Chapter 3

The Shaping of the Nation (1066-1381)

英国的形成（公元1066-1381）

I. Norman Rule (1066-1381)

诺曼统治（公元1066-1381）

1. William's Rule （1066-1087）

威廉一世的统治（公元1066-1087）

England's feudalism under the rule of William the Conqueror

在威廉统治下的英国封建制度

①Under William, the feudal system in England was completely established.

②According to this system, the King owned all the land personally.

③William gave his barons large estates in England in return for a promise of military service and a proportion of the land's produce.

④These estates were scattered far and wide over the country, so that those who held them could not easily combine to rebel the king.

⑤The barons, who had become William's tenants-in-chief, parceled out land to the lesser nobles, knights and freemen, also in return for goods and services.

⑥At the bottom of the feudal scale were the villeins or serfs.

⑦One peculiar feature of the feudal system of England was that all landowners must take the oath of allegiance，not only to their immediate lord, but also to the king.

①在威廉统治下，英国的封建制度得到完全确立。

②根据此制度，国王拥有全国所有土地。

③威廉把英国的大片土地分给贵族，条件是换取对方服役和物品。

④这些地产分散于各处，相距遥远，这样土地拥有者就不易联合起来反叛国王。

⑤已成为国王总佃户的贵族又把土地分配给小贵族、骑士和自由民，同样换取货物和服役。

⑥处于封建等级最底层的是农奴。

⑦英国封建制独有的特色就是，无论是土地承租人还是二佃户，都必须要宣誓效忠于直接地主，而且要效忠于国王。

II．Contents and the significance of the Great Charter

《大宪章》的内容及意义

Great Charter was signed by King John in 1215 under the press of the barons. It consists of sixty-three clauses. Its important provisions are as follows:

(1) no tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council;

(2) no freemen should be arrested, imprisoned or deprived of their property;

(3) the Church should possess all its rights, together with freedom of elections;

(4) London and other towns should retain their traditional rights and privileges, and

(5) there should be the same weights and measures throughout the country. (significance) Although The Great Charter has long been popularly regarded as the

①foundation of English liberties, it was a ②statement of the feudal and legal relationships between the Crown and the barons, ③a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and a ④limitation of the powers of the king. The spirit of the Great Charter was the limitation of the powers of the king, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land.

《大宪章》是约翰国王1215年在封建贵族压力下签定的。《大宪章》总共63条，其中最重要的内容是：

(1) 未经大议会同意，不得征税；

(2) 只有根据国家有关法律才能逮捕、监禁自由人以及剥夺他们的财产；

(3)教会应享受其所有权利且有选举自由；

(4) 伦敦和其它城镇应保留其贵族的传统权力和特权；

(5) 全国要统一度量衡。尽管人们普遍认为《大宪章》为英国的自由奠定了基础，但该宪章只是规定国王和贵族之间封建关系和法律关系的声明书，保证了教会的自由，限制了国王权利。《大宪章》的精神实质就是把国王的权利限制在英国封建法律允许的范围之内。

III.The origins of the English Parliament

英国议会的起源

The Great Council is known to be the prototype (原型) of the current British Parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort summoned （召集）the Great Council, together with two knights from each county and two citizens from each town. It later developed into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Its main role was to offer advice，not to make decisions. There were no elections or parties. And the most important part of Parliament was the House of Lords.

大议会是当今英国议会的原型。1265年，西门德孟福尔召开大议会，各县有两名骑士，各镇有两名市民参加。大议会发展到后来演变成议会，分为上议院和下议院。其作用是咨询而非决定；也没有选举和政党。议会的最重要的部分是上议院。

IV．The Hundred Years' War and its consequences.

百年战争及其结果

The Hundred Years’ War refers to the war between England and France that lasted intermittently from 1337 to 1453. The causes of the war were partly territorial and partly economic.

①The territorial causes were related with the possession by the English kings of the large duchy of Aquitaine in France, as the French kings grew stronger,they increasingly coveted this large slice.

②The economic causes were connected with cloth manufacturing towns in Flanders, which were the importer of English wool, but they were loyal to the French king politically. Besides, England's desire to

③stop France from giving aid to Scots and

④a growing sense of nationalism were the other causes.

The English's being driven out of France is ①regarded as a blessing for both countries. If the English had remained in France, the superior size and wealth of France would have ②hindered the development of a separate English national identity, ③while France was hindered so long as a foreign power occupied so much French territory.

百年战争指1337年到1453年英法之间一场断断续续的战争，战争的起因既有领土因素又有经济因素。领土起因尤其是英国国王占领了法国的阿基坦大片公爵领地，这是战争的根源，随着法国国王势力日增，他们渴望占领这片土地。经济原因则与弗兰德斯城有关。弗兰德斯地区生产棉布的城镇是英国羊毛的主要进口商，但这些城镇在政治上却效忠法国国王。其他原因还有英国试图阻止法国对苏格兰人的援助，并且压制不断增强的民族意识。

战争的结果：

把英国人赶出法国对两个国家都是幸事：若英国人继续留在法国，那么法国人在领土和财富上所占的优势必然会阻碍独立的英国的发展；而在英国占领大量法国领土的情况下，法国也很难统一。

Three stages of the war 战争的三个阶段

In the first two stages, the English won some big victories. But in the third stage, they were driven out of Fance.战争初期，英国取得辉煌胜利。但是最终被逐出法国

The battle of Argencourt 阿壤科之战

It took place in 1415 and the English won a crushing victory. After the victory, the English king Henry Ⅴwas recognized as the French King.1415年英国大获全胜，亨利5世登上法国王位。

Joan of Arc (1412-1431)贞德女士

Joan of Arc was a nation heroine in French history. She led and encourages the French in driving the English out of French in the Hundred Years’War. 贞德是法国历史上的女英雄，她领导和鼓舞法国人民将英国军队驱逐处境。

Consequences of the war 战争的后果影响

①The English lost the war. The expulsion of the English from French is regarded as a blessing for both countries.

②It helped English national identity as well as French national identity.

③Two separate nation were born after the war.

V. The Black Death

黑死病

The Black Death is the modern name given to the deadly bubonic plague,an epidemic disease spread by rat fleas across Europe in the 14th century. It swept through England in the summer of 1348. It reduced England's population from four million to two million by the end of the 14th century.

The economic consequences of the Black Death were far-reaching. As a result of the plague, much land was left untended and there was a terrible shortage of labour. The surviving peasants had better bargaining power and were in a position to change their serfdom into paid labour. Some landlords, unable or unwilling to pay higher wages, tried to force peasants back into serfdom. In 1351 the government issued a Statute of Labourers which made it a crime for peasants to ask for more wages or for their employers to pay more than the rates laid down by the Justices of the Peace.

黑死病是指由鼠疫蚤传播的致命的淋巴腺鼠疫，是一种流行疾病，在14世纪传播了到欧洲。1348年夏天横扫全英国。英国的人口在14世纪末从400万锐减至200万。

黑死病对经济造成的后果更为深远。鼠疫导致了大片土地无人照管和劳动力极度匮乏。地主想把耕地变为人力需求较少的牧场。存活的农民处于有利的讨价还价地位，从农奴变为雇佣劳动力。于是一些支付不起或不愿意支付较高工资的地主想方设法迫使农民重返农奴地位。1351年政府颁布“劳工法令”，规定农民们涨工资的要求，或者是雇主支付比地方官制订的工资水平要高的工资都是犯罪。