from PART VI - LATE MEDIEVAL SOCIETY (c. 1350–1520)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
The decline and stagnation in settlement caused by the Black Death and the ensuing plague epidemics led to various kinds of crisis phenomena in rural societies throughout central, western and southern Europe. This is the reason why the term ‘late medieval agrarian crisis’ has been coined to describe the period from the mid-fourteenth to the mid-fifteenth centuries, though the grounds for using it have also been questioned. The effects of population losses and settlement contraction varied considerably among the European countries but certain structural changes occurred in most parts of Europe. As shown above (Chapter 18) rural society in Scandinavia was also marked by the repercussions of a dramatic loss of population well into the second half of the fifteenth century when the first signs of recovery manifested themselves in some areas.
The decrease of population led to great economic and social changes, set in motion by the attempts of different groups to adapt to and take advantage of the new situation. Developments in the Nordic countries were in some respects similar to those in the rest of Europe but many differences can also be noted. As Scandinavia was neither economically nor socially a homogeneous area before the mid-fourteenth century the results and effects of the population loss also varied considerably within the region.
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