![]() ![]() Food had to be grown and the bartering system had to be maintained. There is little doubt that the plague did alter the countryside and its manner of husbandry. This the lords and landowners tried to prevent. This alarmed the government who believed this would reduce the number of peasants owing forfeiture – they would lose subjects for the Crown. The onetime cultivated fields now grazed sheep. The only way food could be produced was to entice the remaining men by the promise of land of their own. ![]() ![]() The numbers of skilled artisans – that did survive, were sorely needed, which gave them power, which previously had been denied them… The lord of the manor could not continue with the old manorial system - and the tillage system broke down. The landowners could not maintain their estates - the fields returned to their natural state. Some villages were abandoned, and cottages remained empty… the countryside began to disintegrate - as the land drainage systems clogged and the tracks became overgrown. The country lost over a third of its population. The Black Death reaped its toll over Britain. ![]()
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