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The implementation of national labour legislation in England after the Black Death, 1349–1400

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  • Mark Bailey

Abstract

The responses of labour markets to global pandemics are attracting renewed interest, although the English labour laws in response to the Black Death of 1348/9 – capping wages, imposing annual contracts, and restricting mobility – have a long and established scholarship. The conventional wisdom is that the legislation represented an extension of existing local practices and created common cause among all categories of employer. Yet this view is hard to reconcile with the fact that, despite subsequent revisions, the legislation soon failed. These arguments are tested through original research into how the legislation was actually enforced in a variety of legal tribunals (manorial, borough, and royal). A clear distinction is maintained between public presentments and private litigation, and a robust methodology is pursued to record their absence as well as quantifying their presence. This casts new light on the novelty of the labour laws, the reasons for their failure, and their influence on contract law. The analysis exemplifies the potential for short‐term legal responses to infectious diseases to have unintended and unanticipated long‐term consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Bailey, 2025. "The implementation of national labour legislation in England after the Black Death, 1349–1400," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 78(2), pages 529-552, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:78:y:2025:i:2:p:529-552
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13355
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samuel Cohn, 2007. "After the Black Death: labour legislation and attitudes towards labour in late‐medieval western Europe," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 60(3), pages 457-485, August.
    2. Putnam, Bertha Haven, 1908. "The Enforcement of the Statutes of Labourers During the First Decade after the Black Death, 1349-1359," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number putnam1908.
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