官方正式名称: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
3.The British Isles are made up of two large islands-Great Britain (the larger one) and Ireland, and hundreds of small ones.
4.Three political divisions on the island of Great Britain三个政治区: England, Scotland and Wales.
(1) England is in the southern part of Great Britain. It is the largest, most populous section. (2) Scotland is in the north of Great Britain. It has three natural zones (the Highlands in the north苏格兰位于大不列颠的北部。它有三大自然区; the Central lowlands; the south Uplands) Capital: Edinburgh
(3) Wales is in the west of Great Britain. Capital首都: Cardiff
(4) Northern Ireland is the fourth region of the UK. Capital: Belfast.
5.The Commonwealth英联邦 (of nations) is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. It was
founded in 1931, and has 50 member countries until 1991.
Chapter 2
The Origins of a Nation (5000BC-1066)
I.Arrival and settlement of the Celts
Celts were practiced famers. The
drained
much
of
marshlands and built houses of wood.They wre ironworkers, too. Their languages, the Celts languages, are the basis of the language which is still used by some people in Scotland and Wales. Their religion was Druidism
1、 The Celts began to arrive Britain about 700 BC. 2、The Celts came to Britain in three main waves. The first wave were the Gaels-came about 600 BC. The second wave were the Brythons-came about 400 BC. The third wave were the Belgae-came about 150 BC. II.
The
Anglo-Saxons
(446-871)
1． Basis of Modern English race: the Anglo-Saxons. In the mid-5th century a new wave of invaders, Jutes, Saxons, and Angles came to
Britain. They were three Teutonic tribes.
①The Jute s, who fished and
farmed in Jutland, came to Britain first. A Jutish chief became the King of Kent in 449.②Then the Saxons, users of the
short-sword
from
northern Germany,
established their kingdom in Essex, Sussex and Wessex from the end of the 5th century to the beginning of the 6th century. ③In the second half of the 6th century, the Angles, who also came from northern Germany and were to give their name to the English people, settled in East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria. These seven principal kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia,
Mercia
and
Northumbria have been given the name of Heptarchy七王国. 2．The early Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity. 最早的盎格鲁—撒克逊人改信基督教。
3．The Early Anglo-Saxons make the contributions to the English state.(formation of the English nation)贡献。The Anglo-Saxons
laid
the
foundations of the English state. Firstly, they ①divided the country into shires (which the Normans later called counties), with shire courts and shire reeves, or sheriffs, responsible for administering law. Secondly, they
devised
the
narrow-strip, three-field
②farming system which continued to the 18th century. Thirdly,
they
also
③
established the manorial system(庄园制). Finally, they ④created the Witan（council or meeting of the wisemen）贤人议会 to advise the king, the basis of the Privy Council 枢密院which still exists today. V．Viking and Danish invasions
北欧海盗和丹麦人的入侵 1．The invaders were the Norwegians and the Danes. 入侵者是挪威人和丹麦人They attacked various parts of England from the end of the 8th century. They became a serious problem in the 9th century, especially between 835 and 878. They even managed to capture York, an important
center
of
Christianity in 867. 2．King Alfred艾尔弗雷德国王 (849-899) and his contributions
Alfred was a king of Wessex. He defeated the Danes and reached a friendly agreement with them in 879. The Danes gained control of the north and east, while he ruled the rest. He also converted some leading
Danes
into
Christians.他还劝服一些丹麦首领成为基督教徒
He ①founded a strong fleet and is known as “ the father of the British navy”. He ②reorganized the Saxon army, making it more efficient. He ③translated a Latin book into English. He also ④established schools and ⑤formulated a legal system. All this earns him the title “Alfred the Great.”V．The Norman Conquest (1066) 诺曼征服1．Reasons for William’s invasion of England after Edward’s death. It was said that king Edward had promised the English throne(王位 to William, but the Witan chose Harold as king. So William led his army to invade England. In October
1066, during the important battle of Hastings, William defeated Harold and killed him. One Christmas Day, William was crowned king of England, thus beginning the Norman Conquest of England. 2．The Norman Conquest and its consequences
诺曼征服及其产生的影响。 The Norman Conquest of 1066 is perhaps ①the best-known event in English history. William the Conqueror ② confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers. He replaced the weak Saxon rule with ③a strong Norman government. So the feudal system 封建制度was completely established in England.④Relations with the Continent were opened, and the civilization and commerce were extended. ⑤Norman-French culture,
language,
manners
and
architecture were introduced. ⑥The Church was brought into closer connection with Rome, and the church courts were separated from the civil courts. Chapter 3 第三章
The Shaping of the Nation (1066-1381)英国的形成 1.
