This page has been put up to resolve a number of issues which occur with great frequency when writing articles about history for Wikipedia. As usual with Wikipedia please extend and expand these brief outlines as you uncover them.
1. As this is an English language Wikipedia, the commonly used name in English is preferred for reasons of clarity: for example, in the (recent) case of Amber Road v. Bernsteinestrasse (qqv), Amber Road is far more transparent to the casual user of Wikipedia. This, of course, may not be possible, particularly when dealing with historical characters.
2. Names of kings and queens. As most monarchical history likely to fetch up in Wikipedia will deal with the English monarchy, and for reasons of concision, kings and queens of England do not require a qualification of nationality; otherwise, the reference should state the nationality of which they were monarch, unless:
- they are completely unique (e.g. they are someone like Vlad Tepes)
- (other exceptions)
- In the case of Holy Roman Emperors, it should be e.g. Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.
- In the case of the kings of France, it should be e.g. Henry I of France or, to add a common nickname, Philip IV of France, the Fair