英美文化中的名词解释 名词, 文化, 解释

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Amerigo Vespucci----Amerigo Vespucci, a navigator, proved that the land was not India,but a new continent. Therefore, the land was named America after.
The Puritans----The Puritans were wealthy, well-educated gentlemen. They wanted to purify the Church of England and threatened with religious persecution, the Puritans leaders saw the New world as the a refuge provided by God for those He meant to save.
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The Bill of Rights----In 1789, James Madison introduced in the House of Representatives a series of amendments which later were drafted into twelve proposed amendments and sent to the states for ratification. Ten of them were ratified in 1791 and the first ten amendments to the constitution were called the Bills of Rights because they were to insure individual liberties.
The Emancipation Proclamation----After the Civil war began, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to win more support at home and abroad. It granted freedom to all slaves in areas still controlled by the Confederacy.
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Pilgrims Thanksgiving Day----The Pilgrims in 1620, 201 of them sailed to the New World in a ship called Mayflower. The first winter after their arrival was very cold and when spring came, half of them were dead. Then the Indians came to their help and taught them how to grow corn. They had a good harvest that year. So they invited the Indians and held the first Thanksgiving celebration in America to give thanks to God.
The Chunnel----In 1985 the British government and French government decided to build a channel tunnel, which is called “Chunnel”, under the Straits of Dover so that England and France could be joined together by road. The Chunnel was open to traffic in May 1994.
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Eisteddfod----Eisteddfod is the Welsh word for “sitting” National Eidteddfod is the most famous festival of music and verse in Wales. It takes place each August and lasts for about a week. The highlight of the festival is competition for the best epic poem about Wales written and read in Welsh. The winner is crowned Board, considered the supreme honour in Wales. In this way the Welsh people keep the Welsh language and culture alive.
Cockney----A cockney is a Londoner who is born within the sound of Bow Bells-the Bells of the church of St. Mary-LeBow in east London.
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Stonehenge----It is a group of huge monuments of grant rock Slabs on salisbury plain in Southwest England built as long ago as the New Stone Age. It is generally believed that stonehenge served some sort of religious purposes.
The Celts----The Celts came to Britain in three main waves. The first wave were the Gales, the second wave were the Brythons and the Belgae came about 150BC. The Celts were practised farmers. The Celtic tribes are ancestors of the Highland Scots, the Irish and the Welsh, And their languages are the basis of both Welsh and Gaelic. They religion was Druidism.

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Norman Conquest----The Norman Conquest of 1066 is perhaps the best-known event in English history. William the conqueror confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers. He replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government. So the feudal system was completely established in England.
Alfred the Great----He was king of Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. It was he who led the Anglo-Saxon to flight against the invading Danes and maintained peace for a long time. Alfred was not only a brave king at wartime, but also a wise king at peacetime. He encouraged education and introduced a legal system. He is known as “the father of the British navy”.
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St. Augustine----In 597,Pope Gregory I sent St. Augustine, the Prior of St. Andrew’s Monastery in Rome, to England to convert the heathen English to Christianity. That year, St. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine was remarkably successful in converting the king and the nobility, but the conversion of the common people was largely due to the missionary activities of the monks in the north.
Domesday Book----It is a book compiled by a group of clerks under the sponsorship of King William the First in 1086. The book was in fact a property record. It was the result of a general survey of England. It recorded the extent, value, state of cultivation, and ownership of the land. It was one of the important measures adopted by William I to establish the full feudal system in England. Today, it is kept in the Public Records Office in London.
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Geoffrey Chaucer----He was an important English poet in the fourteenth century. His best known is The Canterbury Tales, which describes a group of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury to visit Thomas Becket’s tomb. Because he was the first important English poet to write in English. He has been known as the “Father of English Poetry”.
The Black Death----It is a modern name given to the dearly bubonic plague, an epidemic disease spread through Europe in the fourteenth century particularly in 1348-1349. It came without warning, and without any cue. In England, it killed almost half of the total population, causing far-reaching economic consequences.
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The Wars of Roses玫瑰战争----the name Wars of the Roses was refer to the battles between the House of Lancaster, symbolized by the read rose, and that of York, symbolized by the white, from 1455 to 1485. Henry Tudor, descendant of Duke of Lancaster won victory at Bosworth Fireld in 1485 and put ht country under the rule of the Tudors. From these Wars, English feudalism received its death blow. The great medieval nobility was much weakened.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688光荣革命---- In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother James II. James was brought up in exile in Europe, was a Catholic. He hoped to rule without giving up his personal religious vies. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688 than 40 years ago. So the English politicians rejected James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, nor any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution.

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The Gunpowder Plot of 1605火药阴谋案----The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was the most famous of the Catholic conspiracies. On Nov. 5,1605, a few fanatical Catholics attempted to blow King James and his ministers up in the House of Parliament where Guy Fawkes had planted barrels of gun-powder in the cellars. The immediate result was the execution of Fawkes and his fellow-conspirators and imposition of severe anti-Catholic laws. The long-term result has been an annual celebration on Nov. 5, when a bonfire is lit to turn a guy and a firework display is arranged.
Blood Mary血腥玛丽----It is the nickname given to Mary I, the English Queen who succeeded to the throne after Henry VIII. She was a devout Catholic and had so many Protestants burnt to death that she is remembered less by her official title Mary I by her nickname Blood Mary.