Why were workers more valuable after the Black Death?

The Black Death encouraged innovation of labour-saving technologies, leading to higher productivity. Wages of labourers were high, but the rise in nominal wages following the Black Death was swamped by post-Plague inflation, so that real wages fell.

How did the plague affect peasants and workers?

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. As people died, it became harder and harder to find people to plow fields, harvest crops, and produce other goods and services. Peasants began to demand higher wages.

Why did peasants leave their villages after the Black Death?

Feudal law stated that peasants could only leave their village if they had their lord’s permission. Now many lords were short of desperately needed labour for the land that they owned. After the Black Death, lords actively encouraged peasants to leave the village where they lived to come to work for them.

What did people do before the Black Death?

Before the Black Death they had wealth, land, power and great influence. The Black Death was a great shock to them. There were no longer enough peasants to work on the land. The lords had to listen to peasant demands for wages, or face losing their crops. Some peasants even demanded the freedom to work for other people.

What did the Lords do after the Black Death?

Now many lords were short of desperately needed labour for the land that they owned. After the Black Death, lords actively encouraged peasants to leave the village where they lived to come to work for them. When peasants did this, the lord refused to return them to their original village.

How did the Black Death affect medieval England?

The Black Death actually seemed to make life better for ordinary families in Medieval England. For the lords life was about to get worse. Before the Black Death they had wealth, land, power and great influence. The Black Death was a great shock to them. There were no longer enough peasants to work on the land.

Feudal law stated that peasants could only leave their village if they had their lord’s permission. Now many lords were short of desperately needed labour for the land that they owned. After the Black Death, lords actively encouraged peasants to leave the village where they lived to come to work for them.

Now many lords were short of desperately needed labour for the land that they owned. After the Black Death, lords actively encouraged peasants to leave the village where they lived to come to work for them. When peasants did this, the lord refused to return them to their original village.

How did the Black Death affect medieval people?

It decimated the population, killing roughly half of all people living. After the ravages of the plague were finished, however, medieval peasants found their lives and working conditions improved. One of the most famous pandemics in Europe’s history raged across the continent and around the world from 1347-51.

What was life like for peasants in medieval times?

Life for ordinary Medieval people was strictly controlled by the local lord. The law also allowed the lord to stop his villeins moving for better wages. Coming after the Black Death and the consequent shortage of labour, this crushed the villeins’ higher expectations for their income.