The death of more than half the population created a crisis for the feudal system. The lords’ economic situation was considerably worse than it had been before the plague: now there were far fewer serfs to provide them with produce and labor. And if the lords had any surplus to sell, the prices they commanded were far lower than before the Black Death because, with fewer mouths to feed, demand had fallen. Consequently, the lords tried to squeeze more out of their serfs in a desperate effort to maintain their livelihoods.[72] At the same time, peasants were keen to take advantage of the
...more
