User:GwenJ210/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Isabel of Conches
 * Article Evaluation
 * By definition, the article's content is relevant to the topic, but does not go into much detail at all. All of the information is about Isabel of Conches, there is just not much of it (very minimal). Even the subsequent information on the battle is vague at best.
 * The majority of what is in the article is unbiased, except for some of the later information in which the author clearly displays a mysognistic view, insinuating that the well documented stories of Isabel riding into battle may not have been true.
 * Each claim (however few there are) does have a citation, but they do not link anywhere nor do they align with the information in the bibliography. Because of this, I can't tell how reliable they are. The information does appear to be more recent (within the last 50 years) but with no substantial links, the information can't be verified for the casual viewer.
 * The article does cover an underrepresented topic, historical women, it just does not cover the topic well nor do justice to Isabel of Conches. Through my brief research, it is very difficult to find information on her, especially when the first page (this article) to pop up has hardly any information, which in turn causes others to continue to lack basic information.
 * Sources
 * WOMEN IN THE MILITARY: SCHOLASTIC ARGUMENTS AND MEDIEVAL IMAGES OF FEMALE WARRIORS
 * The Medieval 'Marches' of Normandy and Wales
 * The English Aristocracy, 1070-1272 - A Social Transformation
 * Noblewomen, Aristocracy and Power in the Twelfth-century Anglo-Norman Realm
 * Women fighters and the ‘beautiful soul’ narrative
 * Noblewomen, Aristocracy and Power in the Twelfth-century Anglo-Norman Realm
 * Women fighters and the ‘beautiful soul’ narrative

Option 2

 * Roman Catacombs
 * After completing the first article evaluation exercise, I wondered if the topic would be good to focus on for the larger assignment and decided to look into it for this assignment. Below is my initial evaluation, which has not changed.
 * I found the article to be well written, and conveyed the information at hand. Though, in the introduction, the article states that the catacombs housed not only Christian bodies, but Jewish and Roman pagan corpses as well, but the rest of the article only focuses on the Christian burials, even going into the history and architecture of the Christian catacombs. For the lead section, the introductory sentence was concise and described an overview of the article's topic adequetly. It does not, however, go over the article's major sections, only giving a broad overview of what the catacombs are, not the specifics. With the introduction of both Jewish and Pagan burials, I felt like they should have been included more in conjunction with the more famous Christian burials. Content wise, the content is relevant to the topic, but sometimes went into detail on unnecessary sections, like etymology which could have easily been included in the introduction. Some sections also felt a little out of order, I would have arranged the typology section to be earlier as it gives a visual description of the catacombes. As for equity gaps, I think this could be easily remedied with the inclusion of more instances of pagan burials in the catacombs, as well as a deeper dive into how early Christians and pagan's mortuary beliefs did not align and how they did. The Catacombs of Praetextatus section states that these catacombs were originally pagan before switching to Christian, and the historical difference in use and burial practice could have been included. I did find that the article was up to date, many sources being added in late 2021.  I did find the article to be relatively neutral in nature, though, as mentioned throughout the evaluation, the information presented does skew very heavily towards Christian history. While this serves a foundation for the current course, it ignores the religious demographic that Christianity overtook and eventually shadowed. To understand how Roman Christian society, and death, functioned, their past as a pagan community must be mentioned. That being said, the information is not presented in a Christian way, that just appears to be the only information provided.  As mentioned before, some of the sources are as recent as late 2021, though some stretch back to the 1880s. From what I could find, the sources do appear to come from reliable sources, some coming straight from Roman museums and the various catacombs themselves. Each source is either centered around Roman catacombs as a whole, a specific Roman catacomb, or mortuary studies in Rome. One of the links, Charles Maitland, does not work but the rest do. Many sources and scholarly articles have been written on the topic, though I found few not locked behind a paywall (a benefit to using Wikipedia as it is free). When the provided sources did not come from a website like National Geographic or a catacombs website itself, the majority of the information did come from historical and religious scholars who appear to be white males, resulting in a severe lack of diversity in the authors.  Part of the catacomb's appeal is how decorated they can be, which the article conveys through its use of images. There are a few images throughout that are well captioned (a useful addition because of how weathered they can be), but the majority of the images are attached to the specific catacombs, nearly every one getting a picture of the interior, a painting within, or both. The paintings are also laid out together at the end of the article. All of the images are laid out neatly, all arranged to the right side of the page, except for the Catacombs of San Callisto, which has an image on the left and right of the page, creating an odd layout for the text.  Many of the discussion posts are either about clarifying information within the text, or seeking clarification on points like "How long does tufi take to harden after exposed to air - as was the case in the catacombs?", something mentioned within the text. One of the recent posts did align with some of my critiques in the evaluation, seeking for more information of the Jews and pagan Romans mentioned briefly in the article. A group of university students proposed sections on Jewish catacombs and biological discoveries in the catacombs. This page is attached to four WikiProjects: Classical Greece and Rome; Rome; Christianity; Death. I found that the information was laid out in a more surface level way, without going into historical annecdotes like we may in class.  Overall, I found it to be a good article and it taught me more about Roman death and the catacombs. It's strengths definitlely lie with Christianity and Christian death, while it needs to be improved on the inclusion of other religions, like Judism and paganism, who are attributed to the catacombs. But, overall the article appears to be complete and well developed.
 * Sources:
 * - Commemorating the Dead: Texts and Artifacts in Context. Studies of Roman, Jewish, and Christian Burials
 * - The history of the Roman catacombs from the age of Constantine to the Renaissance
 * - Jewish catacombs : the Jews of Rome: funeral rites and customs
 * - Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Rome: Conflict, Competition, and Coexistence in the Fourth Century
 * - Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Rome: Conflict, Competition, and Coexistence in the Fourth Century

