Nichole Poore
Hist 4440
Mid-Term Essay
October 7th, 2006

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens’ introduction to his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, describes the lives of the peasantry in Europe between 1300 to 1650. For many peasants, their lives could be depicted as overwhelming, depressing, discouraging, and hopeless; yet, many events during these 350 years opened up opportunities for the peasantry to improve their lives. Events ranging from the Hundred Years War to the Black Death, and up until the beginning years of the Renaissance, changed the lives of the peasantry dramatically, all for the better. Before the Black Death reached Europe, peasants’ lives were very difficult. They usually never left the manor on which they served without the master’s permission. It was illegal for them to even move to another city or manor, if they so desired. They were forced to pay rent to their landlords for the land they cultivated themselves. In addition to the rent that was required of them, “they were also required to provide free labor on the lands used by the lord, known as a demesne.”[1] Although there were rewards to living on a manor, the peasantry had more advantages when the manorial system began to break down at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Even though the nobility still dominated rural Europe, peasants were beginning to move out of their status as servants. The Black Death, striking Italy in 1347, was one of the events that began to shape the lives of the peasantry. It is seen throughout history as one of the worst epidemics to ever hit the European nations. Later it became known as “the greatest natural catastrophe ever to strike Europe and one of the greatest catastrophes in world history.”[2] The population is estimated to have declined between thirty to forty percent during the fifteenth century or in other words, one-third of the population became deceased. Survival became the central issue for peasantry. The Black Death first arrived in Italy in 1347 when a fleet of Genoese merchant ships sailed into port. Although harbormasters attempted to turn the ships away from port, they were docked long enough to allow rats carrying the infected fleas ashore. Within days, many died, others fleeing the city carrying the disease with them. By 1348 the plague reached northern Europe. The peasants of France were already in a demoralized state due to the beginning of the Hundred Years War. Their possessions were being taken daily, along with the pillaging of their villages. The French and English had already destroyed many of their crops and fields; and when the plague struck, they began to believe that the plague was the final act of God to utterly destroy them. “France suffered a fifty percent death rate and in some cities, as high as seventy percent.”[3] The death of such a high number of people in such a short time left a shortage in labor and not enough people to purchase the goods produced. The plague manifested itself in three different forms: pneumonic, bubonic, and septicemic. The first form, pneumonic, was the most common type to infect all classes. The pneumonic plague struck the respiratory system and was usually “spread by coughing.”[4] The lungs fill with inflammation causing the person to become pale and then turn blue as they gasp for air. “The victim’s cough is full of bloody sputum, including air-borne bacteria. 95% of those infected directly might die.”[5] The second type, bubonic, was the least common type. This particular form “attacks the lymph system”[6] making itself known as lymph nodes swell, most commonly in the groin area and armpits. “Subcutaneous hemorrhaging occurs, causing purplish patches on the skin to appear.”[7] The third form, septicemic, affects the circulatory system. When a flea, or even a rat infected with bacteria causing the plague, bit a human, some bacteria could enter directly into the bloodstream. So many perished that survivors could not keep up with burials. Though no one was exempt from the plague, the peasantry was more susceptible. Young children, the elderly, the sickly, and the undernourished were the hardest hit.[8] (Zophy 31) Many who had been healthy a number of days before would be dead within two to three days of contracting the plague. Giovanni Boccaccio alive during the era of the Black Death, records a first-hand account, entitled The Decameron, of the signs and symptoms of the plague. He writes: “Anyone in the eastern countries afflicted with the ailment would show signs of inevitable death. It began either under the armpits or in the groin with certain swellings, in some to the bigness of an apple in others like an egg. In very short time after, the deadly boils would spread to all parts of the body; whereupon the disease showed itself by black or blue spots which would appear on the arms of man, or on their thighs, and every part of the body-in some, great and few, in others, small and thick. Now, as the boil at the beginning was an assured sign of near approaching death, so the spots proved likewise. It seemed that the physician’s advice, medicines, or any other remedy were all useless.”[9] Thus, members not only of the peasantry class, but of all classes, became terrified that they would contract the disease and perish. As a result, some lived in abstinence from others hoping that it would be a protection to them. Yet others, knowing that there were no remedies nor medication for the plague, thought the opposite and began practicing the attitude of “eat, drink, and be merry.” Members of families would leave their sick behind. Mother would abandon child, husband would leave wife, and brothers forsook one another. As a result of the numerous deaths, among all classes of people, the seats of those who had authority to make laws and govern the towns were vacant, leaving many to act as they pleased, increasing violence within the cities.[10] Though many of the conditions had been festering before 1347, the plague accelerated social tensions and changes developing among peasantry class. Peasants, during and after the Black Death, began to take advantage of the numerous deaths which left vacancies on the manors. They attempted to claim abandoned lands and have their wages increased, but this did not always work. “They became rent-paying free tenants or small landowners and were able to take part in the cultivation of three-field crop rotation instead of two-field.”[11] In order to maintain the labor forces needed on the manors, lords began to rent out their demesne to peasants and eliminate manorial servile obligations, commuting them into money payments.