英國(guó)《大憲章》是怎樣煉成的

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 abused his power as a matchmaker. He forced the nobles into marriages they didn’t want. If they refused， he would fine them. If they couldn’t pay， he moved in and claimed their estates.

At last， the barons had had enough. They rose in rebellion， and， at 12）Runnymede， they forced King John to sign the Magna Carta， a charter protecting what they called “their ancient freedoms.”

In the centuries that followed， people remembered the Magna Carta as the first document to protect us all from the power of 13）tyrannical kings. We can’t be arrested without good reason. That’s in the Magna Carta. We have the right to a fair trial. That’s in the Magna Carta. The fact is， at the time， those rights were only for the barons. They weren’t for us. They weren’t for ordinary people. But， even so， Magna Carta’s still important because it helped to establish “the rule of law.” In signing that document， John was forced to accept that the power of the law was greater than the power of the sword. Now， no one was above the law， not even the King， and that rule of law protects us to this day.

從諾曼征服的早期開始，貴族的反抗活動(dòng)就不曾停歇。第一個(gè)這樣做的人正是懷特島上卡里斯布魯克城堡的羅杰·菲茨-奧斯本。你可以想象他當(dāng)時(shí)面對(duì)的那種誘惑，就像小孩子玩的游戲：“我是城堡的國(guó)王。”誰(shuí)控制了卡里斯布魯克城堡，誰(shuí)就能控制懷特島。菲茨-奧斯本有自己的騎士，有忠于他的步兵，除了名分外，他實(shí)際上就是這里的國(guó)王。于是他決定不再效忠于“征服者”威廉，繼續(xù)自己在島上的統(tǒng)治生活。

當(dāng)然，威廉一世馬上就來(lái)圍攻卡里斯布魯克城堡，沒(méi)收了菲茨-奧斯本名下的土地。但這一事件開啟了一個(gè)模式，在后來(lái)歷任諾曼國(guó)王管治下反復(fù)上演，歷代國(guó)王要耗費(fèi)全部時(shí)間去遏制貴族的權(quán)力。

在英王約翰統(tǒng)治時(shí)期，國(guó)王與貴族之間的關(guān)系緊張到了極點(diǎn)。基本上，約翰像所有諾曼國(guó)王一樣，不斷到處出巡。王家信使會(huì)騎馬先行，通知出巡路線上的下一位貴族：國(guó)王快到了。對(duì)貴族來(lái)說(shuō)，這本來(lái)是極大的榮譽(yù)，但事實(shí)上，這完全是一個(gè)噩夢(mèng)。因?yàn)槟阋~外喂飽很多張嘴：國(guó)王的士兵、他的騎士、他的仆人、他的侍從，還有宮廷的所有食客，招待國(guó)王一行耗資驚人。

貴族們?nèi)棠椭跫乙淮斡忠淮蔚膩?lái)訪，因?yàn)樗麄兡軓膰?guó)王的青睞中獲益，獲得國(guó)王的恩惠。國(guó)王有權(quán)安排貴族的婚姻，有權(quán)批準(zhǔn)貴族的兒子繼承父親的地產(chǎn)，他們向貴族授予頭銜，賞賜土地。維系這種關(guān)系的前提是國(guó)王處事得當(dāng)。

而英王約翰就搞砸了。約翰以昏君之名被載入史冊(cè)。……