Black Death and the Black Death and the Peasants Revolt of 1381 Peasants Revolt of 1381 Lecture 10 England in1348 England in1348 ð estimated number of inhabitants: between 3 to 7 million ð earlier demographic crises, e.g. the Great Famine of 1315 1317 had resulted in great numbers of deaths ð England a predominantly rural and agrarian society ð close to 90% of the population lived in the countryside ð the major cities ć% London - 70,000 inhabitants ć% Norwich - around 12,000 people ć% York - around 10,000 Cloth industry Cloth industry ð wool - the main export and the source of the nation's wealth ð up until the middle of the 14th century raw wool exported to Flanders ð gradually the technology for cloth making used on the Continent appropriated by English manufacturers ð around mid-century an export of cloth started (to boom over the following decades) The Black Death The Black Death ð The terms used by contemporaries: ć% "Great Pestilence ć% "Great Mortality ð The plague caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria carried by fleas transferred to humans through contact with rats images\Video\Secrets of the Black Death.flv The bubonic plague The bubonic plague ð flea bites carry the disease into the lymphatic system ð in the lymph nodes the bacteria multiply and form swellings (buboes) ð after 3 or 4 days the bacteria enter into the bloodstream Ä…ð infection of the spleen and the lungs ð the patient dies after a few days The pneumonic plague The pneumonic plague ð the bacteria become airborne and enter directly the patient's lungs ð far more virulent - it spreads directly from person to person The septicaemic plague The septicaemic plague the flea bite carries the bacteria directly into the blood stream - death occurs rapidly The Black Death s origin The Black Death s origin ð The Black Death most likely originated in Central Asia (the disease endemic in the rodent population) ð The cause of the outbreak unknown - probably a series of natural disasters brought humans into contact with the infected rodents ð The epidemic reached Constantinople in the late spring of 1347 ð from here it reached Sicily in October that same year ð by early 1348 it had spread all over the Italian mainland ð it spread rapidly through France, and had reached Paris in June 1348 ð it arrived in the English province of Gascony around the same time The plague in England The plague in England ð The plague probably arrived by ship from Gascony to Weymouth shortly before 24 June 1348 ð From Weymouth the disease spread rapidly across the south-west ð Bristol - the first major city to be struck ð London reached in the autumn of 1348 The plague in London The plague in London ð Conditions in London ideal for the plague: ć% streets narrow and flowing with sewage ć% houses overcrowded and poorly ventilated ð by March 1349 the disease was spreading across all of southern England The death toll The death toll ð the death toll difficult to establish: ð difficulties involve: ć% uncertainty about the size of the total population ć% issues regarding the proportion of the population that died from the plague ð Modern historians give estimates of death rates ranging from around 25% to over 60% of the total population The consequences The consequences ð a shortage of farm labour ð a corresponding rise in wages ð with almost half the population dead, the price of labour nearly doubled ð people who worked the land began asking for more ð more and more villeins wanted to be free to pay money instead of working for their lords ð the lords insisted on paying the same wages and refused to allow villeins to stop working for them for money ð the common people began protesting against the privileges of the nobles Legislative measures Legislative measures ð 1349 - King Edward III passed the Ordinance of Labourers (wages fixed at pre-plague levels) ð 1351 - the ordinance reinforced by Parliament's passing of the Statute of Labourers ð The legislative measures proved largely inefficient at regulating the market - the government's repressive measures to enforce them caused public resentment Ä…ð the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 ð The prices fell down - people sold all they had facing death ð a shortage of labour Ä…ð working men demanded higher wages - in the long term the Black Death contributed to England s prosperity! ð Those who did survive improved their social standing More sophisticated relations between lord and tenant Ä…ðcash became more widely offered instead of feudal services Bastard feudalism Bastard feudalism A term applied to the ties between lords and their followers whose military and administrative services were retained in return for fees, rather than land Religious consequences Religious consequences of the plague of the plague ð a shortage of priests in many parts of the country in consequence: ć% wider public participation in religious affairs ć% revitalisation of the medieval Church ð The omnipresence of death inspired greater piety in the upper classes - three Cambridge colleges founded during or shortly after the Black Death the increase in public participation challenged the absolute authority of the Church hierarchy, and helped pave the way for the Protestant Reformation Cultural consequences Cultural consequences ð The shortage of labour helped advance the transition from the decorated style of building to the less elaborate perpendicular style ð The Black Death may have promoted the use of vernacular English (the number of teachers proficient in French dwindled) Ä…ð the late-fourteenth century flowering of English literature, (Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower) The Great Revolt of the The Great Revolt of the Peasants - 1381 Peasants - 1381 Causes Causes ð heavy-handed attempts to enforce the third poll tax (1377, 1379, 1381) ð England ruled by unpopular men: ć% John of Gaunt (acting regent) ć% Simon Sudbury (Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury) ć% Robert Hales (the Lord Treasurer responsible for poll tax) Causes Causes ð enclosures allowing barons to enclose arable land for sheep grazing ð Statute of Labourers (1351) - unpopular law binding workers to workplaces, limiting wandering and paying wages from before the plague ð general poverty of peasantry The uprising The uprising triggered by incidents in the Essex villages of Fobbing and Brentwood: failure in collecting the poll tax from villagers at Fobbing Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas sent to investigate the incident On 2 June Robert Belknap attacked at Brentwood Essex and Kent in revolt Essex and Kent in revolt ð Kentish rebels under the leadership of Wat Tyler joined the rebels from Essex (Jack Straw - probably the same person as John Rakestraw or Rackstraw) ð John Ball the Lollard priest. When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman? ð A systematic attack on certain properties ð Storming the Tower of London execution of the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Treasurer ð John of Gaunt s Savoy Palace in London destroyed Peasants demands Peasants demands ð abolition of villeinage - i.e., end to serfdom ð reduction of rent ð free access to fairs and markets ð general pardon ð Smithfield - King Richard II and Wat Tyler met; the latter was killed and hundreds of rebels executed ð The nobles re-establish their control with the help of militia of 7000 ð John Ball and Jack Straw - beheaded The Revolt did succeed in showing the nobles that the peasants were dissatisfied In the longer term, the Revolt helped to form a radical tradition in British politics After the revolt, the term poll tax no longer used, although English governments continued to collect broadly similar taxes until the 17th century images\Video\THE PEASANTS' REVOLT 1381.flv