Vocabulary Focus

feudalism n – феодализм

freeman n – почетный гражданин, полноправный гражданин

serf n – крепостной

homage n – феодальная повинность; почтение, преклонение

to pay/ do homage to sb. – свидетельствовать почтение, приносить феодальную присягу

the “Domesday” Book [‘du:mzdei] “Книга судного дня”, кадастровая книга (земельная опись Англии, произведенная Вильгельмом Завоевателем в 1085-86; считалась основным документом при разборке тяжб о недвижимости)

the Holy Land – Святая земля

Magna Carta (the Great Charter) – Великая хартия вольностей,

the House of Сommons – палата общин

the House of Lords – палата лордов

the Pale – часть Ирландии, подвластная Англии

common law – общее/обычное/ некодифицированное право

trial by ordeal – суд божий; trial by jury - суд присяжных

home farm n – ферма при усадьбе

guild n – гильдия, ассоциация, союз

nun n – монахиня; convent n - женский монастырь

subject n – подданный; adj – подчиненный, зависимый

civil law – гражданское право; canon law – каноническое право

innocent adj – невиновный

guilty adj – виновный

friar n – (странствующий) монах

preacher n – проповедник

brotherhood n – братство, содружество

outlaw n – лицо, объявленное вне закона; outlaw v – объявлять вне закона

the Low Countries - Нидерланды, Бельгия и Люксембург

weaver n – ткач, ткачиха

chapman n – странствующий торговец, коробейник

huckster n – мелочный торговец, комиссионер

the beginnings of Parliament – ранний Парламент

Muslim n – мусульманин; muslim adj – мусульманский

tenant n –арендатор, (земле) владелец

fair n – ярмарка, выставка

sermon n – проповедь

overlord n – повелитель

to pass a law – принимать закон

to make a law – издавать закон

judge n – судья

Exercises

Task I. Match the words to their definitions.

1) vassal a) a record of the ownership, value, etc. of lands in

England, made in1086 by order of William the

Conqueror. It was the most comprehensive survey of property carried out in England in medieval times

2) serf b) a person who preaches, esp. a clergyman who

preaches sermons

3) homage c) (formerly) a person forced by a landowner to work

on the land in a feudal system

4) nun d) a man in the Middle ages who promised to fight for

and be loyal to a king or other powerful owner of land, in return for the right to hold land

5) friar e) things said or done to show great respect; tribute

to a person or his qualities

6) subject f) any member of a State apart from the supreme ruler

7) the Domesday Book g) the country west of the river Jordan, revered by

Christians as a place where Christ lived

8) the Holy Land h) a person whose religion is Islam

9) preacher i) a member of one of several Roman Catholic religious

communities of men who in the past traveled around teaching people about Christianity and lived by asking other people for food

10) Muslim j) a woman living in a convent, usually after taking

religious vows

Task II. Complete the sentences with a word in the correct form.

Parliament, lord, serf, judge, landless, guild, craft, land, collapse, feudal, chapman, huckster, charter.

1. Few Saxon … kept their lands and those who did were the very small number who had recognised William immediately as their overlord. 2. The noble kept … to work on his own land. 3. When Richard I was killed, the French king took over parts of his French... to rule himself. 4. Magna Carta marked a new stage in the... of English feudalism. 5. Many years later it was used by... to protect itself from a powerful king. 6.... or..., travelling traders would buy wool at particular village markets and took it to town. 7. The kings gave “... of freedom” to many towns, freeing the inhabitants from... duties to their lords. 8. Within the towns and cities, society and the economy were mainly controlled by …. 9. During the fourteenth century, as larger towns continued to develop, … guilds came into being. 10. Some … people went to the towns, which offered a better hope for the future. 11. The law the “circuit” … administered was used everywhere and was known as common law.

Task III. Are the statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

1. William the Conqueror was attacked during the coronation ceremony.

2. There was no such thing as a Norman village or a Norman area of settlement. Instead the Norman soldiers, who had been part of the invading army, were given the ownership of land and of the people living on it.

3. William organised his English kingdom according to the feudal system which had already started in England before his arrival.

4. Although Henry II accepted the king of France as the overlord of all his French lands, he controlled a greater area than the king of France.

5. The feudal system in England was based on a series of relationships between the lord and those subject to him (his vassals), who received the land from their lord in return for fighting for him when required.

6. Ordinary people like peasants were the noblemen’s vassals and worked on the noblemen’s land, while he was supposed to protect them.

7. Richard I’s nickname was Coeur de Lion, “lionheart”, because he was extremely cruel to his people.

8. The struggle between Church and state in England was for both power and money.

9. It was in this period that Parliament began its gradual evolution into the democratic body which it is today.

10. In 1050 only the king had a seal with which to “sign” official papers, but just over two hundred years later even the poorest man in England was expected to have a seal, even if he was illiterate.

11. The basis of the ‘manorial system’ was the exchange of land for labour.

12. Scotland managed to remain politically independent in the medieval period, but was obliged to fight occasional wars to do so.

