英国国家概况——历史（二）

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四、Decline of Feudalism in England

(一) Hundred Year’s War

At the beginning of the 14th century, England developed into a stronger state in Europe. Consequently, the rich wanted to control more markets and the nobles wanted to regain their lost land. When King Edward ӀӀӀ of England claimed that he should become the French King, it was rejected by the French, so he declared war on France in 1337. The war lasted intermittently for 116 years, hence being known as the Hundred Years’ War(百年战争). The term “Hundred Years’ War” was a later historical term invented by historians.

(二) Black Death

During the Hundred Year’s War, Black Death (黑死病)spread through Europe and swept through England in the summer of 1348 without warning or without any cure. It killed between one half and one third of the population of England. Black Death was the modern name given to the deadly bubonic plague, an epidemic disease spread by rat fleas.

(三) The Peasant Uprising

To fight against repression, armed villagers and townsmen of Kent and Essex, led by Wat Tyler and Jaek Straw, moved on London in June 1381. On June 14, the king Richard ӀӀ met the rebels and granted their demands. However, later many rebels were put to death and the Peasant Uprising(农民起义) was brutally suppressed. It had far-reaching significance in English history.   

(四) The War of The Roses

Two years after the ending of the Hundred Years’ War with France, England was thrown into another war, the War of the Roses(), which were a series of civil wars between supporters of the rival houses of Lancaster and York. The war got such a name because the badge of House of Lancaster was a red rose and that of York was white one.

The war lasted 30 years and ended in 1485 with Henry Tudor, as Henry VӀӀ , founding the Tutor Monarchy. It is generally believed that the Wars of the Roses greatly weakened the feudal noble class and marking the beginning of modern world history.

五、The Tudor Monarchy

The Tudor Monarchy was known as the new monarchy because it was different from the previous monarchies. To protect the interests of the commercial and landed middle classes (merchants and free farmers), on which the Tudor monarchs themselves relied for their power and popularity, the monarchy emphasized the development of trade. To secure export markets, the monarchy encouraged foreign expansion. It was also during the Tudor Monarchy that America was discovered and Renaissance spread into England. All this helped to prepare the conditions for the establishment of the capitalist mode of production in England. Meanwhile, large amounts of wealth needed for capitalist development were accumulated. The day for the English bourgeoisie to take over political power was not far off. The Tudor Monarch thus served as the transitional stage from feudalism to capitalism in English history.