In 1348 the Black Death arrived in the UK. It would go on to kill over one third of the population and the whole of Bristol, at the time its second largest city. Its economic and social consequences were profound: the disappearance of much of the labour force meant that wages more than doubled for freemen, whilst villeins were able to dictate much better terms from their landlords, eventually leading to the demise of the feudal system. Edwardian Historian G.M. Trevelyan would claim that that the…
‘The Black Death-48 and COVID-19: the economic consequences of a pandemic’
19 Mar 2020
Posted by Barry Norris