Practice question · Multiple choice
The late medieval popular revolts are often attributed to destitution, yet post-plague peasant real wages had doubled. What accounts for this apparent contradiction, and what does it reveal about the nature of late fourteenth-century unrest?
Hints
- Did higher real wages make peasants more compliant or more politically ambitious?
- What happens when customary legal controls clash with newly acquired economic bargaining power?
Show the answer
A. Rebellion emerged from frustration over limits placed on rising expectations
Why
Post-plague unrest was not a reflex of destitution; rising economic leverage emboldened peasants to challenge institutional constraints like poll taxes and wage caps. Conflating revolt with misery misses how relative gains fuel political assertiveness.
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