The Black Death and what followed
History · Key Stage 3 · The School
What happened
Plague reached England in 1348 and killed perhaps a third to a half of the population within two years. It spread along trade routes. It reached London in autumn 1348 and York in May 1349. The plague hastened the decline of many villages. Of the villages that were later deserted, the plague was probably not the main reason for most. In London the churchyards lacked room. A new burial ground opened at East Smithfield in late 1348 or early 1349, and archaeologists found mass graves there. Estimates of the death toll differ. Philip Ziegler suggested about a third. Jeremy Goldberg suggested about 45 per cent.
How it was explained
Nobody knew what caused it. Explanations offered at the time included divine punishment, bad air, planetary alignment, and — with terrible consequences — accusations against Jewish communities. Jews were massacred in several European towns, even though the plague struck them too, as Pope Clement VI noted at the time. Understanding what people believed is part of the history; repeating those accusations as fact is not.
Why survivors gained
So many workers died that those left could demand higher wages and better terms, and landowners competed for them. In 1349 the king issued an ordinance to cap wages at pre-plague levels. In 1351 Parliament passed a statute to do the same. Historians differ on how well these laws worked. Serfdom weakened in England over the following decades. By about 1400 it was almost gone. The tensions the plague left behind were one of several causes of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. A catastrophe for individuals reshaped the bargaining position of an entire class.
A 2023 LSE working paper reports the average day wage of an English labourer. It was about 1.5d in 1349 and about 3d in 1350. With so many workers dead, those left could ask for far more. In 1351 Parliament passed the Statute of Labourers to hold wages at pre-plague levels. Historians differ on how well it worked. The paper's authors, Claridge, Delabastita and Gibbs, say it was enforced to some effect in the 1350s. By the 1360s, they say, it was largely ineffective. The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 had several causes. The tensions left by the plague, including these labour laws, were one of them. A wage figure is evidence about power.