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How cruel is the enclosure movement in Britain?
There are four kinds of enclosure behaviors in Britain, among which the enclosure of pasture is the largest, which is called enclosure movement by historians.

1. Who is the landlord?

1, Britain is feudal (different from China's feudal system). In the Middle Ages, the king divided the territory into ministers who made contributions to the country, and they became feudal lords. The Lord then divided the general into subordinate members, forming a small Lord (manor owner). Nobles occupy the most land, and enclosure is mainly to enclose their own land.

(Note: European lords and territorial residents have rights and obligations. When residents pay taxes or rent, the Lord is responsible for protecting their lives and property. Territorial disputes lead to fights, and nobles take their disciples to fight. When the country is in trouble, it is necessary to retreat. It is nobles and disciples who go to war with horses and weapons. The same is true in the 20th century. In the movie "The Sound of Music" and "Broken Blue Bridge", all the people who joined the army to fight were nobles. If they want to recruit more soldiers, it's civilians' turn. Nobles joined the army to defend their country, even the prince and grandson could not escape)

2. Farmers have ancestral "fields" (the "wide field system" was implemented in the Middle Ages, and one of the contents was the fair distribution of land. You have to have fertile fields and build thin fields; Get a near field and establish a far field; Make a dry land and a waterlogged land. Because the allocated fields are divided into stripes, they are also called stripe fields. The "land distribution" is within the territory of the Lord, and it is not changed by the Lord's enfeoffment, and the Lord may not possess it. Because the fields are fragmented, it is not convenient for farming. Through hundreds of years of land replacement and trading, some farmers have more fields and become manor owners. Some farmers don't have enough land to farm. They either go to their master's house to work or rent the land of the big landlord to farm.

Freelancers and craftsmen own ancestral fields, and they rent them out.

All the above are landlords with land rights, and the difference lies in the amount of land. In the enclosure movement, they have both enclosures and enclosures.

4. In principle, the wasteland reclaimed by farmers and manor owners is the domain of lords. Because the cultivator has invested labor and financial resources, the cultivator enjoys the cultivated fruits himself. After a long time, it gradually includes the nature of private land, but there is no title deed. This part of the land has unclear property rights and is prone to conflicts.

5. Capable farmers rent a large area of land and become second landlords.

6. Tenants lease the landlord's land-they are either farmers with a small amount of land or serfs lease the land for farming (serfs in medieval Europe are not serfs in China's concept, but they have a contractual relationship with their owners, and both parties have rights and obligations).

In the fifth and sixth cases, although farmers have no property rights, they have the right to lease their cultivated land for generations. The enclosure must abolish the lease relationship, which is also easy to cause contradictions.

Second, why enclosure?

At the end of the Middle Ages, with the colonial expansion and the development of overseas trade, the demand for wool products surged. Raising sheep is the upstream of the industrial chain, and the income from shearing wool at peak period is twice that of other agricultural products. Driven by interests, enclosure became more and more fierce, forming a large-scale movement-the time span was from1early 6th century to1mid 9th century.

Enclosure also occurs in other European countries, such as southern France, where grapes are grown for wine making.

3. Who is the enclosure and the enclosure?

Who is the trapped person?

1. The nobles, farmers, craftsmen and freelancers who own land rights are basically "concession circles"-they rent their land to ranchers and rarely sell it. Because the market is rising and enclosure is a seller's market, people who own land can often get favorable rental prices for themselves.

2. Farmers and small landlords with land lease rights.

They will lose the right to rent land. Usually, landlords will persuade them not to continue renting land before the lease (mostly one-year lease) expires, and some unscrupulous landlords will persuade them not to terminate the lease contract when it expires. If the landlord withdraws the lease right and the lessee wants to continue the lease, he can keep the lease right at the same price as the rancher.

Because the vast majority of farmers who rent land for farming are vulnerable, they are likely to lose their rented land for generations in the enclosure. Its way out: a small number of people are herders of ranchers; Most people enter factories as workers; Few people have become refugees.

In the whole enclosure movement, the main losers are the farmers who have leased land for generations.

Who is the enclosure man?

1, hereditary aristocrat, new noble-During the English Reformation, the king confiscated the property rights of the Catholic Church and distributed them to those who contributed to the country. They are big landlords themselves, and they enclose their land: either organize serfs to reclaim the land for grassland or agree to interrupt the lease of the land as grassland. Grassland is either managed by itself or leased to other ranchers. In the process of enclosure, there may be third-party intervention at the beginning and later intervention.

2. The new bourgeoisie: there are old and new aristocrats who gave up the traditional manor economic model, capitalists from all walks of life, especially those in the wool industry, and ranchers who have already formed a scale.

3. Individual herders who have benefited a lot from the increase in wool prices can increase the leased land for grazing and raising sheep, and some of them have become ranchers.

4. Well-run and flexible farmers, who have the money and courage to increase the leased land, give up planting crops and raise sheep instead. They may also become ranchers.

