Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/Battle of Halmyros/archive1

TFA blurb review

The Battle of Halmyros was fought on 15 March 1311 between the Frankish Duchy of Athens and the Catalan Company (seal depicted). The Catalans were a company of mercenaries hired by the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Turks in Anatolia. After the Byzantines murdered the Catalan leader, Roger de Flor, the company crossed the southern Balkans and arrived in southern Greece in 1309. The new Duke of Athens, Walter of Brienne, hired them to attack Thessaly. The Catalans conquered much of the region for him, but Walter refused to pay them and prepared to forcibly expel them. The two armies met at Halmyros in southern Thessaly. The Catalans selected the battleground, positioning themselves behind marshy terrain. The Franks, confident in the prowess of their heavy cavalry, charged headlong against the Catalan line. The marsh impeded their attack, and the Frankish army was routed. Walter and almost all of the knights of his realm fell in the field, allowing the Catalans to take over the Duchy of Athens and rule it until the 1380s. (Full article...)

Pinging Cplakidas; we're doing blurbs for articles promoted at FAC in June, July and August 2018. Thoughts and edits are welcome. - Dank (push to talk) 00:53, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi Dank, it looks mostly fine, I've made some tweaks and additions, have a look. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 08:07, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Eek, 1104 characters ... 1025 is the max. Make it shorter please. - Dank (push to talk) 12:35, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

How about:

The Battle of Halmyros was fought on 15 March 1311 between the Frankish Duchy of Athens and the Catalan Company (seal depicted). The Catalans were mercenaries hired by the Byzantine emperor to combat the increasing power of the Turks in Anatolia. After the Byzantines murdered the Catalan leader, Roger de Flor, the company crossed the southern Balkans and arrived in southern Greece in 1309. The new Duke of Athens, Walter of Brienne, hired them to attack Thessaly. The Catalans conquered much of the region, but Walter refused to pay them and prepared to forcibly expel them. The two armies met at Halmyros in southern Thessaly. The Catalans positioned themselves behind marshy terrain, but the Franks, confident in the prowess of their heavy cavalry, charged headlong against the Catalan line. The marsh impeded their attack, and the Frankish army was routed. Walter and almost all of his knights fell in the field, allowing the Catalans to take over the Duchy of Athens and rule it until the 1380s. (Full article...)

Checks at 1020 characters. Constantine ✍ 13:54, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Looks great, thanks. - Dank (push to talk) 14:21, 3 December 2019 (UTC)