中世纪英格兰维兰的身份探析

An Analysis on Villein's Identity in Medieval England

维兰是中世纪英格兰的一个重要的社会群体,自11世纪诺曼征服以来,维兰这一概念从法国引入英格兰,首次出现在1086年的《末日审判书》中。随着普通法的形成,维兰的非自由法律身份逐渐确立,他们被赋予一系列奴役性的义务。但事实上,维兰的法律身份与实际地位相去甚远。早在13世纪,著名法学家勃拉克顿即已为此提出"维兰制的相对性"理论。维兰身份的不自由属性以及维兰制盛行的地域和时间都是相当有限的。

Villeins were a kind of important social group in medieval England.The term of villein was introduced from France after the William Conquest in 11 th century.It was firstly found in the＂Domesday Book＂in the 1086.As the development of the Common Law,villeins were defined as serfs and granted a series of unfree services.But as a matter of fact,villeins＇ legal identity was not coincident with the actual status.Early to 13 th century,Bracton,a famous jurist,had found it and put forward a theory called＂relativity of villeinage＂.The unfree legal identity of villein as well as the extent of villeinage in the range of area and time were all pretty limited.