The Black Death and economic change in Wales

Overview

Rise of the gentry in late medieval Wales, gavelkind in the Welsh context and welsh gentry family that rose in this period.

What you need to know

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Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   When did the Black Death reach Wales, and how severe was it?

   Model answer

   In 1349; mortality was very heavy, with contemporary estimates and later research suggesting something in the order of a third of the population died.

2. 2

   Give two immediate effects of the Black Death in Wales.

   Model answer

   Labour became scarce and wages rose, and many holdings fell vacant with rents and renders left uncollected.

3. 3

   How did the plague affect the bond population?

   Model answer

   Bondmen died or left vacant holdings, and lords found the old labour services increasingly impossible to enforce, so bondage decayed.

4. 4

   What replaced labour services on Welsh estates?

   Model answer

   Money rents and leases, as lords let land to tenants rather than working it with servile labour.

5. 5

   What was the effect of the plague on lords' incomes?

   Model answer

   Rents and dues fell and land went out of cultivation, so seigneurial income dropped sharply and lords competed for tenants.

6. 6

   What is meant by the rise of the gentry in late medieval Wales?

   Model answer

   The emergence of substantial Welsh landowning families who accumulated estates from vacant holdings, held office, and became the leading class in Welsh society.

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