[12] The opportunity for members of the peasant class to purchase areas of land from the lords brought upon the use of contracts. Contracts were usually written, thus bringing to the peasants a functional kind of literacy, giving them more opportunities to advance in the economy. Interestingly enough, some landlords attempted to ignore the market changes and tried to force peasants to abide by archaic feudal law.[13] This cruel and ruthless treatment bred discontent among the peasants, resulting in an revolt among the English peasantry in 1381. As a result of the landlords renting their demesne to peasants, it gave them the chance to work themselves into the land-owning gentry class. This particular group was below the nobility, but nevertheless above the status of a peasant. The ambition of the peasant slowly began to escalade. The status of the peasantry was improving in England, France, and northern Germany, but unfortunately, not in eastern Europe, where serfdom was intensified. Eastern parts of Europe were not as devastated as the western parts of Europe from the plague; therefore, they were not forced to make as drastic changes in the feudal system as the countries in western Europe. Nobles were able to obtain more control of the peasants and serfs, limiting the chance for peasants to work their way our of feudalism. The English peasantry experienced a rise in wages and lower rents, allowing peasants to secure more strips of land in the lord’s demesne. “Many even rose to be lords of the manor, thus beginning to compete with the lower fringes of the knightly class.”[14] In 1380, between one-third to one-half of the peasantry were still apart of the feudal system, limiting opportunities for advancement. By 1500, serfdom was almost completely extinct due to the reigns of Henry VII (1485-1509) and Henry VIII (1509-45).[15] When Henry VII and Henry VIII were in power, serfdom was replaced with three groups: “the wage-earning rural proletariat who were free, but landless, free customary tenants or copyholders who paid rent but had a right to inherit their land according to the custom of the manor, and freeholders who had become owners of land that owed no service. Many did not belong to those of the freeholder class, representing barely two percent of the male population.”[16] Changes in England were more distinct than those in France and Germany. Unlike England, where serfdom was eradicated, serfdom was still present in France and Germany. They were still forced to serve under the “corvee, or labor service on roads, etc.”[17] even though many of their services had been commuted into money payments.[18] They were able to ascend into higher classes, matching the freeholders of England; yet, this was difficult and not guaranteed. Serfdom remained in effect up until the late 16th and 17th centuries, and did not disperse until after the 17th century. Peasants owned as little as 11% of the land; and as a result, many lived in severe poverty. In 1381 the English Peasant’s Revolt, occurred. A series of poll taxes were levied three times between 1377 and 1381. Peasants began to recognize a sense of self-worth and resistance grew between the landlords and the peasantry. Peasants demanded higher wages and more freedom of movement among the manors; but, this was resisted by the upper classes. Members of the upper classes attempted to cap workers’ wages and deny the peasants freedom to move from manor to manor.[19] The unfair poll tax imposed upon the peasantry was the final act of the upper classes to launch them into the revolt of 1381. This tax was taxed upon all peasants, no matter how poor they were. As a result, peasants were required to pay the same amount as their wealthy landlords. In eastern England, peasants refused to pay the tax and drove tax collectors out of town. A spontaneous revolt erupted and riots broke out across England, in which property was destroyed and landowners killed.[20] Eventually an army, led by a blacksmith named Wat Tyler, of 10,000 peasants formed and marched towards London. When they were denied the privilege to meet with King Richard II, they began rioting in the city, plundering and murdering, and destroying and burning property. Eventually, they attacked the Tower of London and killed the archbishop of Canterbury, marching around with his head mounted upon a pole. After this act of violence, King Richard agreed to meet with the leaders of the peasant mob. He granted them every demand which they desired. The revolt of 1381 was the beginning of a new life for the peasantry. The poll tax was eliminated and no more laws were passed in an attempt to restrict increases in wages or limit the peasants’ movements. By 1400, the old manorial system had almost entirely disappeared.[21] The lives of the peasants improved dramatically throughout the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. Though they suffered mass casualties due to the plague and the Hundred Years War, one can see that they took advantage of their situations to improve their lives for the better. They were determined to make enhance their lives , not only for themselves, also for their families and posterity. Members of the peasantry class showed great courage and ambition as they took action in the improvement of their working and social conditions. It is obvious that Charles Dickens’ beginning statement of his book demonstrates the times of the peasants. It can rightly be said that it was no more of “the worst of times” but more of “the best of times.”
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[1] Phyllis Corzine, The Black Death, (Lucent Books Inc 1997), 16. Further Citations: Corzine, Black Death, 16.
[2] Corzine, Black Death, 10.
[3] Corzine, Black Death, 42.
[4] Curtis Bostick, “II. The Black Death. 3. Further Citations: Bostick, “II. The Black Death. 3.
[5] Bostick, “II. The Black Death. 3.
[6] Bostick, “II. The Black Death. 3.
[7] Bostick, “II. The Black Death. 3.
[8] Jonathon W. Zophy, A Short History of Renaissance and Reformation Europe: Dances Over Fire and Water, 3rd ed. (Prentice Hall, 2003), 31. Further Citations: Zophy, Dances over Fire and Water, 31.
[9] Giovanni Boccaccio, “The Decameron” in Karl F. Thompson, eds., Classics of Western Thought: Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1988) 216. Further citations: Boccaccio, “The Decameron” 216.
[10] Corzine, Black Death, 35.
[11] Bostick, The Black Death, 4.
[12] Bostick, “II. The Black Death, 4.
[13] Bostick, “II. The Black Death, 4.
[14] Curtis Bostick, “V. Peasant Life and Women in the Late Middle Ages,” 6. Further citations: Bostick “Peasant Life,” 6.
[15] Bostick, “Peasant Life,” 6.
[16] Bostick, “Peasant Life,” 6.
[17] Bostick, “Peasant Life,” 6.
[18] Bostick, “Peasant Life,” 6.
[19] Corzine, Black Death, 84.
[20] Corzine, Black Death, 84.
[21] Corzine, Black Death, 86.