英美法律制度2.pptVIP

1.3 THE DECLINE OF FEUDALISM 1.3.1 The Hundred Years’ War The Hundred Years’ War refers to the war between England and France that lasted intermittently from 1337 to 1453. The causes of the war were partly territorial and partly economic. Besides, England’s desire to stop France from giving aid to Scots and a growing sense of nationalism were the other causes. 1.3.2 The Black Death It was the deadly epidemic disease spread by rat fleas across Europe in the 14th century. It swept through England in the summer of 1348. The consequences of the Black Death: shortage of labour. 1.3.3 The Peasant Uprising of 1381 Armed villagers and townsmen of Kent and Essex, led by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, moved on London in June, 1381. 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. 1.3.4 The Wars of Rose The war between the two most influential rival groups: the family of Lancaster and the family of York. In 1455, the Duke of York tried to displace the Lancaster King Henry VI, and the Wars of the Roses broke out. Henry Tudor, descendant of Duke of Lancaster, won victory at Bosworth Field in 1485 and put the country under the rule of the Tudors. From these Wars, English feudalism received its fatal blow. The great medieval nobility was much weakened. 1.4 GROWTH OF CAPITALISM AND THE RULE OF TUDORS 1.4.1 The Strengthening of the Centralized Monarch In the reign of the Tudors the other two forms of primitive accumulation, foreign trade and colonial plunder, including the slave trade, started. Henry VII was crowned on the battle-field of Bosworth. In order to retain his crown, Henry took a series of steps. Firstly, he put down all revolts with a heavy hand; secondly, he strengthened the law courts; thirdly, he in