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计价还价地位，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。
　　
　　VI. The Peasant Uprising of 1381 and its significance
　　1381年农民起义及其意义
　　Armed villagers and townsmen of Kent and Essex, led by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw,
moved on London in June, 1381. The king was forced to accept their demands. Most of the
rebels dispersed and went home, while Tyler and other leaders stayed on for more rights.
Tyler was killed at a meeting with the king.
　　The uprising was brutally suppressed, but it had far-reaching significance in English
history. First, it directed against the rich clergy, lawyers and the landowners. Second,
it dealt a telling blow to villeinage, and third, a new class of yeomen farmers emerged,
paving the way to the development of capitalism.
　　1381年6月，在瓦特 泰勒和杰克 斯特劳领导下，凯特郡和埃塞克斯郡的农民和市民武装起来发动起义，
并向伦敦进发。国王被迫接受了他们的要求。大多数起义农民解散回家，但泰勒和其他坚决的农民留下来要求
得到更多的法律、宗教和政治权利。泰勒在又一次与国王的会见中被杀死。
　　尽管起义被血腥镇压，但在英国历史上留下了深远的影响。这次起义具有真实的社会性，把矛头直接对准
了富有的教职人员、律师和地主。这次起义沉重打击了封建农奴制度，产生了全新的自耕农阶级，为资本主义
发展铺设了道路。
　　
　　　　英语国家概况精讲系列（七）
　　
　　Chapter 4
　　第四章
　　Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688)
　　向现代英国的过渡
　　
　　I. Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1485)
　　向现代英国的过渡(1455年-1485年)
　　The Wars of Rose
　　玫瑰战争
　　The name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles between the House of Lancaster,
symbolized by the read rose, and that of York, symbolized by the white, from 1455 to
1485. Henry Tudor, descendant of Duke of Lancaster won victory at Bosworth Fireld in 1485
and put ht country under the rule of the Tudors. From these Wars, English feudalism
received its death blow. The great medieval nobility was much weakened.
　　玫瑰战争是指，从1455年到1485年，以红玫瑰为象征的兰开斯特大家族和以白玫瑰为象征的约克家族之间
战争的普遍接受的名称。1485年，兰开斯特家族的后代亨利都铎取得了博斯沃恩战役的胜利，建立了都铎王
朝。这些战争使英国的封建主义受到致命打击，贵族阶层受到了削弱。
　　
　　II. The English Reformation
　　英国的宗教改革
　　Henry VIII was above all responsible for the religious reform of the church. There
were three main causes: a desire for chan

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