Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

by Jonathan Kennedy

In the wake of the Black Death, feudal lords tried to use Parliament to maintain their control by limiting the social and geographical mobility of peasants. As early as 1349, the state issued an ordinance that fixed wages and prices at 1347 levels and made it illegal for serfs to live and work anywhere other than the manor they were bound to before the plague. At first, the punishment for breaking the law was a fine, but in the early 1360s penalties were increased—indicating that the previous legislation hadn’t had the desired effect. Peasants who asked for higher wages or moved to another demesne that offered better terms could now be imprisoned and branded on the forehead with the letter “F” for “falsity.”[74] In 1363 Parliament issued a Sumptuary Law that decreed the types of clothes people at different levels of society could wear, and even what they were allowed to eat. These rules were unenforceable—even the majority of pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales wore swankier clothes than were permitted—but the fact that such laws were thought necessary indicates that the lords felt threatened by the conspicuous consumption of the newly affluent commoners.

It's "strange", how in the face of popular opposition (especially in the aftermath of a pandemic), the elite attempt to use the law and political system to secure their interests. Here, feudal lords attempted to use the law to prevent people from moving. During our modern pandemic, some states (notably California) attempted to tax citizens for moving to different states. Moreover, some people have spoken of a social-credit system whereby citizens not following the "expected norms of society" would have a more difficult time purchasing housing or attempting to make other financial decisions. This sounds very close to branding people with an "F" - commonfolk were penalized for trying to go against "the norms of society" and improve themselves.