The Latin West 1200-1500

I. Rural Growth and Crisis A. Peasants and Population 1. Society was divided by class and gender 2. Serfs were obliged to till the soil on large estates owned by the nobility and the church 3. More than half of the fruits of their labor went to the landowners 4. Women were subordinate to men 5. Rural poverty also stemmed from a population increase 6. Three-field system increased yield 7. Population growth led to the foundation of new agricultural settlements 8. As population continued to rise, some people had to farm low quality land B. The Black Death and Social Change 1. Killed off a third of western Europeans 2. Recovery from population loss was slow and uneven 3. Skilled and manual laborers who survived demanded higher pay for their services