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By the end of the 13th century, the class of citizens represented by merchants was growing, and English merchants encountered various injustices when they traded overseas, while foreign merchants enjoyed various privileges because of the dependence of the royal family and nobility.
This made the burghers, represented by merchants, first aware of the common economic interests among the members of the nation, and the increased intervention of continental Catholic forces in England.
With the signing of the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Alliance in 1295, England faced an increasingly serious crisis, and these external factors also served as catalysts for the formation of national consciousness.
and the invasion of Italian merchant forces
In the early 13th century, the attitude of the English towards foreign merchants entering England was very ambivalent, and in general, foreign merchants were welcomed to England during this period.
But the English believed that their movements needed to be strictly controlled when they arrived in England. This attitude can be seen in King John's negotiations with the nobles.
Article 41 of the Magna Carta clearly states that the legitimate interests of foreign merchants in England are protected, personal liberty is enjoyed, and even if war breaks out, they should be treated with courtesy. The purpose of this clause was to protect the freedom of trade against arbitrary actions by the king and excessive taxation.
It was once considered a selfish act of the nobles and a betrayal of the citizens of London, despite their support for the nobles in their opposition to King John.
It is said that this clause was established by the aristocracy in order to ensure a stable channel for the import of luxury goods for their enjoyment, even if it would cause London's economy to suffer. In fact, such an interpretation of this provision is untrue.
Before working with the nobles against King John, the citizens of London negotiated with the king, and they made nine demands to the king, one of which was to allow foreign merchants to enter England freely, a demand that was finally embodied in the Magna Carta of 1215.
It is clear that the leadership of Londoners needs to import goods for their own consumption, manufacturers in London need to import some raw materials, and sellers need to buy goods.
Because the level of economic development in England at that time was not enough to meet all consumer demand, foreign merchants were necessary for England during this period.
London has been an international port since the 11th century, when the city of London drafted regulations governing foreigners who came to do business, involving German, Danish, and Norwegian merchants.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, foreign merchants were especially popular with kings and nobles in England. The nobles were impressed by the financial services and high-quality consumer goods provided by foreign merchants, which greatly facilitated the nobles and also contributed to the economic development of England, so in order to attract foreign businessmen, the English government usually gave them some privileges.
Among the foreign merchants who came to England, the Hanseatic merchants (German Hanse) and Italian merchants had the most influence, the most privileges, and the closest ties to the English royal family.
For the king, foreign merchants were relatively easy to control due to their lack of background in England, and they were also an important source of tax revenue for the king, and many benefits could be obtained from foreign merchants.
The Hanseatic merchants were initially indistinguishable from German merchants, and they initially enjoyed the same privileges as German merchants who traded across borders.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Hanseatic merchants were known in London as the Union of Flemings, and they came primarily to England to buy wool.
Until around the mid-13th century, these merchants from northern Germany and Scandinavia were collectively known as the Hanseatic merchants. Since the 12th century, the Hanseatic merchants have been the most privileged and influential foreign merchant group in England.
King John had granted them legal immunity, and Henry III had exempted them from annual rent and customs duties at 2 shillings in the halls of the London guild in 1235. In 1320, Hanseatic merchants also built a headquarters in England called Steelyard, which was their extrajudicial place in England.
Italian merchants were another important group of foreign merchants. Unlike the Hanseatic merchants, who were mainly engaged in import and export trade, the influence of Italian merchants was mainly in the financial sector.
Italian merchants first appeared in England in the 12th century, and their influence reached its peak in the 13th and early 14th centuries.
Italian merchants also made large loans to the King of England during this period, and were once known as the King's Banker.
In the 13th and early 14th centuries, the kings of England relied almost exclusively on Italian merchants for funding in wartime and even peacetime. To finance the Welsh War, Edward I borrowed 392,000 pounds from Italian merchants and transferred the right to collect taxes in England between 1275 and 1294.
With the royal family's financial dependence on Italian merchants, Italian merchants were granted export privileges, exemption from local taxes, and free trade in England.
Foreign businessmen brought capital, technology and experience to the development of England, because they were welcomed, but with the development of England's native industry and commerce, English merchants gradually rose, and the large number of privileges enjoyed by foreign businessmen and their dominance of England's economy and trade seriously damaged their interests, and foreign businessmen gradually caused dissatisfaction among English businessmen.
In 1290, when the citizens of London demanded the expulsion of foreign merchants, Edward I refused the request of the citizens of London because of his dependence on foreign merchants' funds and the luxury goods they provided.
In the 14th century, as more English merchants went abroad to engage in long-distance trade on the continent, English merchants discovered that foreign merchants enjoyed many privileges in England, while English merchants were not only unprivileged in the Hanseatic merchant-controlled Baltic region, but were often treated unfairly.
English merchants constantly united to put pressure on the government, but the king and nobles refused the demands of English merchants because of their dependence on foreign merchants and the backward economic strength of their country.
It was not until 1393, when Richard II decided that England was strong enough to no longer need to grant foreign privileges, that he restricted it somewhat.
