ABSTRACT
The single most dramatic event of the fourteenth century in England was the onset of the plague which has come to be known as the Black Death. Its impact was horrific. In the course of its first visitation, in 1348-9, it is thought that more than a third of the population may have perished: some would suggest near a half. The demographic effect was not short-term, moreover: the population did not re-achieve its pre-plague level until long after the Middle Ages were past. Over the long run, the radical shift in the ratio of England’s inhabitants to her resources had effects in virtually every aspect of economic and social life.
