Conclusion

This chapter pulls together the main arguments of the book, creating a new narrative and assessment of the nature of economic and social change in fourteenth century England. It confirms that pre-plague England was a laggard by European standards, and trapped in a cul de sac of impoverishment and low productivity, but offers a different explanation to conventional ones for that economic sclerosis. It also portrays the third quarter of the fourteenth century as a period of significant volatility and change, when rapid and dramatic adjustments occurred in factor and commodity markets, and when serfdom quickly declined. The framework of contracting institutions was strengthened, which meant that the forces of supply and demand exerted more influence on the allocation of land and labour than seigniorial coercion. Hence the shift in factor ratios caused by successive outbreaks of plague—operating through an institutional framework and emerging legal culture conducive to the progressive growth and commercialization of markets—resulted in increased output per head and accelerated England’s march to modernity.