Secondary sourceBook1908
Landholding in England, Chapter IV: The Black Death
Mary Marks · 1908
A 1908 historical chapter by Mary Marks examining how the Black Death transformed landholding and labor in England.
This chapter studies how the Black Death transformed land tenure and labor relations in medieval England.
About this source
What it is
This is a chapter from a 1908 book by historian Mary A. M. Marks, titled Landholding in England. The chapter focuses on how the Black Death affected villein tenure—the system by which peasants held land in exchange for labor and service to a lord.
Why it matters
Written over five centuries after the pandemic, this work is a historian's attempt to explain the plague's long-term social and economic consequences. It shows how the Black Death reshaped English society by weakening the old feudal system, as labor became scarce and peasants gained new bargaining power.
Look closer
- Why might the massive death toll of the Black Death have changed the relationship between lords and peasants?
- What kind of evidence might a historian in 1908 have used to understand medieval land tenure?
- How might this analysis differ from an account written by someone living through the plague itself?
This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of The Black Death on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.
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