1.6.2

The Impact of the Black Death

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Impact of the Black Death

The plague killed a huge proportion of the population. It also led to food shortages (and higher food prices because of this). This made life even more difficult for the people who survived the Black Death.

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Devastation

  • 30-45% of the British population are estimated to have died from the Black Death.
    • Whole towns were killed by the Black Death.
  • The Church was harmed because lots of experienced priests died. New clergymen demanded higher wages.
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Impact on peasants

  • The Black Death killed lots of workers. Peasants asked for higher wages and moved around to earn higher wages.
  • The cost of buying land fell because of the lower population and this allowed some peasants to buy land.
  • The 1349 Ordinance of Labourers tried to stop peasants moving around so much.
    • Some historians think these kinds of measures and the Black Death contributed to the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381.
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The end of the Black Death?

  • The worst of the Black Death was over by 1350.
    • But plagues continued for centuries. The worst example was the Great Plague of 1665.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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