中古英国的幼主托孤与王权运作--以亨利三世时代早期为主的考察

Accession of a Child King and the Operation of Royal Power in Medieval England:an Examination Centered on the Early Years of the Reign of Henry Ⅲ

中古英国不乏幼主托孤的现象。在严格的世袭君主制下,诺曼征服后的数位幼主即位并未造成王位争夺,有时甚至成为化解王权危机的契机。在幼主期内,国王个人仅是权力的象征,王权主要通过权臣摄政或成立贵族委员会来运作,国王近臣、掌权的摄政者与传统的封建贵族三者合作理政,但也矛盾重重。国王政府在幼主期内常常可以高效地运作,国王内府作用减弱,政府机构趋于专门化,官僚更加职业化。幼主期对国王的思想与行为都有独特的影响,他渴望名副其实的权威,对贵族缺乏信任,因此在亲政过程中往往与代治的贵族发生冲突,在亲政后他们的政策重心是重建国王个人对王权的掌控。

The accession of a child king was not a rare event in medieval England. By observing the minority of several kings, with Henry Ⅲ as a representative example, one may conclude that in a strictly hereditary monarchy, the accession of a child king did not set off a struggle for the throne, and may even at times serve to dissipate crises in royal power. While the king remained a child, he was merely the symbol of power, while actual power was in the hands of powerful ministers who ruled as regents or of a council of nobles. The king’s trusted ministers, powerful regents and the traditional feudal nobility cooperated to run the country, though there were many conflicts between them. The royal government often operated with great efficiency under a child king. With the role of king’s household weakened, government organs tended to specialize and bureaucrats became professionalized. Having acceded to the throne as a child had a unique influence on the king’s later ideas and actions. He thirsted for genuine authority and distrusted the nobles. For this reason, he was often embroiled in conflicts with the ruling nobles when he finally took power himself. His policy focus thereafter was on rebuilding the king’s personal control of royal power.