Asher Sisneros

The Black Death (1347-1350) was a catastrophic plague that slaughtered between ¼ and ½ of the European population in the space of three years. Such lethal numbers absolutely dwarf anything any living American has witnessed, including COVID-19. To translate the Black Death’s lethality into numbers that might resonate more with the modern American, if a plague with a similar fatality rate struck the United States today, approximately one hundred million Americans would die. So, while Americans may bemoan the effects of COVID-19 during 2020, the student of history uses such memorable catastrophes like the effects of COVID-19 as a benchmark to compare and cope with how destructive the Black Death truly was to Europeans living during the 14th century. However, the two plagues known as the Black Death—the Bubonic plague and the Pneumonic plague—had ramifications in Europe beyond the lives they took directly. In many ways, surviving the plague was more of a curse than a blessing. The few who were fortunate—or unfortunate—enough to survive, were forced to live with its religious, economic, and political ramifications. 

As one might imagine, numerous clergy were killed during the Black Death. The sudden disappearance of bishops and deacons in Europe caused a tremendous upset with more demand than supply. To meet the demands for preaching, many unqualified men became church officers. Unfortunately, that resulted in church abuses. Some used the position for personal gain, while others had good intentions but were, once again, unqualified. As such, it was not uncommon for church congregations to be led by “goats.” Thus, the medieval church during this period experienced a deficit in quality preaching which affected the spiritual lives of everyone. 

The deaths resulting from the Bubonic and Pneumonic plagues also had enormous economic implications for Europe. Similar to the situation within the church, employers suffered from a shortage of workers. The short supply within the workforce enabled workers to demand higher wages. As such, the sudden wage surge caused inflation, which raised prices. To mitigate the wage surges and combat inflation, the Statue of Laborers, which was written in 1351, gave landowners wage-price controls. In other words, the statute provided employers with the right to determine appropriate wages across the entire economy. This act was contrary to the principles of the free market. According to the doctrine taught by classical economists, employers reap the benefits of a strong workforce by incentivizing individuals to work for them. Under such conditions, employers compete with each other for top talent—or in the case of the Black Death, any talent at all, whether it’s “top” or not. Through competition, the free market determines what fair wages are. From a theoretical perspective, it is easy to identify fair wages. Put simply, fair wages are the equilibrium point between what workers demand and what employers are willing to pay. In a truly free market economy, businesses must provide high wages and various benefits to employees to gain access to top talent. In return, employees must work diligently to receive those benefits or risk getting a lower-paying job. Since it is impossible to determine fair wages from scratch, it is necessary for the competition within the economy to organically determine fair wages that are mutually beneficial for the employer and the employee. However, this mutually beneficial phenomenon only occurs when the economy is unrestricted by monopolies or governmental intervention. Due to the Statute of Laborers, that was not the case, and employers more or less enforced monopoly-like tactics. With the support of the government, businesses—all in cahoots with each other—were successfully able to enforce price controls on wages, forcing employees to accept unsatisfactory wages. 

To combat the diminishing tax profits that resulted from a tax base that was dying in droves, governments across Europe raised their tax rates. In 1380, there was a poll tax for everyone above the age of fifteen. This tax, among others, infuriated the populace. England specifically raised their taxes exponentially. However, those taxes seemed futile because the nation continued to suffer from repeated military losses. The taxes were supposed to give England the resources to raise a strong military, but they had no effect on military outcomes. Eventually, the peasants launched a revolt. Stricken with the pains of war, unsatisfactory wages that could not pay for the cost of living, and rising taxes, the people revolted in what is known as the Great Rising. In Great Rising, serfs sought their freedom, peasants wanted higher wages, and towns sought autonomy from their feudal lords. Though the cause resonated with the populace, Richard the 2nd inevitably put down the revolt and hung, drew, and quartered the orchestrator of the revolt, John Ball. 

The Black Death was only one of the many disasters that occurred during the 14th-Century Crisis, though it and the Hundred Years’ War may have been the most significant events. The Bubonic and Pneumonic plagues resulted in catastrophic economic, religious, and political instability. Over the period, the effects of the Black Death were felt everywhere, and stagnant economies, price controls, wars, and revolts were commonly witnessed by all those who lived through the Black Death.