●Norman Conquest诺曼征服
●Hundred Years’War百年之战
●War of Roses玫瑰战争
●Black Death黑死病
●Puritans清教徒
●Westminster model威斯敏特模式
●Great Charter大宪章
●English Renaissance文艺复兴
●Norman Conquest诺曼征服 King Edward had promised the English throne to
William,the Duke of Normandy, but the Witan chose Harold as king. So William led his army to invade England In October 1066, in the important battle of Hastings, William defeated Harold and killed him. thus William was crowned king of England and established a strong Norman government and the feudal system in England, thus beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
●Hundred Years’ War百年之战: It referred to the intermittent war between France
and England that last from 1337 to 1453. The causes were partly territorial and partly economic. When Edward III claimed the French Crown but the French refused to recognize, the war broke out. At first the English were successful, but in the end, they were defeated and lost almost all their possessions in France.
The expelling of the English was a blessing for both countries.
●War of Roses玫瑰战争 :They referred to the battles between the House of
Lancaster and the House of York between 1455 and 1485. The former was symbolized by the red rose, and the latter by the white one. After the wars, feudalism received its death blow and the king’s power became supreme and the great medieval nobility was much weakened. Tudor monarchs ruled England and Wales for over two hundred years.
●Black Death黑死病:It is a modern name given to the dearly bubonic plague, an
disease spread through Europe in the fourteenth century . It came without warning, and without any cue. In England, it killed almost half of the total population, causing far-reaching economic consequences.
●Puritans清教徒:The Puritans were wealthy, well-educated gentlemen. They wanted
to purify the Church of England and threatened with religious persecution, the Puritans leaders saw the New world as the a refuge provided by God for those He meant to save.
●Westminster model威斯敏特模式:the City of Westminster is England's political
center of power,so the the Britain system of parliamentary government is called Westminster model.//in this system,the legislature elects the country's chief executive,called prime minister,from the ranks of the majority party in the parliament,the prime minister then selects cabinet ministers from the
parliament.the parliamentary majority controls the government
●Great Charter大宪章:King John’s reign caused much discontent among the barons.
In 1215, he was forced to sign a document, known as Mangna Cara, or the Great Charter. It has 63 clauses. Though it has long been regarded as the foundation
of English liberties, its spirit was the limitation of the king’s powers, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land.
English Renaissance文艺复兴: Renaissance was the revival of classical literature and artistic styles in European history. It began in Italy in the early 14th century and spread to England in the late 15th century.The English Renaissance had 5 characteristics: (1) English culture was revitalized not so much directly by the classics than other European countries; (2) England followed a course of social and political history which was large independent on European history; (3) Owning to the great genius of the 14th century poet Chaucer, the native literature was vigorous enough and experienced foreign influences without being subjected by them; (4) English Renaissance literature is chiefly in artistic, rather than in philosophy and academy; (5) the
Renaissance coincided with the Reformation in England. Its finest exponents were Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare. (1)英国文化的复兴，不全是直接受古典文化的影响，而更多的是受当时有文艺复兴思想的欧洲人的影响；(2)作为岛国，英国的社会和政治历史进程在很大程度上独立于欧洲其他国的历史进程；(3)由于14世纪产生了伟大天才诗人乔叟，英国本土文学相当有生气，善于融合外来影响而未被同化；(4)英国文艺复兴时的文学主要是艺术的，而非哲学及学术的；(5)文艺复兴与英国宗教改革同时发生。

最出名代表人物是克里斯托夫·马洛、本·琼生和威廉·莎士比亚。