中世纪英格兰的遗嘱及其史料价值

Medieval English Wills and its Importance in Historical Studies

在英格兰,遗嘱最早出现于盎格鲁—撒克逊时期。到12、13世纪,遗嘱的格式和内容获得重要发展,并形成一定格式,直到16世纪宗教改革时期才再次发生变化。中世纪英格兰遗嘱主要包含表达虔诚和分配遗产两个方面的内容,是具备精神和物质双重功能的一类文献,可以保证立遗嘱人的经历在尘世和来世之间保持完美的连贯性。遗嘱包含的时代信息十分丰富,涉及宗教观念、家庭结构、继承制度、社会流动等问题,对经济史、社会史、教会史、法制史等研究领域的发展都有相当重要的意义。毫无疑问,厘清它们的史料价值对英格兰中世纪史研究将大有裨益。

In England, the earliest wills appeared in the Anglo-Saxon period, and its form and content developed and eventually finalized during the twelfth to thirteenth centuries. Further changes did not happen until the Reformation of the Sixteenth century. The Medieval English wills mainly consisted of two aspects of information, to express piety and to tell the way of legacy distribution. The wills are therefore important in terms of both spirit and material. Since the rich information that the wills contain regarding religious conceptions, familial structure, inheritance, and social mobility etc., undoubtedly, the studies of medieval history would be benefited significantly by recognition of the value of the wills as an important historical sources.