《英美概况》名词解释
1.backbone of England : It refers to the Pennines in England. The Pennines extend from north to south, from upland to Derbyshire.
2.the act of 1801: In the year of 1801, the parliament passed the act to agree that Ireland joined the kingdom. From then on, Britain got the name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Britain includes England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
3.the Bank of England: It is the center of the British financial system. It was founded in 1694 and nationalized in 1946.
4.Black country: It refers to the industrial area in the west midland and Birmingham is the center. The area is very rich but is heavily polluted.
5.Hadrian’s Wall: In 122AD, the Romans built a wall in order to defend Picts and Scots. The wall is very long, from Solway to Tyne; we call it Hadrian’s Wall.
6.Julius Caesar：The king of Rome. In 55-54BC, he led his army invaded Britain twice.
8. King Alfred: He is the king of Wessex in Britain. In the 8th century, he led the British people defeated the Danes and Vikings, and he was considered the first national hero. He wrote Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (盎格鲁-撒克逊编年史)
9. William the Conqueror: One the Christmas Day of 1066, French man William defeated the British King Harold at Hastings. In Westminster Abbey, he was crowned the King of Britain, so the Norman Conquest began. He established a strong monarchy in England, and unified the country. In 1086, he and his officials made a book about the survey of Britain, which is called Doomsday Book.
10. Battle of Hastings: One the Christmas Day of 1066, at Hastings, French man William defeated the British King Harold, and Harold was killed. The battle was called Battle of Hastings. The battle of Hastings paved a way for the Norman Conquest.
11. Henry: In the year of 1154, Henry built the Plantagenet and when he was a king, he made the monarchy stronger than before. He made a set of reformation and in the year of 1181, he issued the Assize of Arms. He died in 1189.
12. the Assize of Arms: In the year of 1181, Henry issued the Assize of Arms. According to the law, every freeman in England should be provided with arms, and they can only use the arms when they are called to fight for the King.
13.the Great Charter: It is also called Magna Carter. In the year of 1215, King John signed the Great Charter. According to the charter, the king can’t freely change the law, the king can’t freely tax, and if the king violates the Charter, the vassals may rebel by the civil war. It is a feudal charter, but it gave the people trade freedom and self government.
14. all estates parliament ：The parliament in 1265 is called all estates parliament, and it is considered the beginning of Parliament.
15.  model parliament :. In 1295, in order to collect more money on the war again Wales, King Edward opened the “all estates parliament”. The parliament included more than 400 members and was considered the most successful parliament. In the history, it is called model parliament.
17. Black Death: It is a kind of plague in 14th century and so many people died from it. The Hundred Year’s War stopped for some time because of the Black Death.
18 the Lollards: It refers to John Wycliffe and his followers. They made some ideological(思想上的) preparation for the labour movement and peasant uprising.
19. enclosure movement：In 15th century, the industry of woolen cloth was the source of wealth and export. So more wool was needed, and more sheep were needed. So some landlords began to enclose some “common lands” into pasture, and then some nobles and business men do so. As a result, farmers lost land and went to the cities to be the cheap workers. This is called enclosure movement.
21. the East India Company: It is one of the most famous trade companies in England. It was founded in the year of 1600 and was a tool of exploiting(剥削) Indian people.
22. Henry : He became the King in the year of 1485. He did a lot of things to make his crown stronger, for example: he confined Edward in the London Tower, he increased the income of government, he encouraged the education, but he didn’t deal with the Church problem.
23. Charles: The second king of Stuart. He quarreled with the Parliament and dismissed the Parliament for a long time. He killed the Puritans. In 1649, he was killed.
monarchy24. O’liver Cromwell: He is a famous man in the British history. During the civil war, he and his “New Model Army” defeated the King’s army. In 1649, he killed Charles. In 1653, he became Lord Protector and later compressed the Diggers.