美国学生人类历史 第147期:教皇与皇帝之争(3)

 It was never easy to give the correct answer. 给出正确的答案真是挺困难的。

When the Emperor happened to be a man of energy and was sufficiently¹ well provided with money to organise² an army, 有时皇帝碰巧是位精力充沛的政治强人，又有充足的财源用来组织一支强大的军队，

he was very apt to cross the Alps and march on Rome, besiege³ the Pope in his own palace if need be, 那他便大可以越过阿尔卑斯山向罗马进军，把教皇的宫殿围个密不透风（这要视需要而定），

and force His Holiness to obey the imperial instructions or suffer the consequences. 最终迫使教皇陛下服从帝国的指示，否则就要自食其果。

But more frequently the Pope was the stronger. 但更多的情形是教皇方面更强大。

Then the Emperor or the King together with all his subjects was excommunicated. 于是，这位敢于违抗教旨的皇帝或国王，连同他的全部无罪国民，将被一起开除教籍，逐出教会。

This meant that all churches were closed, that no one could be baptised,  这意味着要关闭境内所有教堂，人们不能受洗，

that no dying man could be given absolution-in short, that half of the functions of mediaeval government came to an end. 也没有神父给垂死之人举行临终忏悔，下地狱将成为必然的事情。一句话，中世纪政府的一半职能都被取消了。

More than that, the people were absolved⁴ from their oath of loyalty⁵ to their sovereign and were urged to rebel against their master. 更糟的是，教皇还免除了人们对其君主的效忠宣誓，鼓励他们起来反抗"叛教"的主人。

But if they followed this advice of the distant Pope and were caught, they were hanged by their near-by Lege Lord and that too was very unpleasant. 可人们若是真的遵从了教皇陛下的指示，而被近处的国王抓住，等待他们的将是绞刑架。这也不是一件可以闹着玩的事情。

Indeed, the poor fellows were in a difficult position and none fared worse than those who lived during the latter half of the eleventh century, 事实上，教皇与皇帝的对抗一旦发生，普通人民的处境将会变得相当艰难。而最倒霉的，莫过于那些生活在公元11世纪下半叶的人们。

when the Emperor Henry IV of Germany and Pope Gregory VII fought a two-round battle which decided⁶ nothing and upset the peace of Europe for almost fifty years. 当时的德国国王亨利四世和教皇格利高里七世打了两场不分胜负的战役，非但没解决任何问题，倒使欧洲陷入混乱达50年之久。

In the middle of the eleventh century there had been a strong movement for reform in the church. 在11世纪中期，教会内部出现了激烈的改革运动。

The election of the Popes, thus far, had been a most irregular affair. 当时，教皇的产生方式还极不正规。

It was to the advantage of the Holy Roman Emperors to have a well-disposed priest elected to the Holy See. 对神圣罗马帝国的皇帝来说，他当然希望把一位易于相处、对帝国抱有好感的教士送上教廷的宝座。

They frequently came to Rome at the time of election and used their influence for the benefit of one of their friends. 因此每逢选举教皇的时候，皇帝们总是亲临罗马，运用他们的影响力，为自己的朋友捞取利益。

1 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

2 organise   

vt.组织，安排，筹办

参考例句：

• He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
• It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。

3 besiege   

vt.包围，围攻，拥在...周围

参考例句：

• The Afghan air force was using helicopters to supply the besieged town.阿富汗空军正用直升机向被围城镇提供补给。
• She was besieged by the press and the public.她被媒体和公众纠缠不休。

4 absolved   

宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的过去式和过去分词 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责）

参考例句：

• The court absolved him of all responsibility for the accident. 法院宣告他对该事故不负任何责任。
• The court absolved him of guilt in her death. 法庭赦免了他在她的死亡中所犯的罪。

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。