惯例权利与私有产权的博弈——近代早期英国拾穗权之争

Games between Customary Rights and Private Property Rights——The Gleaning Struggle in Early Modern England

"拾穗权"是中世纪形成的一种惯例权利,《圣经》中亦有依据。到了近代早期,拾穗权依然普遍存在,是贫苦农民果腹的保障之一。随着资本主义私有产权观念的发展,1788年最高民事法庭判决拾穗权为非法,从而引发了社会的广泛关注。拾穗权虽被判定为违法,但作为一个惯例权利却依然得到社会的认可。在此后半个多世纪中,贫民依然践行着这项古老的惯例权利,但没有受到严厉的惩处。最终,随着土地产权明晰化、农业现代化以及济贫措施的加强,矛盾逐渐化解。

The right of gleaning is a legacy of the medieval tradition, which also gets its basis in the Bible. In the early modern times, the gleaning is still widespread, and is also one of the food bulwarks to satisfy the poor peasants' hunger. With the development of capitalist private property rights, it was decided illegal by the Court of Common Pleas, which has caused widespread concern in society. Although the right of gleaning was judged illegal, the poor gleaners have received a general sympathy of the society. For more than half a century, the poor still fulfilled this ancient customary right, but they have not been severely punished. Finally, with the clarification of land property rights, the modernization of agriculture and the strengthening of the relief of the poor, the contradiction was gradually resolved.