张奎武《英美概况》笔记及习题(封建制度的衰落)【圣才出品】

第3章封建制度的衰落

3.1 复习笔记

I. The First Half of the Hundred Years’ War

II. The Economic Changes and Wat Tyler’s Rising

1. The Economic Changes

2. Wat Tyler’s Rising

III. The Second Half of the Hundred Years’ War

IV. The Wars of the Roses

I. The First Half of the Hundred Years’ War (百年战争的前期)

1. T he Hundred Years’ War began in 1337 and ended in 1453. It was a series of wars, with victory now on one side, now on the other.

2. T he first half of the Hundred Years’ War saw English loss. Later, black death killed one third of the English people and halted the war.

1. 百年战争开始于1337年，结束于1453年。它指的是一系列的战争，双方都各有输赢。

2. 百年战争的前期，英国处于劣势。黑死病使人口锐减三分之一，一度中断了战争。

II. The Economic Changes and Wat Tyler’s Rising (经济形势的变化和瓦特·泰勒的起义)

1. The Economic Changes (经济形势的变化)

(1) Feudalism in England began to decline in the nearly 14th.

(2) The vigorous economic progress of the 13th-century petered out early in the 14th century. A natural economy gradually gave way to a money economy.

(3) The shortage of labor caused by the Black Death gave a chance for agricultural laborers in villages.

(1) 14世纪早期，英国的封建制度开始衰落。

(2) 13世纪经济发展的强劲势头在14世纪早期开始减缓。自然经济逐渐被货币经济所取代。

(3) 黑死病导致的劳动力锐减，缓和了农村劳动力的就业困难。

2. Wat Tyler’s Rising (瓦特·泰勒的起义)

Under the leadership of Wat Tyle, the peasants started the rising in 1381. Though it failed, the rising ended the British serfdom.

1381年，瓦特·泰勒发动农民起义。尽管失败了，这次起义结束了英国的农奴制。

III. The Second Half of the Hundred Years’ War (百年战争的后期)

1. By 1420 France had had enough defeat. A peace agreement was arranged and the Treaty of Troyes was signed.

2. French girl Joan of Arc gathered an army to fight against English. By 1453 only the port of Calais remained under English rule. The Hundred Years’ War was over.

1. 到1420年，法国多次惨败。双方签署了休战协议——《特鲁瓦条约》。

2. 法国女英雄贞德率军奋战。到1453年，英国在法国只据有加来孤港了。百年战争结束了。

IV. The Wars of the Roses (玫瑰战争)

1. Two years after the Hundred Years’ War, the Wars of the Roses between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists broke out. It was a feudal civil war.

2. The Wars of the Roses weakened the old feudal nobility. The Wars of the Roses ended and the House of Tudor began.

1. 百年战争结束后两年，兰开斯特王朝和约克王朝之间展开了玫瑰战争。这是一场封建内战。

2. 玫瑰战争加速了封建贵族的衰落。玫瑰战争结束了，都铎王朝开始。

3.2 课后习题详解

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions:

1. Why did the Hundred Years’ War happen in the history of Britain?

Key: Ostensibly the War happened because of the claim of Edward III to be the rightful king of France, but the causes were deeper and more complex. For example, the English kings tried to get back the land Henry II owned in France, while the French kings tried to weaken and reduce English power. The economic interests of England and France clashed in Flanders.

2. What do you know about War Tyler’s Rising?

Key: Since the Hundred Years’ War, the conditions of the peasants were not improved; the villains struggled for full freedom. The government of Edward III and the parliament issued Statutes of Laborers which made the people who had no land or other means of living to work for landlords and proprietors at the same rate as before Black Death. This aroused the hatred against the ministers, lawyers and landlords. All of these led to the rising led by War Tyler in 1381. It was precipitated by the collection of the Poll Tax. The rising started in Essex and soon spread to the neighboring countries. The peasants believed the king, Richard’s promise, half of them went home, and the leaders remained. But in a conference with Richard, the mayor of London killed War Tyler; many peasants were killed and dispersed. Though it failed, the rising had far- reaching consequences. The serfs were not to remain serfs for long. All the forces of social development were against the continuation of serfdom. It was impossible to keep forced labor on the manor and landlords had to give up useless old feudal rights. Serfs became either free peasants or wage laborers, just as Karl Ma rx: “In England, serfdom had practically disappeared in the last part of the 14th century.”

3. What were the nature and consequences of the Hundred Years’ War?

Key: The nature: It was a feudal and trade war to seize the power, enlarge the dominion between England and France.

The consequences: By 1453, the English dominion in France shrank to Calais

and a strip of the Gascon coast. The ending of the Hundred Years’ War deprived the English king of his possessions on the Continent.

4. What do you know about the nature and consequence of the Wars of the Roses? Key: The nature: It was a feudal civil war, the war for power and wealth and at last for the possession of the Crown between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

The consequence: The wars of the Roses lasted 30 years and ended in 1485 with the accessions of Henry Tudor as Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor Monarchy. The ending of the Wars of the Roses was seen as the ending of the Middle Ages in European history and the beginning of the modern world history.

Exercise 2. Explain the following terms:

1. Black Death

Key: It is the modern name given to the deadly epidemic disease spread by rat fleas across Europe in the 14th century. It started in Italy and soon swept through Europe. In England about one half of the population died of this disease, which resulted in the shortage of labor and much land was left untended.

2. the Lollards

Key: Followers of John Wycliffe in late medieval England. They preached the confiscation of the wealth of the church. He advocated that all goods should be held in common. They called attention to the natural equality of men by crying:

When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the Gentlemen. Therefore, they provided ideological preparation for the labor movement of the 14th century.