{"product_id":"the-price-of-survival-digital-download","title":"The Price of Survival: The Impact of the Black Death","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe survivors did not get to rest.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eWhen the Black Death left England in 1349, it had killed somewhere between a third and a half of the population. The chroniclers recorded the dead. The physicians recorded the symptoms. What history has been slower to examine is what happened next: who held power over the survivors, how they used it, and why, within a single generation, the people who had rebuilt England rose up and burned London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Price of Survival: The Impact of the Black Death\u003c\/em\u003e is a fully argued historical investigation into the thirty years that connected the plague to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. It does not stop at the medical history. It begins where the medical history ends.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat this guide investigates\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe Black Death did not simply thin the population. It destabilised every system built to control ordinary people: the labour market, the legal codes that kept the poor in their place, the feudal obligations that bound tenant to lord. For a brief moment, survivors had leverage. \u003cem\u003eThe Price of Survival\u003c\/em\u003e examines what the ruling class did with that moment, and what the labouring class did when they realised the old order intended to snap back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe guide moves through the key figures, turning points, and structural forces of this thirty-year period:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"[li_\u0026amp;]:mb-0 [li_\u0026amp;]:mt-1 [li_\u0026amp;]:gap-1 [\u0026amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [\u0026amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eThe immediate aftermath of 1349 and the labour crisis that followed mass death\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eThe Statute of Labourers and the legal attempt to freeze wages in a world where workers were suddenly scarce\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eThe men who enforced it, the men who evaded it, and the tensions that accumulated over decades\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eThe figures at the centre of 1381: Wat Tyler, John Ball, and Thomas Baker of Fobbing\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2\"\u003eThe Peasants' Revolt itself: not as a sudden eruption, but as the logical conclusion of thirty years of pressure building on a system that refused to change\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWritten to a standard you can reference\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis is not a content article padded to fill a screen. \u003cem\u003eThe Price of Survival\u003c\/em\u003e is a fully argued historical booklet, written by Simon A. Williams, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Truth Behind Welsh Myths and Legends\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Pendle Witch Conspiracy\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eNo Law for the Poor: Justice and Power in Medieval England and Wales\u003c\/em\u003e, to the same standard as his published books. It carries a full bibliography with primary and secondary sources. Every claim can be checked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eIf you have read \u003cem\u003eNo Law for the Poor\u003c\/em\u003e, this guide belongs alongside it. It covers the same world from a different angle: not the architecture of medieval law, but what happened when that architecture failed to hold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWho reads this\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eStudents preparing for A-level or undergraduate modules on medieval England will find this guide a clear, authoritative companion to the primary source material. History readers who want more than a surface account of the plague will find an argument with evidence behind it. Anyone who has ever asked what the Black Death actually changed — for the people who survived it, will find an answer here that holds up under scrutiny.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInstant download. Yours to keep.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003ePurchase once and the file is yours. No subscription, no expiry date. Read it in your browser, on a tablet, or print it for desk use. At £4.99, it costs less than most single journal articles and covers the period in considerably more depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRead the history the textbooks rush past.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis is a digital product. No physical item will be shipped.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat you receive\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA PDF download, delivered instantly to your email address upon purchase. Compatible with all devices and PDF readers. Print-ready if you prefer a physical copy for desk use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFully formatted historical booklet with in-text references and a complete bibliography. Primary and secondary sources included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLicence\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingle-user licence. For personal and educational use. Not for redistribution or commercial reproduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSimon A. Williams. Published historian and Editor-in-Chief of Histories and Castles. Author of \u003cem\u003eThe Truth Behind Welsh Myths and Legends\u003c\/em\u003e (2025), \u003cem\u003eThe Pendle Witch Conspiracy\u003c\/em\u003e (2025), and \u003cem\u003eNo Law for the Poor: Justice and Power in Medieval England and Wales\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Histories and Castles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57779894354252,"sku":null,"price":4.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1028\/3869\/8316\/files\/The_Price_of_Survival_5.jpg?v=1781285203","url":"https:\/\/historiesandcastles.com\/products\/the-price-of-survival-digital-download","provider":"Histories and Castles","version":"1.0","type":"link"}