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Good morning, class. Today we are going to start a big unit on government. Before the rise of the nation-state and absolute monarchies, Europe went through a period known as feudalism. Like our concept of democracy, feudalism had many forms and varied by location and time period.
Let's see, feudalism originated by mixing Roman law with Germanic tradition. The Germanic warriors that lived about 3,000 years ago had a tradition of electing a supreme warrior as leader. After battles, he would collect all of the spoils and distribute them fairly among all the warriors. (16) The term feudalism is defined by three principle terms: They are lords, vassals, and fiefs.
(17) Okay, a lord, in feudalism, is a person that owns land. He temporarily gives this land to another person, called a vassal. The vassal enters this contract so he may gain the land. Land sizes varied, from the size of a small farm, to huge counties. The vassal gained the revenues generated by the land, usually in the form of fanning products.
What did the lord get? At this time, there were no standing armies. There were no professional soldiers. The vassal swore allegiance to the lord. (18) In times of trouble, the lord could call upon the vassal to fight for the lord. This guaranteed the security of the lord.
Other details were often included in feudal deals. For example, since the lord still owned the land and merely lent the land to the vassal, the lord still had to maintain the land and defend it. The vassal, many times, would be required to grind his wheat and bake his bread in the ovens and mills owned by the lord, who then could collect taxes.
Umm, oh, yes, the vassals also acted as counselors to the lord. (18) During times of crisis, the lords would often hold meetings, calling together all the vassals to help them decide major decisions, such as to go to war or not.
Ah, lastly, feudalism had many levels. What I mean is, a king could be a lord, giving aristocrats large lands, who then became his vassals. Those aristocrats were lords themselves, dividing up their land to lesser vassals. (19) The top of this hierarchy was the emperor, who was the lord to his vassal kings.
Feudalism declined when lords became strong enough to maintain a standing army and did not require the services of their vassals.
16. What are the three terms that define feudalism?
17. What is a lord in feudalism?
18. During times of crisis, what would the lords do?
19. Who is at the top of the hierarchy in feudalism?
文章二
同學們大家早上好。今天我們要開始學習一個全新的單元，這個單元講的是政府。在單一民族國家和君主專制政體出現之前，歐洲經歷了一段封建社會時期。和我們熟知的民主的概念類似，封建主義同樣在不同時期、不同地區以多種形式存在。
我們來看一下，西歐封建制度最初是通過羅馬封建制度和日耳曼社會傳統融合而形成的。生活在3000年前的日耳曼戰士的傳統是將他們當中最強的戰士選為領袖。戰爭結束后，這位領袖會收集所有的戰利品并將其平均分發給所有的戰士。封建制度是由三個基本的名詞來定義的：封建領主、封臣和封地。
好的，封建領主是擁有土地的人。他把自己的土地暫時性地交給另外一個人，即封臣。封臣接受這樣的契約關系以期獲得封地。封地面積大小不一，小到一個小型農場，大到囊括幾個郡。封臣的收入通常是他們封地中收獲的農產品。
那領主能得到什么呢？在這個時期，沒有常備軍隊。沒有職業軍人。封臣發誓效忠領主。戰亂時期，領主可以召集封臣為其赴戰。這樣領主的安全便有了保障。
封建契約中還包括一些其他細節。比如，由于領主只是將土地借給封臣，他們仍掌握著土地的所有權，因此他們仍需維護這些土地。多數情況下，封臣需要在領主的磨坊磨小麥、用領主的烤箱烤面包，這樣領主就可以對他們征稅。
哦，還有，封臣們還擔任這領主顧問的角色。危機時刻，領主會召集會議，聚集封臣幫助其作出決定，比如是否要開戰的決定。
啊，最后，封建制度中存在著很多等級。我的意思是，國王可以是領主，將大量土地分封給貴族，貴族便成為了他們的封臣。貴族本身又是領主，將自己的封地分給低一級的封臣。這個等級制度的最頂端是君主，他是封臣們領主的領主。
領主的實力逐漸壯大，足以維持常備軍隊，不再需要封臣的服務，這時封建制度就沒落了。
16.定義封建制度的三個名詞是什么？
17.封建制度中領主是什么？
18.危機時刻，領主會怎么做？
19.封建等級制度的頂端是誰？
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