中世纪晚期和近代早期的欧洲老人及其赡养

Issue of Support for the Elderly during the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe

每个社会都有一种适当的方式赡养老人。在中世纪晚期和近代早期,欧洲人用"退休"协议的方式,规定了老人获得赡养的条件。老人的赡养呈现出与大多数传统社会不同的情形。退休协议是老年人与其财产继承人兼赡养人之间签订的具有法律效力的契约,它既意味着财产的让渡,也是对老人的一种生活安排。与老人签署协议的人不一定限于老人的子女,老人也可以与非亲族关系的人订立协议。老人获得什么样的养老条件,基本上取决于他自己所掌握财产的多少。这种养老方式与历史上欧洲人独特的婚姻和家庭制度有关,也影响到人们对生育、财产积累的愿望和态度,有利于社会化养老制度的发展。

It is necessary for any society to find a suitable way to support its elderly. There was an unusual way for supporting the old people during the late Middle Ages and early modern Europe. The elderly was likely to make a retirement contract with someone who would like to support him. Of course, the contract was based on the property which the old one should transfer to the supporter. That means the elderly had to accumulate enough property for his old age before his retirement. Otherwise, he or she could not get enough support from his （her） heritor. Furthermore, it was unnecessary for the elderly to make the contract with his son or daugh- ter. He could choose anyone who he thought suitable for taking care of him. Therefore, comparing with the system of supporting the elderly in other agricultural societies, where the old people usually lived in a large family and got his support from all members of the family, the situation was quite different for old people in Europe during that period. This particular way of supporting old people corresponded to the European marriage pattern and the particular family system in historical Europe, and it would have some influence on the European fertility and the desire of accumulating wealth during the late Middle Ages and early modern period.