Option 3

 * Witch Trials in England
 * Article Evaluation
 * While on topic, again there is relatively little information provided (a section is dedicated to witch trials in the American colonies, breaking away from the English demographic slightly). There are good bones in the article, but nothing much of substinance. The article ends with links to three similar articles, but within the limited information provided, the majority of the focus is on England.
 * The information is written neutrally, not painting the victims as satanic, devilish, or any similar manner, simply stating the facts.
 * Each claim does have a citation attached to it, and this time the references are much easier to verify as the name of each piece is cited fully.
 * I am not sure if this article falls under the equity gap categories as the victim pool was relatively varried (though very skewed towards women, as most witch trials have been). While the victims were most likely not actual, practicing witches, the article does go over a demographic not often discussed or taken seriously in academia.
 * I am not sure if this article falls under the equity gap categories as the victim pool was relatively varried (though very skewed towards women, as most witch trials have been). While the victims were most likely not actual, practicing witches, the article does go over a demographic not often discussed or taken seriously in academia.


 * Sources
 * ‘I Hurl the Spirits of Gandul’. Pleasure, Jealousy, and Magic: The Witchcraft Trial of Ragnhild Tregagaas in 1325
 * Witchcraft and witch trials: a history of English witchcraft and its legal perspectives, 1542 to 1736
 * The Magic of Animals: English Witch Trials in the Perspective of Folklore
 * “Paltrie Vermin, Cats, Mise, Toads, and Weasils”: Witches, Familiars, and Human-Animal Interactions in the English Witch Trials
 * Cautio criminalis, or, A book on witch trials Spee, Friedrich von, 1591-1635.; Hellyer, Marcus.
 * The Oxford Handbook of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America
 * The Pursuit of Reality: Recent Research into the History of Witchcraft
 * Witchcraft Prosecutions and the Decline of Magic

Option 4

 * Witch Trials in France
 * Article Evaluation
 * The content does completely revolve around the French witch trials and has the most information next to Roman Catacombs, but is still relatively lacking (the article opens with "The Witch trials in France are poorly documented"). The trials are broken down into history, different regions, and the end, with most of the information going to Northern France.
 * The article is written neutrally, does not have appear to have any inherrent bias against the victims, yet also does not divulge the demographic of the victims.
 * Like the article on the English Witch Trials, the citations are easily found throughout the article and fully stated at the end, making it much easier to verify the information at hand. While some of the information may come from broad sources, they are easy to locate for the average viewer.
 * The same answer from the English Witch Trials article can be applied here, but with the lack of information on the demographic of the victims, I think the equity gap can be applied even less to this article.
 * The same answer from the English Witch Trials article can be applied here, but with the lack of information on the demographic of the victims, I think the equity gap can be applied even less to this article.


 * Sources
 * witch hunts and social unrest. The state of research on the Basel area (north-western Switzerland) in the late Middle Ages
 * From heresy. Persecution of Waldensians and witches in today's canton of Friborg (1399-1442)
 * Lucerne trials for sorcery and witchcraft until the mid-16th century.
 * Taxes, Lawyers, and the Decline of Witch Trials in France

Option 5

 * North Berwick witch trials
 * Article Evaluation
 * With a more narrowed topic, the article stays mostly on track, veering off slight;y to talk about the witch trials in Germany and connections to Denmark, which can be justified because these instances helped to set up the witch trials across Scotland. This is also the only article of the three to include a list of the victims names (because it is narrowed), as well as going into detail on some of the victims. There is not much talk on how they began and the aftermath though.
 * The article is written neutrally and displays the facts with no inherent bias towards King James or his victims.
 * Yes, and there are already a vast number of references attached to the article, some dating as recently as 2020.
 * For the articles on the trials, I think this one leans the most into the equity gap as the Scottish people were oppressed by the English and their history is often overshadowed by the oppressors. The North Berwick witch trials was just the first instance in a handful of witch trials to follow, all beginning because of King James' fear of witchcraft.
 * For the articles on the trials, I think this one leans the most into the equity gap as the Scottish people were oppressed by the English and their history is often overshadowed by the oppressors. The North Berwick witch trials was just the first instance in a handful of witch trials to follow, all beginning because of King James' fear of witchcraft.


 * Sources
 * Witchcraft in early modern Scotland: James VI's Demonology and the North Berwick witches
 * The Framework for Scottish Witch-Hunting in the 1590s
 * The Scottish Witchcraft Act
 * Satan in the Pulpit: Popular Christianity during the Scottish Great Awakening, 1680-1750
 * The Privy Council and the Witches: The Curtailment of Witchcraft Prosecutions in Scotland, 1597-1628
 * The Scottish Witch Trials: From Heresy To Tourism
 * 'Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair': The Legality of the Scottish Witch Trials of the 1590s