English Law in the Age of the Black Death, 1348-1381: A Transformation of Governance and Law

Robert Palmer’s pathbreaking study shows how the Black Death triggered massive changes in both governance and law in fourteenth-century England, establishing the mechanisms by which the law adapted to social needs for centuries thereafter. The Black Death killed one-third of the English population between 1348 and 1351. To preserve traditional society, the king’s government aggressively implemented new punitive legal remedies as a mechanism for social control. This attempt to shore up tradi...