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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orielensis, post: 4187703, member: 96898&quot;]This is of great interest to me. As it seems to be the case with you, I am not convinced by the old argument of &#039;the plague increased the demand for labour and thus strangthened the position of peasants.&#039; First, there seems to be only sparse and local evidence for such a development, and secondly, this thesis appears to fit the, let&#039;s say, political fascinations of the academics who brought it up some fifty years ago a little bit too well.</p><p><br /></p><p>The last recommendable book I read on the topic was Klaus Bergdolt&#039;s &quot;Der schwarze Tod in Europa&quot; (Munich 2000, unfortunately not translated into English). Bergdolt dismisses the old &#039;rise of the peasantry&#039;-thesis but nonetheless presents evidence for an economic destabilization. Based mostly on northern Italian records of grain prices and labor wages, he concludes that &quot;a high price fluctuation combined with a general tendency towards overproduction became characteristic until the 15th century&quot; (&quot;Ein Auf und Ab der Preise bei allgemeiner Tendenz zur Überproduktion […] wurde bis ins 15. Jahrhundert charakteristisch,&quot; p. 198). </p><p><br /></p><p>This development disrupted a previously quite stable economic situation. It resulted from a high volatility in agricultural productivity and demand, increased personal mobility and a decreased population – all directly or indirectly caused by the plague. Since most cities started to store large amounts of grain, which they bought at low prices when available, the impact of this market situation was somewhat mitigated or even turned profitable for urban communities. The rural population including former aristocratic elites, Bergdolt argues, suffered harder from it. </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m not sure to what extent the northern Italian and German situation is a a model for other parts of Europe. Yet, Bergdolt&#039;s &quot;destabilization-not-decline&quot;-thesis read generally sound to me, and I wonder whether you have any thoughts on this.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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