Task IV. Choose the right variant.

1. William used the Saxon system of sheriffs as a balance to local nobles. As a result England was different from the rest of Europe because it had a) many powerful families, b) one powerful family, c) a large army of sheriffs instead of a large number of powerful nobles.

2. When a noble died his son usually came into possession of his estate. But first he had to receive permission from a) the king, b) his family, c) the council of lords and make a special payment.

3. a) Henry II, b) Richard I, c) William II has always been one of England’s most popular kings although he spent most of his life in France.

4. John was unpopular mainly because he was a) ugly, b) an idiot, c) greedy.

5. The crisis in the struggle between Church and state in England came when Henry II’s friend a) Geoffrey Plantagenet, b) Anselm, c) Thomas Becket was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.

6. a) John's, b) William’s, c) Richard’s reign also marked the end of the long struggle between Church and state in England.

7. England was unlike the rest of Europe because it used a) administrative law, b) common law, c) civil law.

8. Although it may seem strange for education to be based on a dead language, all the schools independent of the Church and those attached to a cathedral taught a) Greek, b) Latin, c) Gaelic, because most books were written in this language.

Task V. Choose the correct date for each event.

1. Henry I occupied Normandy and captured Robert, as a result

Nomandy and England were reunited under one ruler a. 1106

2. William I refused the Pope’s claim to accept him as his

feudal lord and the struggle between Church and state began b. 1258

3. The nobles gained control of the government and elected

a council of nobles which De Montfort called parliament, or

parlement, a French word meaning a “discussion meeting”. c. 1215

4. In England two schools of higher learning (at Oxford and at

Cambridge) were the intellectual centres of the country. d. by the 1220s

5. King Edward united west Wales with England and brought the

English county system to the newly conquered lands. e. 1066

6. Edward II’s army was defeated by Robert Bruce at

Bannockburn, near Sterling. f. 1314

7. King John was forced to sign a new agreement, Magna Carta. g. 1284

Task VI. Arrange the kings in the order they succeeded to the throne.

Henry, Henry II, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, William, Rufus, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, John, Stephen, Ethelred, Edward the Confessor, Harold, Cnut (or Canute).

Task VII. Read the quotations and decide which king is described as:

1) “of outstanding skill in arms but in other things almost an idiot, except that he was more inclined towards evil”

2) “the convincing proof of our king’s strength is that whoever has a just cause wants to have it tried before him, whoever has a week one does not come unless he is dragged”

Task VIII. Answer the questions.

1. What was the central idea of the feudal system in Great Britain? 2. How did the people call the survey, which was the only one of its kind in Europe and was so unpopular in England? 3. Why did a terrible civil war begin after Henry’s death in England? 4. What were its consequences? 5. Which agreement became an important symbol of political freedom in the country? 6. How did a council of nobles known as parliament develop in the Early Middle Ages. 7. What area did the English crown control in Ireland? 8. Why was the resistance movement so strong in Scotland? 9. Whom was it led by? 10. What were economic and social relations in the Early Middle Ages in England? 11. Can you prove that kingship was a family business at that time? Give reasons. 12. Which king was “ everyone’s idea of the perfect feudal king ” and which one was very unpopular with all his subjects?

Task IX. Translate from English into Russian.

1. In England, as each new area of land was captured, William gave parts of it as a reward to his captains. 2. This meant that they held separate small pieces of land in different parts of the country so that no noble could easily or quickly gather his fighting men to rebel. 3. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Church wanted the kings of Europe to accept its authority over both spiritual and earthly affairs, and argued that even kings were answerable to God. 4. In 1215 John hoped to recapture Normandy. 5. He called on his lords to fight for him, but they no longer trusted him. 6. They marched to London, where they were joined by angry merchants. 7. Henry I introduced the idea that all crimes, even those inside a family, were no longer only a family matter, but a breaking of the “king’s peace”. 8. It was therefore the king’s duty to try people and punish them. 9. At first the nobles acted for the king on their own lands, but Henry wanted the same kind of justice to be used everywhere. 10. So he appointed a number of judges who travelled from place to place administering justice. 11. These travelling, “circuit”, judges still exist today. 12. The thirteenth century brought a new movement, the "brotherhoods" of friars. 13. These friars were wandering preachers. 14. They were interested not in Church power and splendour, but in the souls of ordinary men and women. 15. They lived with the poor and tried to bring the comfort of Christianity to them. 16. They lived in contrast with the wealth and power of the monasteries and cathedrals, the local centres of the Church.

Task X. What do you know about...?

1) Magna Carta and the decline of feudalism; 2) a new movement the “ brotherhood of friars”; 3) the growth of government; 4) the growth of towns as centres of wealth; 5) the manorial system throughout the Early Middle Ages; 6) the “ Exchequer of the Jews”.

Task XI. Prove that ….

1) life was hard in the Early Middle Ages; 2) it was a long time before English became the language of the ruling class.

Task XII. Make reports on the topics:

1. Religious beliefs in Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages.

2. Ordinary people in country and town.

Chapter III

THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14