The Turning Of Modernity Of The English Courts In Tudors

Tudor England was the turning point of its modernization.Unlike traditional historiography,which focuses on social,economic and ideological parts of history,this thesis will focus on the establishment and significance of the privileged courts and special courts with the enactment of the decrees issued by the kings and parliament from 1485 to 1603.Based on the influence of the elements of modernity,the evolution of England's social governance model,the transition from justice to administration and then back to justice,is conservative and stable at the national constitutional level,which is different from the European governance model.However,the accumulation and outbreak of elements of modernity in England can not be questioned.Under the legislative power of the kings' and parliament's,the administrative mechanism of social governance is gradually completed and finally transformed into a diversified and normalized judicial organization system,which is the best embodiment of the modern transformation of the governance mode of England.The preface mainly expounds the premise of the thesis.We should liberate the category of modernity from the theoretical framework of sociology,so that we can use it as a tool to analyze the social governance of medieval and modern countries.After expressing the trend of opposition between centralization and political liberalism since the classical age,the thesis attempts to establish a connection between the trend itself and the elements of modernity as a tool.On this basis,it analyzes the centralization and its confrontation of European countries before modern times.Introducing the concept of relative modernity to the analysis of England's political system,it puts forward the positive role of the elements of modernity in England's social grassroots governance and national macro control since the Norman conquest,thus completing the transformation of the national constitutional level in the Tudor period.The first chapter mainly traces back to the process of judicial administration of England since Henry II and Elizabeth I,and puts forward the possibility that the battle between centralization and political liberalism is similar to the traditional English history from the perspective of relative modernity.After the establishment of the common law system,the internal political structure of England was mainly restricted by the traditional aristocracy,the church power and the European feudal monarchy.The political marriage and social propaganda adopted by Henry VII reversed the hostile attitude of the traditional aristocracy.The religious reform supported by Henry VIII clarified the authority of the local church.The victory of Elizabeth I's counterattack against Spain hit the economic blockade of European countries.With the promulgation of Act of Supremacy twice,Tudor monarchs reached a new height of centralization of power in the history of England.The second chapter,based on the administrative and judicial bureaucrats of Henry VIII such as Wolsey,More,Cromwell and Cranmer,attempts to discuss the ideological influence of Renaissance and religious reform initiated by the European continent on these servants and officials under the absolute monarchy.From the perspective of personal experience and identity background,Machiavelli's pragmatism political philosophy and the transformation of traditional Catholicism by Luther and Calvin played an ideological leading role in the development of local religious and administrative reform in England by Wolsey and Cromwell.Erasmus' s humanistic feelings raised More's religious strategy of opposing radical reform and against the thought that king is above the law.The adherence of Cranmer to Protestantism and Audley's middle line strategy also affected the ideological and political changes in Tudor period to varying degrees.The third chapter focuses on the description of the pluralistic judicial scene in England during the Tudor period.In the face of the impact of the elements of modernity on traditional society,the social governance functions of the manorial courts and the ecclesiastical courts are gradually replaced.The privileged courts system composed of the Court of Star Chamber and the Court of Requests is a useful supplement to the common law judicial system,and they should belong to the special courts of equity from the perspective of composition and litigation procedure.The Court of Exchequer and the forest courts were the financial courts formed after the reconstruction of England by the Plantagenet.During the Tudor period,they formed the unique financial management system of England after the religious reform together with the Court of Augmentations,Court of Wards and Liveries.In addition to the ancient common law court system,the continuation of the privileged courts system and the establishment of the council courts,the political pattern of pluralistic judicial governance in modern England society has been formed.This pattern is also faced with two kinds of questions,namely,whether the emergence of substantive rational or reasonable law in text of Weber caused by multiple judicature can be interpreted as the positive impact of modernity on English society,and whether the political state of using the Privy Council and parliament under the leadership of the king to exercise the sovereign functions negates the traditional English model of "King's peace" and "judicial governance".The fourth chapter attempts to answer the influence of Tudor modernity on the choice of national political system by combining the theoretical models of Weber,Durkheim and Luhman,and then respond to Weber's question about the legal status and herrschaft type of England.The distinction between substantial rationality and substantial irrationality is helpful to recognize the modern nature of judicial governance in Tudor period.The advanced application of the concept of organic and mechanical combination is convenient for us to understand the core of judicial pluralism in Tudor period,and to examine the cooperation and game among common law courts,equity court and privileged courts as well as their administrative mechanism under the leadership of the king from a systematic and coupling perspective.The relationship between constructions would be more transparent.From the perspective of historical logic,the complicated and profound institutional practice in the 16 th century objectively laid the foundation for the coming political upheaval and ideological storm in the next century.The conclusion reemphasizes the auxiliary role of modernity in the study of the state political system and legal state,based on which the conclusion is drawn from the examination of the social governance model in Tudor England.In the middle ages,the administrative and judicial power originated from the king of England.After the accumulation of elements of modernity,it evolved into a modern judicial mode with diversification and stability under the subjective efforts of Tudor monarchy centralization.