Both leading up
to the Black Death of 1348 and sharing the economic impact with it was the
Great Famine of 1315. Around 1300, an evident decline in population began
to take place. One cause for this involved a generally lower productivity
of land, which meant less grain and other crops for small towns. Surpluses
of such crops from nearby large cities were able to supplement these losses
for the small towns - but only for a time. 
1315
brought with it a long, cold winter and a cold, wet summer, and this weather
lasted for a few years. These unfortunate weather conditions lead to an overall
failure of crops that helped to bring about the Great Famine. A smaller population
and an inadequate supply of food both helped the Black Death to spread more
easily as well as helped to further the economic impact felt after the Black
Death ended. [01]
The Black Death itself made a huge dent in Europe's population-somewhere between one-third and one-half of the population had been wiped out. The lower classes, having fewer means to protect themselves and living in more unsanitary conditions, felt the largest blow of the plague.
"The effects of the plague are more easily measured in towns and religious communities then among the rural population. From its economic consequences, however, it is clear that the peasantry suffered terribly and occasionally this can be illustrated with figures. Deaths on the Taunton estates of the Bishop of Winchester were recorded as follows: 23 in 1346, 54 in 1347, and 707 in 1349; in the Burgundian village of Givry, where in the normal years deaths had ranged between 14 and 43, in 1348 the parish register recorded 649 deaths. Nor were the years 1347-50 the end of the story. The Black Death not only lingered on as it spread to remoter communities, in this way becoming endemic; it returned in epidemic proportions again and again, as in 1361-62." [03]
The
huge reduction of population had numerous effects on Europe and its economy.
It began with a large surplus of food and goods. Just as the law of supply
and demand says, prices went down a great deal on these items which in turn
caused the general public to have more money in their pockets. Much spending
occurred at this time thanks to the overall feeling of wealth common to the
public. [04] Inflation kicked in due to
the massive amounts of money in the hands of the people, and once again, prices
steadily rose. [05]
As much as the plague was a blessing in disguise for individuals and their pocketbooks (or whatever the medieval equivalent), the decline in population led to a huge decline in labor available. Prices for labor rose, while at the same time skilled craftsmen began to realize the leverage they had over the situation and they began to demand even higher wages. With prices rising everywhere else and the competition for labor becoming to be so great, action needed to be taken to keep the labor wages from getting ridiculously high. According to Hay,
"The effects of regression on rural economy were far-reaching. Labour was scarce and wages rose rapidly, In England (Statute of Labourers, 1349), in Castile (Cortes of 1351) and elsewhere legislation was attempted to fix wages, but without success." [07]
The attempted legislation involved placing labor wages back at the levels which they were at before the plague began - if not that extreme, it was hopes that at least parliament might place a limit on how much wages were able to rise for labor. These sentiments loosely began to produce feelings within the peasants which would eventually lead to rebellions.
Following the Black Death, social mobility seemingly became a large possibility - especially for peasants. The plague hit the more urban areas the hardest since the rural parts of Europe had fewer people living in them and therefore there was less of a chance for the plague to spread there. With the urban towns mostly abandoned after the Black Death came and went, those once having lived in the countryside (and still living in general) were able to move to the cities and start anew - with money they didn't have before thanks to the greater opportunities for work due to a smaller population and due to the lowering of prices mentioned above. These people were known as the "new men."
"After the great pestilence of the past year each person lived according to his own caprice, and everyone tended to seek pleasure in eating and drinking, hunting, catching birds, and gaming. And all the money had fallen into the hands of nouveaux riches." [08]
As terrific as gaining steps in the social ladder must have been for the once very-poor peasants, these sentiments were not shared by all. Some laws were enacted which basically kept those not actually born to their current social status from taking advantage of what that class can do for them. [10]
A landlord could no longer be choosy about his tenants. Because there was a shortage of labor in general, and because his fertile land at any time could grow back into forest, a landlord was likely to take on the first tenant to come alone. Even more extreme, the landlord would most likely have taken the tenant on for free and asked only for a share of the crops in return. [11]
