近代早期英格兰的乡村犯罪、地方司法与社会权力网络——以伯爵科恩堂区为中心的考察

Crime,Local Justice and Social Power Networks in Early Modern England:A Case Study Focusing on the Parish of Earls Colne

在近代早期英格兰伯爵科恩堂区,村民基于多种交往形式而形成互惠关系,这造就一个复杂的社会权力网络,其中既有处于权力核心圈的中等阶层与社会边缘群体,也有“第三群体”,他们会有不同的司法境遇。一名违法者从违法到真正被贴上污名的标签而受到惩治,同时在司法档案中留下记录,这中间蕴含多方力量的权力博弈。伯爵科恩堂区的例子显示出,英格兰乡村犯罪惩治具有“近代早期性”。一方面,犯罪惩治的矛头已经指向社会弱势群体;另一方面,乡村中远没有出现明显的社会分化,当时的地方司法运作还远没有促成一个“犯罪阶级”的形成。当时英格兰国家法律受制于基层微观政治,这使得每个地方形成一种权力格局,而这一格局是由当地社会权力网络决定的。国家法律已经对各种犯罪做出界定,但在法律执行阶段,乡村社会有相当大的自由裁量空间。

In the parish of Earls Colne in early modern England, villagers formed reciprocal relationships based on multiple forms of interaction, which would create a complex social power network. This network consisted of the middle sort which was in the core circle of power, the marginalised groups,and the ’third group’. All of them faced different judicial situations when they engaged in illegal behaviour. A lawbreaker broke the law and was accordingly punished with a stigmatise label, being left with a record in the judicial archives. This was a process of power game among multiple forces. It reflects from the case of the parish of Earls Colne that the punishment of crime in the English villages had an ’early modern’ feature. On the one hand, the focus of the punishment of crime has been aimed at the vulnerable groups in the society. On the other hand, the social differentiation did not distinctly appear in the English rural areas. The state law of early modern England was confined by the local micro-politics, each local area formed a power structure accordingly, which was determined by the local social power network. The state law has defined the variety of crimes, however, the rural society still had considerable discretionary power in the phase of law enforcement.