The Black Death Made Workers Rich—Then Governments Made It Illegal

Описание: The Black Death killed 50 million people—but the economic aftermath was even more shocking. When half of Europe's population died, something unexpected happened: workers gained leverage for the first time in centuries.

Wages doubled. Labor became scarce. Peasants could negotiate.

And the people in power tried to make it illegal.

This is the story of history's most misunderstood economic transformation—and what it reveals about how power really shifts when systems break.

🎯 KEY TOPICS COVERED:
How feudalism's economic structure actually worked (and why it needed abundant labor)
The immediate aftermath: why wages surged 200-300% across Europe
The Statute of Labourers (1351): England's attempt to freeze wages by law
Why enforcement failed—and what that reveals about economic inevitability
The Peasants' Revolt (1381): when taxation tried to recapture lost revenue
How power transferred from feudal lords to monarchies and merchant classes
Modern parallels: labor scarcity, policy responses, and late-cycle rigidity

📊 HISTORICAL SOURCES & DATA:
This video uses verified medieval wage records, manor court documents, and peer-reviewed economic history research. Every claim is historically documented.

🔗 RELATED TOPICS:
Economic history, monetary systems, feudalism, medieval economics, labor markets, wage history, power transitions, financial history, plague economics, peasants revolt, statute of labourers, historical documentaries

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:
"The Black Death and the Transformation of the West" — David Herlihy
"A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century" — Barbara Tuchman
"The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History" — David Hackett Fischer

#BlackDeath #EconomicHistory #Feudalism #MedievalEconomy #EconomicCollapse #PowerShift #HistoricalEconomics

DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes. All historical claims are based on peer-reviewed research and primary source documentation. This is not financial advice.