Starting with the social consequences, The plague had large scale social and economic effects. When the plague hit, the Europeans started to abandon their friends and family. They fled from their cities, and even shut themselves off from the rest of the world. The peasants started to become more empowered and soon started to revolt against the aristocracy once they tried to resist the changes happening as a result of the plague. Peasants began rioting in 1358, and 20 years later the disenfranchised guild member revolted as well. The social and economic structure of Europe was drastically and irretrievably changed (Courie). Fashion also became more prevalent during that time as well. The aristocratic nobles who belonged in the upper class
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When the farmers who were buying the food started to die out as a result of the Plague, the prices in food decreased due to the lower demand (Byrne, 63). John Kelly says “prices were at an unprecedented low” (Kelly, 284). This was only temporary, however. The amount that it cost to supply the grain had to increase due to the labor shortage (Byrne, 63). Once this happened, the prices of the grain starting rising greatly, “stabilizing for a long period of very high rates” (Pirenne, 193). An English monk by the name of Henry Knighton wrote that “all essentials are so expensive that something which had previously cost one quid, was now worth four or five quid” (Kelly, 284). This brought about a change in the European economy and also its social structure because not only did food prices rise, the prices of other goods and even the services of the laborers began to increase. Because the Plague had wiped out so many of the skilled laborers (stonemasons, shoemakers, brewers, teachers, artists, carpenters) there were not many people left to do the work, much less to teach the apprentices of the next generation. As a result of this, the remaining laborers were able to demand “much higher wages and fees”(Byrne, 62-63). Also to add, because of the high mortality rate of those affected by the plague, and the dead, there were also rises of
When the farmers who were buying the food started to die out as a result of the Plague, the prices in food decreased due to the lower demand (Byrne, 63). John Kelly says “prices were at an unprecedented low” (Kelly, 284). This was only temporary, however. The amount that it cost to supply the grain had to increase due to the labor shortage (Byrne, 63). Once this happened, the prices of the grain starting rising greatly, “stabilizing for a long period of very high rates” (Pirenne, 193). An English monk by the name of Henry Knighton wrote that “all essentials are so expensive that something which had previously cost one quid, was now worth four or five quid” (Kelly, 284). This brought about a change in the European economy and also its social structure because not only did food prices rise, the prices of other goods and even the services of the laborers began to increase. Because the Plague had wiped out so many of the skilled laborers (stonemasons, shoemakers, brewers, teachers, artists, carpenters) there were not many people left to do the work, much less to teach the apprentices of the next generation. As a result of this, the remaining laborers were able to demand “much higher wages and fees”(Byrne, 62-63). Also to add, because of the high mortality rate of those affected by the plague, and the dead, there were also rises of