Henry Knighton recorded that in 1349 “crops perished in the fields for lack of harvesters”; even where willing workers could be found, the cost to landowners of bringing in their crops rocketed.24 The sudden population decline also caused a collapse in the price of land rents. In a situation so severe that some villages were wiped out and abandoned forever, land was suddenly dirt cheap, and landlords were scrambling for tenants. Not surprisingly, a double whammy of soaring wages and plummeting rents sent panic swirling through political societies, whose most powerful members petitioned their
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