Talk:Witan

Role in evolution of English Parliament?

So the modern consensus seems to be that Witenagemot had no role in the coming about of Parliament? I'm sure it left at least a cultural tendency toward it. knoodelhed (talk) 20:19, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

I ma not sure whether the article covers this point. The best source is John Maddicott's The Origins of the English Parliament. Dudley Miles (talk) 20:56, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

@Scott Sanchez, I think the general consensus is that the witan and its Norman counterpart the curia regis probably did help lay the foundations for what would become parliament in the reign of Henry III. However, the belief prevalent before the World War 1 that the witan was some kind of representative democratic "proto-parliament" has been rejected by modern scholars. As @Dudley Miles points out, Maddicott starts his book in 924, so he definitely sees the royal assemblies of the Anglo-Saxon period as contributing to what would become parliament. Perhaps the article needs to be more clearer on this issue. Ltwin (talk) 04:49, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

Requested move 7 December 2021

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. No objections. (closed by non-admin page mover) Extraordinary Writ (talk) 19:57, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

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Witenagemot → Witan – As explained in the article, Witenagemot is a rare usage, only occasionally attested at the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. It would be better to name the article "Witan", which was common in Anglo-Saxon sources. Dudley Miles (talk) 18:21, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

IPA of Witan

Could someone correct the opening sentence to show the pronunciation of the given word, Witan, rather than of the Old English form, witena ġemōt? Thanks. Pooh bear138 (talk) 09:31, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing this out. I have deleted for now, pending someone competent dealing with the problem. Dudley Miles (talk) 09:45, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Article reorganization

I just completed a reorganization of the article that I hope is an improvement. I updated some of the sources (many are from the 1800s and early 1900s). I also changed the section scheme (which used to be Terminology; Origin; Constitution and limitations; Function and legacy; American Revolution).The outline is now:

• Etymology
• Attendance
• Role
• Electing and deposing kings
• Norman Conquest
• Historiography

Ltwin (talk) 17:03, 27 April 2024 (UTC)

Italicization

Currently, witan is italicized using Template:Lang. According to MOS:FOREIGNITALIC, "As a rule of thumb. do not italicize words that appear in multiple major English dictionaries." Witan and witenagemeot have entries in Merriam-Webster, Collins, and Dictionary.com. As a result, I'm removing the italics. Ltwin (talk) 07:23, 28 June 2024 (UTC)