英国《大宪章》是怎样炼成的.docVIP

英国《大宪章》是怎样炼成的From the early days of the 1）Norman Conquest， 2）barons had risen in rebellion. The first to do so was a certain Roger Fitz-Osbern of Carisbrooke Castle on the 3）Isle of Wight. You can see the 4）temptation. It’s like that children’s game， “I’m the king of the castle.”Whoever controlled Carisbrooke controlled the Isle of Wight. Fitz-Osborne had knights， he had foot soldiers loyal to him， he was basically the king here in all but name， and so he simply decided to withdraw his 5）allegiance to 6）William the Conqueror， to get on with the business of ruling his island.In no time， of course， William came and besieged Carisbrooke and stripped Fitz-Osbern of his land. But it set a pattern that was repeated again and again under every Norman king. They spent their whole time keeping the barons in check.In the reign of King John， tensions between the King and the barons reached a climax. Basically John， like any Norman king， was constantly on the move. Royal messengers would ride ahead alerting the next baron the King was on his way， and， for the baron， it was meant to be a great honour. The reality was it was a complete nightmare. You had all these extra mouths to feed， the King’s soldiers and his knights and his servants and his clerks and all the 7）hangers-on of the court. To entertain the King was 8）cripplingly expensive.The barons put up with royal visits because they gained from the King’s favour， his 9）patronage. Kings had the right to arrange noble marriages. They had the right to approve when a nobleman’s son inherited his father’s 10）estates. They granted barons gifts of titles and land. That’s if the King got it right.King John got it wrong. John’s been remembered as a bad king. What made John a bad king was that he failed as a politician. He misused the power of patronage and he lost the trust of the barons.John didn’t reward barons for loyal service. Instead， he kept them in check with threats and 11）blackmail. He took noblemen’s sons as hostages. He a