Increased Wages for Laborers:
The decreased population caused it to become harder to find people to plow field, harvest crops, and produce other goods and services. However, the lower population also increased the wages of peasants for a time. The plague had an important effect on the relationship between the lords ,who owned much of the land in Europe, and the peasants, who worked for the lords. Rulers tried to keep wages from rising by passing laws. In 1349, they passed a law that tried to force workers to accept the same wages they received in 1346. Also, a similar law, the Statute of Laborers, was issued in 1351, and it said that every healthy unemployed person under 60 years old must work for anyone who wanted to hire him. These laws were not very effective though. Some lords avoided violating the statute by making “in kind” payments—paying workers with food or other goods rather than wages or providing other “fringe benefits.” |
Effects in the City:
Cities were also hit economically by the plague. Financial businesses were disrupted as debtors died and their creditors found themselves without recourse because there was no one to collect from. Construction projects were put on hold or were abandoned altogether. Guilds, who were an association of artisans or merchants, lost their craftsmen and could not replace them. When mills and other special machinery broke, the one man in town who had the skill to repair died from the plague; so the towns advertised for specialists by offering high wages. The labor shortage was very severe, especially in the short term, and consequently, wages rose. Because of the mortality, there was an oversupply of goods, and so prices dropped. Between the two trends, the standard of living rose for those still living. |
Effects in the Countryside:
Effects in the countryside were just as severe. Farms and entire villages died out or were abandoned as the few survivors decided not to stay. Whole families died, with no heirs, their houses standing empty. The countryside, too, faced a short-term shortage of labor, and landlords stopped freeing their serfs. They tried to get more forced labor from them, as there were fewer peasants to be had. Peasants in many areas began to demand fairer treatment or lighter burdens. Just as there were guild revolts in the cities during the late 1300s, there were rebellions in the countryside. The Jacquerie in 1358, the Peasants' Revolt in England in 1381, the Catalonian Rebellion in 1395, and many revolts in Germany, all demonstrate how serious the mortality disrupted economic and social relations. |