Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania etc.) and Habsburgs (Hungary) ruled over several parts of the area you've mentioned. Though, perhaps an example or two from independent Slavic/Eastern European states would be useful. Any suggestions? Maybe a marriage of a ruler and a non-royal (like the Edward the Confessor and Edith of Wessex example) or perhaps a counter example to religious policies (marrying outside of the nation's religion - Catholic/Protestant match? Maybe even a Christian/non-Christian with a Mongol match?). Sotakeit (talk) 12:51, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Elizabeth the Cuman was probably baptised in infancy but was born to a father who was until then a practising Tengrist/pagan; she married the Hungarian crown prince and eventually became Queen Regent. Does that fit the bill? AlexTiefling (talk) 13:16, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Maybe not quite right. The section discusses matches having to be between people f the same religion, and the examples are of people who have had to specifically converted for marriage. Perhaps an example of a king marrying a non-royal noble would be that of Władysław II Jagiełło and Elizabeth Granowska, her being the daughter of a voivode of Sandomierz and the daughter of a Polish Noble? Sotakeit (talk) 13:54, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

I don't see how that meets the definition of "royal intermarriage"? In modern Europe, nobles are not royalty, and in the medieval world where the distinction is more vague, the point of this article would be to include inter-dynastic marriages -- not inter-class marriages. FactStraight (talk) 00:54, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Apologies. The example was to compliment/replace the example of Edward the Confessor and his noble-born wife Edith of Wessex in this paragraph: Marriages among ruling dynasties and their subjects have at times been common, with marriages such as that of Edward the Confessor, King of England and Edith of Wessex being far from unheard of in medieval Europe. However, as dynasties approached absolutism and sought to preserve loyalty among competing members of the nobility, most eventually distanced themselves from kinship ties to local nobles by marrying abroad.. Sotakeit (talk) 08:06, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for looking into this. Here are few suggestions. In Polish history, the marriage of Jagiełło (Lithuania) and Anna Jagiellonka (Poland) is probably the most famous, followed by Bona Sforza (Italy) and Sigismund I the Old (Poland). The first one is also interesting from the perspective of two dynasties merging (Jagiellinka being the last of the Piast dynasty and Jagiełło to first of the Jagiellonian dynasty, creating the Polish-Lithuanian union, and the fact that Jagiełło converted from paganism to Christianity for that marriage. Regarding conversions, the first Polish royal intermarriage, in which Mieszko I, first king of Poland, converted from paganism to Christianity due to his wife Dobrawa of Poland, may be worth mentioning, too (Dobrawa's bio has an entire section on the importance of her marriage). Adding this would add a mention of pre-Habsburgs Bohemia to this article. Finally, I wonder if the case of marriages from the era of elective monarchy in Poland may be of some interest. In my GA on Władysław IV Waza I wrote an entire section about his marriages, IIRC. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 10:30, 2 July 2014 (UTC)

Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria

There is currently a disagreement regarding the inclusion of the marriage of Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria. What should be done? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.71.249.229 (talk) 17:56, 25 June 2018 (UTC)

Princess Zaida

Why is the marriage of princess Zaisa of Seville not mentioned here? 2409:4073:2112:A340:D276:BE02:D3F3:EDEE (talk) 16:35, 8 February 2022 (UTC)