42

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

封建制度

allotted, gave; assigned.　　　　　　　　　　poniard, dagger.
candidate, applicant.　　　　　　　　　　　riveted, bolted.
ceremony, observance; religious form.　　　　similar, like.
combatants, fighters; opponents.　　　　　　summoned, called together.
developed, unfolded; worked out.　　　　　tenure, holding.
equipped, dressed.　　　　　　　　　　　　terrible, dreadful.
favourite, best liked.　　　　　　　　　　　transacted, done.

1. The Normans brought with them into England (1066) the Feudal System,which continued to hold great power over English society until after the last Norman King fell on Bosworth field (1485). It is true that there were some traces of a similar plan among the Angles and the Saxons; but the system was fully developed on the Continent, and chiefly among the Normans

2. It derived its name from feod, or feud, a piece of land; and its leading feature was, that all land was under military tenure, —an expression which means that a tenant, instead of paying his whole rent in corn, or cattle, or money, gave only a small portion of these, and for the rest was obliged to fight under his lord's banner, without any pay, when called to arms.

3. The King owned all land: he allotted large districts to the nobles; they subdivided these among the gentry (the English thanes, called by the Normans franklins ); these, again, sublet their land to their vassals—in every case the higher requiring from the lower service in war. When the King needed an army, he summoned his barons; they called to arms their franklins; these, their vassals and retainers; and thus a large force was gathered round the royal standard. The lowest classes of society under the Normans were the villeins and the serfs.

4. Closely interwoven with the Feudal System was Chivalry or knighthood.As a knight, the King was on a level with the poorest gentleman, and had to pass through the same training—serving first as a page, and then as an esquire,before he received his golden spurs and took the vows of knighthood. The night before the ceremony, the candidate for knightly honours held his vigil, when, within some dark aisle, amid the tombs of the fallen brave, he kept a lonely and silent watch over the arms he was about to assume.

KNIGHTS.

5. The Knight, when fully equipped, was clad from head to heel in armour, formed of steel plates riveted firmly together; below this he wore a dress of soft leather. On his helmet was a crest; on his three-pointed shield a device—the origin of our coatof-arms. His chief weapon was the lance; but besides he wore a two-handed sword, and a poniard called “the dagger of mercy,” used to kill a fallen foe; and he often carried a battle-axe or mace.

THE TOURNAMENT.

6. The chief sport of chivalry was the Tournament, or joust. It was held within an enclosed space called “the lists.” Ladies and nobles sat round in raised galleries, while the lower orders thronged outside the barriers to witness the sport. At each end of the lists tents were pitched for the rival knights. At sound of trumpet the combatants dashed at full gallop from opposite sides, and met in the centre with a terrible shock. If the knights were equally matched, the lances flew into splinters, and the horses were thrown back on their haunches; but if one struck with stronger and surer aim, whether the helmet or the shield of his rival, the unlucky knight was hurled from the saddle to the ground, stunned, bleeding, and bruised by his heavy armour.

7. After the tilting, the lower classes held sports, the favourite being archery, bull-baiting, and playing at quarter-staf . The las-named was a kind of cudgelplaying; the staf was a pole about six feet long, which the combatants grasped in the middle—striking, parrying, and thrusting with both ends. Very similar to the tournament was the trial by combat; which, like the ordeal of the English, was the Norman appeal to the justice of Heaven.

8. The public business of the realm was transacted by the Curia Regis (the King's Court), which at the Conquest took the place of the Witena-gemot.

中文阅读

1. 诺曼人在公元1066年踏上英格兰土地，为英国人带来了封建制度。从此之后，这个制度在英格兰落地生根，枝繁叶茂，直到最后一位诺曼国王在公元1485年的博斯沃思战场上落败，它才宣告落幕。在盎格鲁人和撒克逊人的社会体制中也有类似的制度痕迹，但这制度真正得到深入发展，还是在诺曼人入主不列颠的时期。

2. 这个制度的名字来源于“封地 ”一词，即分封的一块土地。其制度核心是，所有土地的所有权都是以服军役为条件而获取、持有，也就是说，土地的领主不以玉米、牲畜、金钱来交全部地租，实物地租只占一小部分，而剩余的部分则要求履行为国王而战的义务，国王不需为此支付任何费用。

3. 国王当然持有全国的所有土地，他将它们分成大区分封给贵族，贵族又把各自领地细分给乡绅（英国人叫领主，诺曼人叫地主），以此类推，他们又再将土地转包给他们的家臣，每一个层级都是上一级要求下一级在战争中要出兵作战。当国王需要一支军队的时候，他会召集他属下的贵族大佬，他们又召集他们的乡绅，乡绅再召集他们的家臣，这样层层推进，一支强大的军队就在皇室的旗帜下集结完毕了。在诺曼人中间，社会的最底层是佃农或者奴隶。

4. 与封建制度紧密交织在一起的便是骑士制度，或者说骑士精神。作为一名骑士，上至国王，下至贫穷的绅士没有地位的差别，都必须通过同样的训练——首先当一名侍者服务于他人，然后再努力成为一名绅士，通过考核以后，才能获得象征骑士身份的金马刺，并起誓成为骑士。授勋仪式的前一天晚上，候选者将通宵守夜，站在阵亡勇士的墓碑中间，在黑暗中保持孤独与沉默，并在此过程中沉思他即将承担的责任与义务。

5. 当骑士全副武装时，从头到脚都会戴上盔甲，这些盔甲全是将钢片用铆钉牢牢固定在一起，极为坚固。他们头盔上有个顶饰，三尖盾牌上也有个标志图案，这些就是我们盾徽的起源。他们的主要武器是一根长矛，此外还持有双剑，以及一把名为“仁慈匕首”的小短刀，主要用来手刃落马的敌人；但他们也经常携带战斧或者狼牙棒。

6. 骑士们的主要活动是马上比武，也叫决斗，其场地被限定在一个封闭区域内，叫做“竞技场”。女士和贵族们围坐在高高的环形看台上，而身份较低的人就只有挤在栅栏外面，伸长脖子看比赛了。在喇叭的喧闹声中，两位决斗勇士从角斗场两边飞驰而入，在场地中心相遇后便展开激烈的搏斗。如果决斗的两个人旗鼓相当，各自的长矛最终可能被击成碎片，然后两个人又骑马而返；不过要是碰上明显更强壮稳健的对手，则不管戴没戴头盔，有没有盾牌，这位倒霉的骑士部会被对方击落在地，昏迷不醒，血流不止，那一身厚重的铠甲会把他擦碰得鼻青脸肿。

7. 刺激的决斗结束以后，观众席上的底层民众还会继续举行一些体育活动，当时最受欢迎的项目是箭术、狗牛大战、耍权杖；所谓权杖是一根长约六英尺的棍棒，骑士们一般握住中间部分，击、拦、戳，并两端转换，玩起来虎虎生风。与马上比武相类似的活动还有格斗考核，这对英国人而言有时真是痛苦的折磨，但却是诺曼人让上天裁决正义的一种方式。

8. 当时的公共事务都由君主法庭处理，自从诺曼征服之后，御前会议被这个新的治理机制取代了。