Apart from nearly wiping out a large part of the population
in Europe, the Black Death also affected the political structure of
Europe. The peasant class was the
largest class in Europe and the lords and kings were dependent on them for
labor and other duties. When the plague,
the peasants were among the first to fall to the plague and led to loss of good
labor and the price for hiring labor now went up. From this the Ordinance of Labourers was
passed to prevent increase in the paying laborers. Under this law, peasants would be paid the
same wage they earned before the plague came and this caused further division
between peasants and lords. Then there
was the attack on the Church and royalty.
Many blamed jews and lepers for causing the plague but they were under
the protection of the Church and Crown whose was to protect outsiders such as
they. An attack on them was also an
attack on these two institutions.
Finally even the Church and royalty fell victim to the plague as they
too were not immune to the spread of the Black Death and this weakened the
monarch during this time.
