从“辉格解释”到“议会虚权”论--西方学界对15世纪英国政治史的考量

From“Whig’s Historical Interpretation”to“Parliamentary Hypocritical Power”:Western Scholarship of the Fifteenth Century British Political History

19世纪以来,西方学者对英国15世纪的政治发展及历史走向进行诸多学术探讨。一方面,以斯塔布斯为代表的宪政主义学派主张英国在15世纪出现了“宪政实践”,即“兰开斯特宪政实验”。同时部分宪政学者也认为,这种实验是不成熟的,最终也以失败告终。随着研究的深入,以麦克法兰为代表的“修正学派”,开始关注“变态封建主义”,从贵族群体运动的角度来解构辉格史学。另一方面,部分学者通过对“玫瑰战争”期间议会与王权关系的探索,认为在15世纪后期,议会所宣扬的公平正义与自由已不复存在,特别是在约克王朝“新君主制”的强权下,议会完全成为国王统治的御用工具。由此,宪政主义学派的“宪政神话”遭到解构。

Since the nineteenth century,Western scholars have been discussing the fifteenth century political development and historical trend of the UK from different perspectives.The Constitutionalist School represented by Stubbs advocated that a constitutional practice happened in Britain in the fifteenth century,namely,the“Lancaster Constitutional Experiment”.Meanwhile,some constitutional scholars pointed out that this experiment was immature and eventually ended in failure.The Revision School represented by McFarlane,on the other hand,deconstructed Whig history by their studies of the aristocratic movement and the so-called“Bastard Feudalism”,In addition,some scholars explored the relationship between the parliament and royal power during the“War of the Roses”.They concluded that in the late fifteenth century,the fairness,justice and freedom promoted by the parliament actually did not exist and the parliament has become a tool of the king.As a result,the“Constitutional Myth”of the constitutionalist school was deconstructed.