【正文】 nobles, knights and freemen, also in return for goods and services. ⑥At the bottom of 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. ① 在威廉統(tǒng)治下，英國的封建制度得到完全確立。s court to the King39。大議會發(fā)展到后來演變成議會，分為上議院和下議院。英國的人口在 14 世紀末從 400 萬銳減至200 萬。 。s population from four million to two million by the end of the 14th century. The economic consequences of the Black Death were farreaching. As a result of the plague, much land was left untended and there was a terrible shortage of labour. The surviving peasants had better bargaining power and were in a position to change their serfdom into paid labour. Some landlords, unable or unwilling to pay higher wages, tried to force peasants back into serfdom. In 1351 the government issued a Statute of Labourers 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. 黑死病是指 由鼠疫蚤傳播的致命的淋巴腺鼠疫，是一種流行疾病，在 14 世紀傳播了到歐洲。 origins of the English Parliament 英國議會的起源 The Great Council is known to be the prototype of the current British Parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort summoned the Great Council, together with two knights from each county and two citizens from each town. It later developed into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Its main role was to offer advice. There were no elections or parties. And the most important part of Parliament was the House of Lords. 大議會是當今英國議會的原型。 The ways