野蠻的祖先：十六、十七世紀英格蘭的古代史書寫與祖先形象的轉折

Abstract

本文從廣義的歷史書寫及相關圖像，探討十六世紀下半葉至十七世紀初期，英格蘭編年史家與古文物研究者，對不列顛古代史的理解及視覺呈現。他們關注的問題包括：不列顛最早的居民從何而來、不列顛島嶼與其居民的名稱由來、不列顛上古時期的政治與文化狀態。全文從十二世紀的《不列顛諸王史》一書開始談起，並將承襲其傳統而書寫的歷史敘述，稱之為「英雄敘事」；而十六世紀下半葉開始的新古代史，則稱為「初民敘事」。初民敘事最大的改變在勇於接受「野蠻的祖先」，並將其類比於當時在美洲所見到的印第安人，也由此思索人類文明進化的階段。初民敘事在十七世紀漸成主流，明確表達了都鐸晚期至司徒亞特王朝早期的不列顛認同。

This article investigates the perceptions and visualizations of British ancestry in the historical writing of late Tudor and early Stuart England. In a broader sense, early modern English historical writing included written works produced by chroniclers, antiquaries, and genealogists, and many of their works contained visual illustrations. Their enquiries into ancient British history took in the origin of the first inhabitants of Britain, of the name of this island and its inhabitants, political organization, social life and cultural development. The interest in British national origins was reinforced by at least two factors. The first was the influence of Renaissance historiography, which stimulated scholars to restore antiquity and pay more serious attention to classical sources instead of medieval inventions. Second, the study of the British past was invested with strong political meaning in this period when both Queen Elizabeth (r. 1558-1603) and King James VI and I (r. 1603-1625) were haunted by the question of Britain and the nature of the relationship between England and Scotland. The historical accounts and visual representations of Ancient Britons would then come to be the foundation of early modern British identity that encompassed both England and Scotland. This article particularly focuses on the shift of historical narratives and the change of perceptions and representations of British ancestry in this period. It traces the story back to Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1138) of Geoffrey of Monmouth in order to provide a long-term historical background to this shift. Then this article differentiates two modes of narratives for recounting the lives of British ancestors. One is a "narratives of heroes," following the Trojan myth elaborated by Geoffrey of Monmouth; the other is a "narratives of primitive mankind," relying on various classical writings and referring to American Indians for understanding the civilizing process in Britain. The second and newer narrative mode gradually became the accepted view of the ancient in the seventeenth century, and it gave momentum to British identity in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, even though the union of England and Scotland was not realized until the early eighteenth century.