英国文学简史 NEW

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《英国文学简史:南开英美文学精品教材》为普通高等教育十一五国家级规划教材 纯英文版。作者常耀信教授。

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Medieval Literature: A Brief Introduction4The date that even a child of three in England is supposed to know is 1066, the year of the conquest of England by the French-speaking Normans. It was the year in which the Normans came under William the Conqueror, and the last Anglo-Saxon King Harold died with an arrow shot through his eye at the battle of Hastings. It was also the year that marked the beginning of the Middle English or Anglo-Norman period (1066-1400). The Norman line of kings sat on the throne for some 90 years and gave place to the Angevin kings (or the Plantangenets) in 1154. King Henry II and his descendants stayed in power for 245 years until they were superseded by the House of Lancaster in 1399 when the last of the Plantangenets, Richard II, was dethroned. This happened just one year before Chaucer died. Regarding this period there are a few occurrences of historic magnitude that should be kept in mind:(1) The Establishment of the Feudal System: William the Conqueror did this effectively within a short space of time. He grabbed Anglo-Saxon land by force and gave it to his nobles and followers. These became lords of manors demanding allegiance from their Anglo-Saxon serfs and owed it to their immediate superiors. The hierarchy was a multi-tiered degradation with the king at the top keeping all the power in his hands. The relative peace that followed brought power and wealth and made the milieu congenial to the growth of art and literature.(2) The 1381 Peasant Uprising: Within the system the nobles and the aristocrats had all the power and privileges while the serfs remained as wretched as ever. The widespread disaffection led eventually to the peasants' revolt in 1381 which was led by Wat Tyler of Kent and Jack Straw of Essex. 100,000 people marched on London, destroyed manor-houses, burnt court papers—records of their bondage, and demanded the abolition of serf slavery and a general pardon. Though it was eventually put down, serfdo

作者简介

常耀信：教授，博士生导师，任教于中国南开大学及美国关岛大学．研究方向为英美文学。著有《希腊罗马神话》、《漫话英美文学》、《美国文学简史》（英文版）、《美国文学史（上）》（中文版）；主编有《美国文学选读》（上、下）、《美国文学研究评论选》（上、下）及《自选评论文集——文化与文学中的比较研究》等。此外，还在国内外刊物上发表过多篇论文，阐述中国文化对美国文学的影响。1988年被选人英国国际传记中心编纂的《远东及太平洋名人录》，后亦被选入《美国名师录》。