History vs. Henry VIII - Mark Robinson and Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Lin Zhu 校对人员: Karen Xu

He was a powerful king whose break with the church of Rome

作为一位权倾天下的国王， 他和罗马教廷的决裂，

would forever change the course of English history.

永久改变了英国的历史。

But was he a charismatic reformer or a bullying tyrant?

但他究竟是一位极富魅力的改革者, 还是一位蛮横霸道的暴虐君主?

Find out on History versus Henry VIII.

答案尽在“史评亨利八世”。

Judge: Order, order. Now, who do we have here? Looks like quite the dashing fellow.

法官：肃静肃静！ 今天审的谁？看着来头不小。

Defense: Indeed, your honour. This is Henry VIII, the acclaimed king

辩方：尊敬的法官阁下。这是亨利八世，

who reformed England's religion and government

一位据说重塑了英国宗教与政府的国王，

and set it on course to becoming a modern nation.

并开启了英国现代化的历史进程。

Prosecutor: I beg to differ. This is a cruel, impulsive, and extravagant king

控方：我可不这样认为。 这位国王残忍，冲动，放纵。

who had as little regard for his people as he did for his six wives.

对他的臣民毫不关心， 前后娶了六位妻子。

Judge: Six wives?

法官：六位妻子？

Defense: Your honor, Henry's first marriage was arranged for him

辩方：法官阁下，亨利的第一次婚姻 是在其幼童时

when he was only a child.

被包办的政治联姻。

He only married Catherine of Aragon to strengthen England’s alliance with Spain.

他娶阿拉贡的凯瑟琳 只是为了加强英国与西班牙的联合。

Prosecutor: An alliance he was willing to toss aside with no regard for the nation.

控方：事后他还是罔顾国家利益 把联姻弃置一边。

Defense: Henry had every regard for the nation.

辩方：这正是亨利把国家利益 置于首位的表现。

It was imperative to secure the Tudor dynasty by producing a male heir –

他急需一位男性继承人 以确保都铎王朝的延续，

something Catherine failed to do in over twenty years of marriage.

而凯瑟琳在二十年的婚姻里 却未能成功诞下任何男婴。

Prosecutor: It takes two to make an heir, your honor.

控方：生育继承人可是需要双方的努力，阁下。

Defense: Ahem. Regardless, England needed a new queen to ensure stability,

辩方：哼，无论如何英格兰需要一位新皇后 来保证国家的稳定，

but the Pope refused to annul the union and let the king remarry.

但教皇拒绝废除英国与西班牙的联姻 以使亨利得以再婚。

Judge: Sounds like quite a pickle. Can’t argue with the Pope.

法官：情况看来很为难。 没人能和教皇唱反调。

Prosecutor: And yet that’s exactly what the king decided to do.

控方：可这正是亨利八世决心做的。

He uprooted the country’s religious foundations

他废除了整个国家的宗教根基，

and broke the Church of England away from Rome,

切断了全英教会与罗马教廷的联系，

leading to centuries of strife.

导致英国与罗马教廷几个世纪的纷争。

Defense: All Henry did was give the Church honest domestic leadership.

辩方：亨利做的只不过是还英国教会 绝对的国内领导权。

He freed his subjects from the corrupt Roman Catholic establishment.

他把国民从腐朽的罗马天主教廷里解放出来。

And by rejecting the more radical changes of the Protestant reformation,

舍弃了较为激进的新教改革，

he allowed his people to preserve most of their religious traditions.

允许臣民保留大部分自己的宗教传统。

Prosecutor: Objection! The Church had been a beloved and popular institution

控方：反对！教会一直以来都是一个 深受爱戴的大众机构，

that brought comfort and charity to the masses.

为劳苦大众带去心灵的安慰与福祉。

Thanks to Henry, church property was seized;

却因为亨利，教会财产被没收；

hospitals closed, and precious monastic libraries lost forever,

医院关闭，珍贵的修道院书籍永久流失，

all to enrich the Crown.

而这一切只是为了加强亨利的王权。

Defense: Some of the funds were used to build new cathedrals

辩方：其实一些被没收的财产被用于建筑新教堂

and open secular schools.

和开设独立于都会的世俗学校。

And it was necessary for England to bring its affairs

并且把自身事务置于英国而不是罗马教廷的统辖

under its own control rather than Rome’s.

是非常必要的。

Prosecutor: You mean under Henry’s control.

控方：你说的是置于亨利的统辖吧。

Defense: Not true. All of the king’s major reforms went through Parliament.

辩方：并不完全正确。国王所有主要的改革 都是经国会商议的。

No other country of the time allowed its people such a say in government.

同一时代的其他国家都未曾像英国一样 允许其臣民在政府内公开议事。

Prosecutor: He used Parliament as a rubber stamp for his own personal will.

控方：他只不过利用国会为其私人意愿正名罢了。

Meanwhile he ruled like a tyrant, executing those he suspected of disloyalty.

