I. The Great Charter (大憲章)?(1215)

諾曼人遺留下來的兩件事情促成了 12 世紀(jì)和 13 世紀(jì)英國國內(nèi)的極不穩(wěn)定。其一是英國在法國境內(nèi)擁有的 土地；其二是諾曼人對羅馬天主教的依附。 像所有的歐洲基督教國王一樣，英國國王也被要求參加對伊 斯蘭帝國土耳其人的戰(zhàn)爭，以奪得基督教圣地耶路撒冷。事實(shí)上有三次大規(guī)模的十字軍東征，加上對法戰(zhàn)

爭，極大消耗了英國的財(cái)政。結(jié)果導(dǎo)致了 1215 的約翰國王與貴族們之間的對抗。Two aspects of the Norman legacy were to contribute to great domestic unrest in the 12th and 13th centuries. One was England's possession of territory in France. The other was Norman adherence to Roman Catholicism. English kings, like all Christian

kings of Europe, were expected to become involved in the wars against the Islamic Empire of the Turks in order to gain possession from them of the Christian holy city of Jerusalem. Indeed there were three great crusades. This together with wars against France was an enormous drain upon financial resources of England. The result was

confrontation between King John and his barons in 1215.

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寫有許多不滿的請?jiān)笗簧铣式o國王約翰。貴族們抱怨說:國王沒能保護(hù)諾曼土地免受法國國的進(jìn)逼；國王收的賦稅太重，破壞了封建法庭的權(quán)力；國王把罰款據(jù)為已有，而這些罰款以前也是貴族的一部分收入。國王亨利拒絕了貴族們的要求，但他在炫耀武力失敗后被追求和。1215 年夏天，在離溫莎城堡四英里之外的泰晤士河下游的蘭尼米德島上舉行了會(huì)議，貴族代表團(tuán)把他們的憲章（后被稱為《大憲章》）遞交給國王和他的顧問們。1215 年 6 月 19 目，國王極不情愿地在大憲章上蓋上印鑒。

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A list of grievances was presented to?King?John. The barons complained that the king has failed to protect the Norman lands from the advances of the French King, Philip Augustus, and that he had imposed high taxes, undermined the power of the feudal courts and taken himself the fines which had previously been part of the barons' income. The king rejected the barons' demands but was forced to make peace after a show of force. The barons' charter, or Magna Carta as it came to be known, was presented by a delegation of their class to the king and his advisers in

the summer of 1215 at a conference at Runnymede, an island in the Thames four miles downstream from Windsor. With the utmost reluctance, the king was forced to put his seal to the Charter on June 19,1215.

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大憲章共有 63 條，主要條文如下；沒有大評議會(huì)批準(zhǔn)不得征稅；除依照法律，不得隨意逮捕、拘禁 自由民，不依照土地法不得剝奪其財(cái)產(chǎn)；教會(huì)擁有的權(quán)利和選舉自由不受侵犯.倫敦和其他城市應(yīng)保留其古老的權(quán)利和特權(quán)；全國應(yīng)統(tǒng)一度量衡。盡管有些條款也允諾普通人更多的權(quán)利，但沒有涉及農(nóng)奴的條款。 由 24 位貴族和倫敦市長組成的委員會(huì)幫助國王執(zhí)行大憲章，若國王違反規(guī)定，他們有權(quán)對國王宣戰(zhàn)。

Magna Carta had altogether 63 clauses, of which the most important matters were these: no tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council; no freeman should be arrested, imprisoned, or deprived of his property except by the law of the land; the Church should possess all its rights, together with freedom of elections; London and other towns should retain their ancient rights and privileges, and there should be the same weights and measures throughout the country. Although some clauses of the Great Charter promised more general rights, nothing was said about serfs. A committee of 24 barons plus the Mayor of London was chosen to help the king carry out the Charter; with the right of declaring war on him should he break its provisions.

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盡管大憲章長期以來被普遍認(rèn)為是英國自由的基礎(chǔ)，但它陳述的只是國王與貴族之間的封建關(guān)系與法 律關(guān)系，保證了教會(huì)的自由，限制了國王的權(quán)力，大憲章的精神是限制王權(quán)，置王權(quán)于封建法律的約束下。

Although Magna Carta has long been popularly regard-ed as the foundation of English liberties, it was a statement of the feudal and legal relationship between the Crown and the barons, a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and a limitation of the powers of the king. The spirit of Magna Carta was the limitation of the powers of the king, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land.?