How Far Were Changes in Agriculture

How far were changes in agriculture and trade in the years after 1350 brought about by Black Death?

In some ways the changes in agriculture and trade was brought about by Black Death plague yet in other ways the changes would have occurred without the occurrence of the Black Death. The changes were made in attempt to deal with the problems involving agriculture and trade.

The changes of agriculture could have been brought about by the Black Death as due to the large loss of the population this had an impact on agriculture. Due to the Black Death approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the population died, in short term effects there was plentiful harvest because there was less demand for the food and this would mean the prices would not have been affected as there was enough food for the remaining population. The longer term effects became that many landowners and nobles abandoned larger scale cultivation, this occurred because there was a lack of peasants to carry out the work needed for the continuation of their agricultural work environment. England during the Black Death became increasingly dirty and perfect breeding conditions for animals such as rats which would increase the spreading of the Black Death. The fields were poorly looked after and this meant that there was a decrease in food available. A crop planted in 1348 was sown for the population and this helped to depress prices for the following year, as this would provide more available food sources and decreased the scarcity of food in Britain.

The main change for agriculture became that an issue of ordinance statute of labour, this meant that they brought all wage levels down to pre plague levels. It was created in response to a labour shortage in 1351. Also, another change that occurred was that there was a change from customary to lease hold tenure, this was because as the Black Death affected all levels of wealthiness and there was not enough lords to control the statute of labourers. This shows that the Black Death brought about changes in agriculture.

The Black Death sped up change for agriculture. The end of feudalism got rid of work for service, it was evident the plague was a catalyst for the end of this. There was a change in agricultural society and as there was less population this meant that the labourers could demand higher wages and this showed that employers no longer had much control over wages they paid their workers.

However, there was an already decreasing population which would have brought about the change in agriculture, the famine of 1315 occurred which meant already less labourers, before the Black Death there was a change in climate this would have left to a poor quality of land and soil exhaustion because of this famine occurred, the population decreased and the remaining had a weakened immune system. There were other factors which brought about changes in agriculture.

Due to the Black Death the