期间他的统治独裁暴虐， 随意处死他怀疑对其不忠的人。

Among his victims were the great statesman and philosopher Thomas More

在他的受害人里就有 伟大的政治哲学家托马斯 · 摩尔——

– once his close friend and advisor –

摩尔曾是他亲近的朋友与顾问——

and Anne Boleyn, the new queen Henry had torn the country apart to marry.

另一位受害者安 · 博林， 甚至是他不惜分裂国家也要娶的新皇后。

Judge: He executed his own wife?

法官：他处死了他自己的妻子？

Defense: That…wasn’t King Henry’s initiative.

辩方：那并非亨利国王的本意。

She was accused of treason in a power struggle

她被指控叛国——与国王的大臣

with the King’s minister, Thomas Cromwell.

托马斯 · 克伦威尔有权力瓜葛。

Prosecutor: The trial was a sham

控方：那场判决简直是公开的耻辱。

and she wouldn’t have been convicted without Henry’s approval.

如果没有亨利的允许， 她本不可能被定罪。

Besides, he wasn’t too upset by the outcome -

而且，他对结果也不置可否，

he married Jane Seymour just 11 days later!

11 天后就和简 · 西摩结了婚。

Defense: A marriage that, I note, succeeded in producing a male heir

辩方：据我所知，这次婚姻成功地 诞下了一位男性继承人，

and guaranteeing a stable succession…

保证了都铎王朝的延续……

though the new queen tragically died in childbirth.

虽然这位新皇后悲剧性的死于难产。

Prosecutor: This tragedy didn’t deter him

控方：可这悲剧并未阻止亨利

from an ill conceived fourth marriage to Anne of Cleves,

迎娶其第四位妻子克里维斯的安妮公主，

which Henry then annulled on a whim and used as an excuse to execute Cromwell.

而亨利很快就一时兴起宣布婚姻无效， 甚至以此为借口处决了克伦威尔。

As if that weren’t enough, he then married Catherine Howard

这还不够，亨利又迎娶了凯瑟琳 · 霍华德——

– a cousin of Anne Boleyn – before having her executed too.

安 · 博林的表妹—— 不久后却也处决了她。

Defense: She was engaged in adultery to which she confessed!

辩方：那是因为她犯有通奸， 她自己也承认了！

Regardless, Henry’s final marriage to Catherine Parr

无论如何，亨利与凯瑟琳 · 帕尔的最后一次婚姻

was actually very successful.

倒是非常成功。

Prosecutor: His sixth! It only goes to show he was an intemperate king

控方：这也是他的第六场婚姻！ 通通显示了他是一位多么放纵的国王

who allowed faction and intrigue to rule his court,

任由内讧和诡计充斥他的朝廷，

concerned only with his own pleasure and grandiosity.

却只关心他自己的享乐与宏伟身价。

Defense: That grandiosity was part of the king’s role as a model for his people.

辩方：宏伟身价可是国王作为全民楷模 不可缺少的一部分。

He was a learned scholar and musician who generously patronized the arts,

他是一位博学的学者与音乐家， 慷慨赞助各种艺术，

as well as being an imposing warrior and sportsman.

也是一位伟岸的战士和运动健将。

And the lavish tournaments he hosted

他赞助的锦标赛各种各样，

enhanced England’s reputation on the world stage.

让英国在世界舞台上声名远扬。

Prosecutor: And yet both his foreign and domestic policies were a disaster.

控方：但他的国际与国内政策简直是一场灾难。

His campaigns in France and his brutal invasion of Scotland drained the treasury,

他在法国的运动和 对苏格兰的野蛮入侵耗光了财库

and his attempt to pay for it by debasing the coinage led to constant inflation.

却以铸造成色不足的货币来进行偿还， 导致了经常性的通货膨胀。

The lords and landowners responded by removing access to common pastures

贵族与地主趁机大搞圈地运动

and turning the peasant population into beggars.

让众多农民流离失所沦为乞丐。

Defense: Beggars who would soon become yeomen farmers.

辩方：乞丐不久之后即演变为自耕农。

The enclosures made farming more efficient, and created a labor surplus

而封闭式农场动作更高效， 生产了富余劳动力

that laid the foundation for the Industrial Revolution.

为后续的工业革命垫定了基础。

England would never have become the great power that it did without them

没有这些劳动力英格兰决不会 演变成后来的世界霸主

…and without Henry.

当然没有亨利也不行。

Judge: Well, I think no matter what,

法官：好吧，无论如何，

we can all agree he looks great in that portrait.

我们得同意他在画像里看着不错。

A devout believer who broke with the Church.

对宗教虔诚敬仰却与罗马断绝关系。

A man of learning who executed scholars.

博学多才却不断处死著名学者。

A king who brought stability to the throne,

为王权带了了稳定，

but used it to promote his own glory,

却只以王权满足自己的荣耀。

Henry VIII embodied all the contradictions of monarchy

亨利八世不愧是现代改革前沿上

on the verge of the modern era.

一位独裁帝王所有矛盾的综合体。

But separating the ruler from the myth is all part of putting history on trial.

但把君王与神话分开不正是 我们客观审视历史的精髓。