評(píng)論
打印
The mediaeval knight was a country squire and was rarely forced to pay for materials in money. His estates produced everything that he and his family ate and drank and wore on their backs. The bricks for his house were made along the banks of the nearest river. Wood for the rafters of the hall was cut from the baronial forest. The few articles that had to come from abroad were paid for in goods-in honey-in eggs-in fagots.
中世紀(jì)的騎士同時(shí)也是擁有田產(chǎn)的鄉(xiāng)紳，少有出現(xiàn)必須付錢購(gòu)買某種物品的情形。他們的莊園里能夠出產(chǎn)供他和他的家人吃、喝、穿的一切物品。修筑城堡所需的磚塊是在最近的河邊制造的，大廳的檁梁直接從自己擁有的森林采伐。有少量物品來(lái)自國(guó)外，但也是拿莊園出產(chǎn)的蜂蜜、雞蛋、柴捆去交換的。
But the Crusades upset the routine of the old agricultural life in a very drastic fashion. Suppose that the Duke of Hildesheim was going to the Holy Land. He must travel thousands of miles and he must pay his passage and his hotel-bills. At home he could pay with products of his farm. But he could not well take a hundred dozen eggs and a cart-load of hams with him to satisfy the greed of the shipping agent of Venice or the inn-keeper of the Brenner Pass. These gentlemen insisted upon cash. His Lordship therefore was obliged to take a small quantity of gold with him upon his voyage. Where could he find this gold? He could borrow it from the Lombards, the descendants of the old Longobards, who had turned professional moneylenders, who seated behind their exchange-table (commonly known as"banco" or bank) were glad to let his Grace have a few hundred gold pieces in exchange for a mortgage upon his estates, that they might be repaid in case His Lordship should die at the hands of the Turks.
可十字軍東征卻把古老農(nóng)業(yè)社會(huì)的陳規(guī)打了個(gè)天翻地覆。請(qǐng)?jiān)O(shè)想一下，如果希爾德海姆公爵想要去圣地，那他必須跋涉上幾千英里的路程。一路上，他不得不支付自己的交通費(fèi)、伙食費(fèi)。如果在家里，他可以拿田莊里的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品去給人家。現(xiàn)在可糟了，他總不能載著100打雞蛋和整車火腿上路，好隨時(shí)滿足某個(gè)威尼斯船主或布倫納山口旅店主的口腹之欲呀！這些紳士們堅(jiān)持要收現(xiàn)金。因此公爵不得不被迫帶上少量的金子去開始旅程。可他能到哪兒去搞到這些金子呢？他可以從老隆哥巴德人的后裔倫巴德人那里去借。他們悠然愜意地端坐在兌換柜臺(tái)后面（柜臺(tái)被稱為"banco"，它就是銀行"bank"一詞的由來(lái)），早已經(jīng)變成職業(yè)的放債人了。他們倒很樂(lè)意借給公爵大人幾百個(gè)金幣，可為保險(xiǎn)起見必須用公爵的莊園作抵押。這樣，萬(wàn)一公爵大人在征討土耳其人時(shí)有個(gè)三長(zhǎng)兩短，他們的錢才不至于打了水漂