English merchants were the first to feel the profound influence of national power on individuals.
In the struggle with some foreign businessmen from continental European countries, English businessmen formed hostility and antipathy towards foreign businessmen, deeply aware of the weakness of their national strength and economic backwardness, and realized that the conflict of interest with foreign businessmen was a group conflict of interest between an individual nation and foreign competitors.
Exclusive nationalism, that is, the consciousness of limiting the living space of the nation, has its own economic motivation in England.
The expansion of clericalism in Christendom
In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council was convened under Pope Innocent III, and its decisions not only established the pinnacle of church life and papal power, but also symbolized that the power of the Holy See had dominated every aspect of Christendom, and that the power of the church had expanded in England.
Pope Innocent III established such a decree at the Fourth Lateran Synod, obliging every parishioner to make a confession to the Parish priest of his diocese every year.
This decree actually recognized the diocesan priest as having acquired jurisdiction in the diocese. This decree is implemented through the various administrative levels of the Roman Catholic world, the Province, the Diocese and the Parish.
The implementation of this principled decree in each diocese must be accompanied by a series of specific regulations to ensure that the annual obligatory confession of the parishioners can be carried out smoothly, a task that has been well carried out by the bishops of the various dioceses in England.
William of Waddington, in 1250 wrote in French the Manuel des Peches (Handbook of Confessions) to guide the principles of confession of the secular aristocracy, which were also interpreted by some priests to the laity in general, so that they could better observe their manners in the confessional.
In 1281, John Pecham (1230-1292), Archbishop of Canterbore, was still working on specific implementing regulations for the implementation of this decree of Innocent III, which were observed by dioceses such as Grosseteste.
Even by 1320, William of Pagula compiled a Latin pamphlet designed to instruct parishioners on how to confess to the parish priest each year.
In addition, the basic idea of Robert Manning's Handlyng Snne, written in Middle English by Robert Manning (c.1275-c.1338), was based on a book written in French by William of Waddington in 1250.
The Handlyng Synne (Handlyng Synne) is a Middle English translation of Manueldes Peches, but the Guide to Confession has been expanded to include 12 principles to be followed in confession, including more theoretical terms, and discussing these terms.
The Confessional Guide also supported the decision of the Fourth Lateran Synod, but its greatest research significance was that it provided the conceptual support for Innocent III's law, namely, that since Christendom was a vague existence, all such rituals were required to show its existence, similar rituals such as Eucharist.
This kind of Christian unification ritual allows all parishioners to identify with the Christian world, because they all enjoy the holy bread, which symbolizes the flesh of Christ, and their private information is unreservedly given to the priests representing the Holy See.
Robert Manning argues that these rituals of the church are actually intended to bring together the entire Christian world and build a Christendom that transcends nations.
The basic unit of Christendom is a priest-led parish, not a secular king-dominated kingdom or nation. These rituals, which run through the ideals of the universal Christian church, are in fact the best example of the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church in various peoples, because it throws a question of national or religious supremacy to the kingdoms, including England.
In this Christian ecumenical church, there is no Church of England for England, except that the Canterbury Province and York Province are directly accountable to the Holy See, and the Diocese under its rule carry out the decrees made by the Lateran Scotle.
In the 13th century, some decrees demanded by the Holy See were even over-enforced, for example, the bishop of Salisbury, Poore, in 1217 even required the parishioners in his parish to confess to the priest three times a year.
From the above historical facts, two problems can basically be seen, first, the decree of Innocent III is effectively implemented from top to bottom through the diocese of the Catholic Church at all levels, which shows that there are two sets of administrative systems in each European kingdom, including England, and the directives of the Roman Church can even affect the villages of each kingdom through the diocese.
Second, this decree recognizing the jurisdiction of the parish priests shows that the expansion of the power of the Catholic Church is continuing, and this decree of Innocent III has indeed greatly increased the authority of the parish priests, and the local nobility has had to repent to them regularly.
Through this power, the parish priest has almost everyone's private information in the diocese, which means that he has everyone's control, and the parish priest's control over the nobles and serfs in the parish has reached an unprecedented level.
The Fourth Lateran Synod also decreed that the parishioners of each parish should participate in the seven sacraments of the diocese, so that all people in the diocese were bound to the church, from baptism to deathbed prayer, from cradle to grave.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, in the face of the measures of foreign Catholic forces to strengthen the control of the English nation, anti-papal sentiment inevitably arose among the already formed English nation, and at the same time laid the groundwork for the explosion of national sentiment in the 14th century.
bibliography
[1] Jiang Shouming, "The Development of English Colonial Thought in the Formation of the Nation-State," Monthly Journal of History, No. 6, 2002, pp. 96-104.
[2] Li Zigeng, "On Wycliffe's Thought on the Reformation," Northern Review, No. 4, 2002, pp. 9-13.
[3] Long or "Wycliffe in English Language Change," Tianfu Xin, No. 2, 2010, p. 125128.