Speaking of this, it can basically be judged that enclosure and enclosure are basically evenly matched. This does not mean that there are no weak parties, but weak parties are tenant farmers and serfs. Tenants will lose their hereditary land lease rights; The serf was separated from his master because the master no longer planted crops, and only needed a small number of herders.

4. Is enclosure illegal and is there any conflict?

1, occupying public wasteland.

Enclosure begins with public wasteland, which is the main item of enclosure from beginning to end.

Because the pasture does not have high requirements for soil, there are a large number of public wasteland enclosures. Theoretically, the wasteland belongs to the Lord. Even if the Lord encircles the wasteland, the injured party must be compensated-the reason is that the wasteland can be used to raise sheep, and now you have to keep it in captivity and squeeze other people's grazing land. If the reclaimed wasteland is reclaimed, the reclaimer must negotiate with the cultivator, or replace a piece of land or make compensation. Negotiation is a legal way to obtain land use rights, and most of the public wasteland is pasture, which has been settled peacefully.

However, there are also very few people who use force to force others to pass the agreement, or the compensation is not in place, which is easy to cause conflicts. Ways to solve contradictions: first, the court of appeal; The second is the direct use of violence.

Some lords prohibit the enclosure of wasteland as personal pasture, and still adopt the ancient open field system-that is, public wasteland and harvested farmland are open to anyone in the territory to graze.

2. Encircle the land of the owner

This is a completely market-oriented behavior. The highest bidder wins, and whoever pays the highest price gets the land lease right to raise sheep and graze. This situation rarely causes conflict.

3. Circle the leased land

Tenants and serfs used to enjoy the almost hereditary lease right of this land. If the landlord or the third party wants to circle, most of them persuade the tenant not to renew the lease through consultation and give some compensation appropriately. Tenants' attitudes vary from person to person, from place to place, and from time to time: some people see that the income from working is higher than that from farming and give up voluntarily; Some can't stand persuasion and reluctantly agree to give up; Some were forced to give up by enclosure; Some people don't agree to give up the lease right anyway.

The latter situation is most likely to lead to violent conflicts. If the enclosure owners fail to negotiate, they will unilaterally terminate the "established" renewal right. If farmers continue to farm, they will be driven away by violence. Of course, some farmers no longer enjoy the right to renew their contracts and violently retaliate against the enclosure.

5. How serious is the situation that sheep eat people?

1. What angle does the government play?

No matter what kind of enclosure, the government did not participate. Enclosure can not be enclosed by imperial power and official power, and the government will not be the backing of enclosure. Because the state does not support it, it is impossible for enclosure owners to use the banner of "the development of Britain". Enclosure is an individual act, not a government act.

However, the government did nothing. Parliament once abolished the anti-enclosure law promulgated by the king, which triggered the enclosure craze, but the king basically adopted the anti-enclosure policy and promulgated laws to restrict, contain and finally ban enclosure.

2. What role does the nobility play?

Due to the propaganda and education needed by politics, Chinese people lack an objective evaluation of nobles and think that their representatives are backward, conservative, cruel and even reactionary. British aristocrats are the promoters of early democracy-it has little to do with this article, so I won't go into details. When we look at British historical materials and literary works, we generally have a good impression on nobles. This is because nobles have moral advantages and are generous and kind (referring to groups rather than individuals). Therefore, despite the participation of nobles in enclosure, most nobles can solve the disputes caused by enclosure in a convincing way.

3. What are the restrictions on enclosure in British law?

Britain gradually established the system of common law and equity in the Middle Ages. 12 15 The Magna Carta signed by British nobles and kings became the cornerstone of progressive democracy and the rule of law in Britain. Neither the king nor the nobility is above the law. Judicial independence in Britain has a long history, and there are few cases where power replaces law and power interferes with justice. Circle and circle, rent and rent, all in accordance with the contract. Even if the landlord unilaterally does not renew the lease, it is not illegal. For the violence caused by enclosure, no matter whether the perpetrator is the enclosed person or the enclosed place, it must be punished by law.

4. Is savage enclosure common?

Three hundred years ago, a group of farmers from Mibohr Manor came to the capital London to "petition" and submitted a complaint to the king:

"This powerful John Pomil used deception and violence to occupy your suffering subjects-our pasture, which belongs to our generation (basically leased land, property rights belong to Mibohr). He enclosed these pastures and other land for himself.

"Later, this John Mibohr forcibly confiscated our house, fields, furniture and orchards. Some houses were sued for destruction, others were even set on fire by him, and we were forcibly evicted. If anyone doesn't want to, Pomil will lead a mob to surround his home. Armed with swords and clubs, these men rushed into and violently broke his door, regardless of the cries of his wife and children. In order to occupy our land, John Pomil did not hesitate to put us in prison, beat us, maim us and even kill us. Now we can hardly save our lives. "

This is the historical data repeatedly quoted by China's books and newspapers, but the results are not mentioned at all. There is no definite time and place.

