中世纪英国庄园中的儿童监护权研究

Reseach on the Custody of Children in English Manor Courts

由于庄园惯例的不同,中世纪英国庄园中的儿童成年的年龄标准存在地区差别,但基本在15岁至20岁之间。庄园儿童的监护权从根本上属于庄园领主,因此庄园儿童的监护权首先落入领主手中,再由领主委托庄园法庭监督监护人的选择,监护人的选择从本质上反映了领主的利益。监护人一旦确定,庄园领主就通过庄园法庭对儿童监护权实行管理和监督,既要防止监护人滥用监护权,又确保监护人有一定的自主权。但是,由于中世纪庄园儿童的监护权仅限于死者的法定继承人,而各地庄园继承惯例又各不相同,因此,中世纪庄园儿童监护权并不是普遍存在的。

Though the custom is various,the usual ages of majority for both sons and daughters ranged from fifteen to twenty in medieval manor in England.Custody of children fundamentlly belonged to the manor lord,as a result,the custody of children in manor first came into the lord＇s hand,then,the lord chose to entrust both to selected guardians,and manor courts supervised guardianship arrangements.The lord emphasized his administration and brought guardians under the supervision of his court.The court limited the potential for the abuse of wardship,on the other hand,the guardians had the guardians＇ rights.In medieval English Manor,not every minor had guardian,only minors who were actually heirs had guardians.There were variations in custom from place to place.Thus the guardianship of children did not belong to every minor in the middle ages England manor.