The Financial Crisis and Response of Florence Commercial Banks in the 1340s

CHENG Yong

In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Florentine Commercial Bank companies established a triangular balance trade, centered around Naples grain trade, British wool trade and Florence wool textile industry. In the 14th century, Europe entered a period of saturated economy, and Florentine merchant-bankers opened up a commercial path of exchanging royal loans for trade privileges. The economic and political crisis of the 1340s ended the honeymoon period between Florentine merchant-bankers and European royalties, and overall disrupted its international trade network, leading to the financial crisis of Florence in the 1340s. After the crisis, Vatican finance became the focus of business for Florentine merchant-bankers, and Italian banks, which were obsessed with the commercial field, showed no signs of modernization.

Archbishop Brunoand the Imperial Church System of Germany

LI Teng

The “Imperial Church System” (Reichskirchensystem) was often seen as an important measure of the Ottonian dynasty's governance, which had a significant impact on medieval Germany and even the entire Europe. Otto Ⅰ strengthened the royal power and established the ruling order through cooperation with the Church. Bruno, who served as the Archbishop of Cologne, Duke of Lotharingia, and Chancellor of the Empire, played an important role in it. Bruno actively participated in social governance and established a fundamental model of the relationship between the German emperor and bishops, becoming a representative figure of the “Prince-Bishop”. Bruno's political and religious activities reflected the special relationship between the kingship and the magisterium which had been combined into one, and pioneered the governance model of the medieval German Empire.

A Historical Investigation on the Enactment of the Statute of Uses

PAN Cheng

The enactment of the Statue of Uses during the Tudor period, had a profound impact on the land tenure system in Common Law. The “use” allowed tenants to circumvent the rights of landlords and got freedom to disposing of land. Originally, Henry VIII attempted to regain his and other lords’ feudal rights by legislation in parliament, but was rejected by the House of Commons. Subsequently, he utilized the case of Lord Dacre to carry out his intention by judicial means, and forced the parliament to compromise ultimately, promoting the enactment of the Statute of Uses. However, the common lawyers tried to circumvent the Statute of Uses by legal means, and the king had no choice but to compromise, leading to the enactment of the Statute of Wills. The process of the enactment of the Statute of Uses demonstrated the complex game between the king, nobles and gentries in parliament, as well as the interaction between royal power and judicial power.

The Inquisition Post Mortem and the Development of Incidents in Medieval England

HOU Xinglong

After the Norman Conquest, with the inheritance of feudal lands, the king's access to knight service and great sergeanty service gradually decreased. Henry II began to carry out the inquisition post mortem to obtain more military services. However, with the development of social economy and the continuous division of fiefs, the purpose of the inquisition gradually turned to increasing financial revenue, and at the beginning of the 13th century，finally established the system of the inquisition post mortem which was consisted of the escheators and the inquest juries. The inquisition was an important prerequisite for the heir to inherit the fief and for the feudal lord to exercise the right of guardianship and marriage appointment. If the heir was underage and unmarried, it was necessary to further clarify the rights and responsibilities of the feudal lord. The inquisition post mortem promoted the legalization of the inheritance of feudal rights. The inquest juries, as a medium, provided a balance mechanism which stabilized the operation and survival of the feudal system.

The Origin and Characteristics of Common Petitions in the English Parliament

LIU Peng

In the thirteenth century, the rise of public governance in the Kingdom of England raised the issue of the safeguard of the public interest, and submitting common petitions to Parliament by the nobility became an effective way to address the issue. Specifically, from 1290 to 1314, taking advantage of their superior social status, the nobility continuously submitted petitions to Parliament in the name of the Kingdom Community to uphold their recognized public interests, which was the initial stage of common petitions. Compared with traditional parliamentary petitions, common petitions referred to more important issues of public governance, reflecting a wide range of public interests. In the subsequent struggle for the power of public governance, common petitions gradually took on two main characteristics, and grew into a new type of parliamentary petition, which ultimately promoted the development of public legislation. Therefore, the origin of common petitions was an important manifestation of the rise of public governance in the Kingdom of England.

New Resource Conservation and Environmental Improvement in the 1960s in the United States: Stewart Udall's Cognition of Environmental Crisis and Response

HUANG Yunzi

In the 1960s, Steward Udall, the United States Secretary of Department of Interior, was keenly aware of the modern environmental crisis was coming quietly. He went beyond the utilitarian orientation of traditional resource conservation, proposed a new conservation with the pursuit of beauty, led the “Beautify America” movement, and advocated the reshaping of man-land relationship in the United States. He modernized the Department of the Interior with an ecological orientation and scientific reports as the basis, promoted the passage of several natural resource conservation laws, and expanded the connotation and extension of natural resource conservation in multiple dimensions. Udall’s cognition of environmental crisis and his responses was incorporated into the administrative programs of the two administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, bridging the longstanding gap between federal environmental improvement and civil environmental action in the United States, and guiding the government to redefine, allocate, develop, and protect natural resources. It was the first time to bring law and order into the environment and man-land relationship in a complete sense, creating a new concept and situation for modern Western environmental improvement.

The Conflict of Chinese and Foreign Rights and Benefits in Mining Legislation During the Late Qing Dynasty

MENG Fanli

After the Sino-Japaness War of 1894-1895, the Qing government regarded the development of mining as a strategic measure and attempted to utilize foreign merchants to operate mines. From 1898 to 1911, the Qing government successively formulated six mining regulations, among which how to utilize and restrict foreign merchants was the focus. The mining legislation attempted to limit the proportion of foreign merchants holding shares, emphasized state-owned mining rights, and tried to abolish the extraterritoriality of each country, constrained the seizure of mining rights by various countries. However, it also constrained the mining development practice of the Qing government, and had to be repeatedly revised the legislative provisions, reflecting the objectivity that the Qing government had to rely on foreign merchants to develop mining at that time. Due to the lack of an equal and cooperative business environment, the Qing government's strategy of utilizing foreign merchants to manage mines was hard to truly have any impact. This experience and lessons was later learned by the Northern Warlords Governmentand the Nanjing National government of China, which emphasized the management of mines by Chinese and strictly restricted foreign merchants in mining legislation.

A Research on Land Property Rights of Sandbars in the Yangtze Estuary in the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China

DU Zhiya

The change of land property rights of sandbars in the Yangtze estuary was closely related to the development of sandbars’ habitats, the national taxes system and land development modes also influenced the patterns of sandbars’ land property rights. The land property rights of mudflat was the starting point for the confirmation of land property in sandbars, the taxes system of the government-allocated Lipai had achieved the conversion of unclaimed land to private land of Lipai. Building dikes was the symbol of the establishment of farmland property rights, and it was also the beginning of the differentiation of land ownership and land use right. The proportion of land value undertaken by the landowners and tenants was a key factor in determining the landownership of Chongming and the relationship between them. The price of farmland in sandbars was influenced by various factors such as land fertility, political situation, transaction time, and land type, etc. The land property rights of Hengsha Island, which emerged in the late Qing Dynasty, briefly fluctuated from public property of feudal official to private property of large landlords, then finally established the land property rights of academy, which was a public property for education. The transactions and management modes of land property rights of Chongming and Hengsha showed significantly differentiated.