5. How to deal with peasant uprising and refugee crime?

Due to the enclosure movement, peasant uprisings broke out in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in 1536 and 1537. 1549 The Kaide Uprising broke out again.

Why are there riots? Farmers are unwilling to leave the cultivated land and violently resist the suspension of contract renewal. Once it forms a scale, it can be called a peasant uprising. Uprising is a word with a halo. Because of space reasons, I won't discuss it here.

Ruthless repression is not the way. The government adopts the policy of suppressing enclosure. Firstly, the anti-enclosure law is introduced, and then the law that the enclosed grassland should be re-cultivated and the tiller should renew the lease within one year is introduced. This law has not been well implemented for four reasons: the spokesman of wool textile interest group opposed this law in parliament; The beneficiaries of enclosure are passively executed; Former tenants who have settled in the city are unwilling to renew their lease of farmland; Tenants who used to work in the local area found that their income was higher than that of farming, and they were unwilling to give up their jobs and farming. Generally speaking, the law has restrained enclosure to a certain extent. After that, it was repeated until the government issued a law prohibiting enclosure.

Compared with the land resources in Britain, the population in Britain is very small. Coupled with the overseas expansion, the need for a large number of immigrants in the colonies and the fact that Britain has gradually become the world's factory and the world's economic center, theoretically, landless farmers do not have to worry about employment at all-all walks of life are in urgent need of manpower. I want to settle down in London, settle down in a slum and find a job. My whole family is from a parish in London (there is no household registration restriction).

So, who among the landless peasants have become refugees?

Mainly lazy farmers. They once had a strong attachment to the Lord, and I didn't live as well as others. God won't watch my family starve to death, will he? My family is suffering from a disaster, and the Lord has an obligation to help; I don't have a wife, and my master has to find me an ugly girl to make do with it. This kind of people used to be lazy in the manor and could not adapt to the strict discipline and high-intensity labor in the factory. They'd rather wander around. In addition, there are still a few who have not found a job that suits them for the time being, looking for opportunities or waiting to see.

(It is a paradox that the vast majority of serfs who have obtained free status are unwilling to get rid of dependency. In Russia, the people who strongly oppose the abolition of serfdom have just been liberated or will soon be liberated.

Refugees beg, steal, rob houses and even kill people, and a large number will also lead to small-scale riots.

The government has promulgated the Law on the Punishment of Vagrants, which stipulates that vagrants who cannot find a job within a certain period of time (usually one month) will be punished once they are reported or arrested. Punishment is not an effective way to solve the problem, so the government promulgated the Poverty Alleviation Law (160 1), which stipulates that all parishes should levy poverty alleviation taxes, and the unemployed who have lived in parishes for a certain number of years and have jobs can receive relief.

Although the government adopted the policy of restricting land occupation and laws to help the people, it could not fundamentally solve the problem, but put an end to the peasant (including refugees) uprising.

6. How powerful are sheep eating people?

According to the above facts, the enclosure movement is not as horrible as some countries have advertised.

Who says sheep eat people? Thomas Moore, an English writer, wrote in Utopia: "Sheep used to be docile and not too much, but now they have become greedy and fierce, and even want to eat people. They want to level our fields, houses and cities. "

The full name of this book is "A Useful and Interesting Golden Collection of Perfect State System and Utopia New Island". The author is a utopian socialist thinker, divorced from the social status quo, and talks about equality and equal production. Moore believes that there has been no ideal society in the world since ancient times. In his eyes, enclosure movement is useless, crime is terrible, and sheep eat people.

How big is the enclosure movement and how long does it last?

From the 1970s of 15 to the 1970s of 19, the enclosure behavior with grazing land as the core content lasted for 400 years. About 60% of the agricultural land in Britain is enclosed as sheep pasture, 70% of which is enclosed as pasture by public wasteland, and only 30% is originally cultivated land. On average, about 0./kloc-0.5% of farmland (including wasteland) is fenced as pasture every year; About 0.045% of agricultural land is enclosed as pasture every year.

I don't know, but I am shocked. The "enclosure fever", "enclosure frenzy" and even "enclosure movement" in textbooks are suspected of exaggerating the heat, scale and speed. Of course, there are many enclosures in some areas and the heat is high, but from a national perspective, enclosures are basically peaceful, moderate, orderly and even deserted.

Where will the enclosure under the legal framework be chaotic and cruel? From the perspective of self-discipline, a considerable number of nobles reject enclosure. They are the backbone of conservative forces and stick to the ancient self-sufficient manor economy. Driven by interests, some nobles are eager to move, trying to enclosure (mainly enclosure), which is opposed by the residents of the territory. The nobles either withdrew the enclosure plan or continued to wait and see. In the end, even if they occupy the land, it is based on the wishes of all parties. There are also some manors, where tenants voluntarily abandon their rents and work in factories with incomes higher than farming. In this case, the aristocratic enclosure is a matter of course.