William's
Rule
（1066-1087）威廉一世的统 ①Under William, the feudal system
in
England
was
completely established. ②According to this system, the King owned all the land personally. ③William gave his barons large estates in England in return for a promise of military service and a proportion of the land's produce. ④These estates were scattered far and wide over the country, so that those who held them could not easily combine to rebel the king. ⑤The baron(3.(英国)上院议员), who had become William's tenants-in-chief, parceled out land to the lesser nobles, knights and freemen, also in return for goods and services. ⑥At the bottom of(1.在…的底部) the feudal scale were the villeins or serfs. ⑦One peculiar feature of the feudal system of England was that all landowners must take the oath of allegiance，not only to their immediate lord, but also to the king.
II．Contents and the significance of the Great Charter《大宪章》内容及意义 Great Charter was signed by King John in 1215 under the press of the barons. It consists
of
sixty-three
clauses条. 的范围之内。 III.The origins of the English Parliament英国议会的起源
The Great Council is known to be the prototype (原型) of the
current
British
Parliament. 大议会是当今英国议会的原型In 1265, Simon de Montfort summoned （召集） the Great Council, together with two knights from each county and two citizens from each town. It later developed into the House of Lords(上议院) and the House of Commons. Its main role was to offer advice咨询，not to make decisions. There were no elections or parties. And the most important part of Parliament was the House of Lords.
IV．The Hundred Years' War and its consequences. The Hundred Years百年战争’ War refers to the war between England and France that
lasted intermittently from 1337 to 1453. The causes of the
war
were partly territorial
and
partly
economic.既有领土因素又有经济因素
战争的结果： The English's being driven out of France is ① regarded as a blessing for both countries. If the English had remained in France, the superior size and wealth of France would have ②hindered the development of
a
separate
English
national identity, ③ while France was hindered so long as a foreign power occupied so much French territory. In the first two stages, the English
won
some
big
victories. But in the third stage, they were driven out of Fance.
The battle of Argencourt 阿壤科之战
It took place in 1415 and the English won a crushing victory. After the victory, the English king Henry Ⅴ亨利5世 was recognized as the French King.1415年英国大获全胜，亨利5世登上法国王位。 Joan of Arc (1412-1431)贞德女士
Joan of Arc was a nation heroine in French history. She led and encourages the French in driving the English out of French in the Hundred Years’ War.
Consequences of the war 战争的后果影响
①The English lost the war. The expulsion of the English from French is regarded as a blessing for both countries.② It helped English national identity as well as French national identity. ③Two separate nation were born after the war.
V. The Black Death黑死病 The Black Death is the modern name given to the deadly bubonic(1.(指鼠疫)腹股沟淋巴结炎的) plague,an epidemic(泛滥) disease spread by rat fleas across Europe in the 14th century. 1348.The
economic
consequences of the Black Death were far-reaching. As a result of the plague(瘟疫), much land was left untended and there was a terrible shortage of labour. In 1351 the government issued a Statute of Labourers劳工法令 which made it a crime for
peasants to ask for more wages or for their employers to pay more than the rates laid down by the Justices of the Peace. 第四章
Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1688)向现代英国的过渡 I. Transition to the Modern Age (1455-1485)向近代英国的过渡
The War s of Rose 玫瑰战争
The nature and consequences of the Wars of the Roses. The name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles between the House of Lancaster, symbolized by the read rose, and that of York, symbolized by the white, from 1455 to 1485.
Henry Tudor, descendant
of
Duke
of
Lancaster won victory at Bosworth Fireld in 1485 and put the country under the rule of the Tudors. From these
Wars,
English
feudalism received its death blow. The great medieval nobility 贵族was much
weakened.
II. Henry VIII and The English Reformation 亨利八世和英国的宗教改革
Henry VIII was above all responsible
for
the
religious reform of the church. He established the church of England as the national church of the country, and he made himself the supreme head of the church of England英格兰教会最高首脑”之称号。
Henry VIII’s reform stressed the power of the monarch and certainly
strengthened
Henry’s position;改革的三大影响 Parliament had never done such a long and important piece of work before, its importance grew as a result. His attack on the Pope’s power encouraged many critics of abuses of the Catholic Church. England was moving away from Catholicism towards protestant ideology. III. Elizabeth I (1558-1603)伊莉莎白一世Elizabeth I and parliament
Elizabeth's religious reform and her foreign policy伊莉莎白的宗教改革和外交政策 Elizabeth's religious reform was a compromise of views. She broke Mary's ties with Rome
and
restored
her