177] THE PRICE OF WOOL 21 



holders for bond land without the use of force. A gener- 

 ation after the Black Death they were still contending with 

 this problem, and it had become more serious than at any 

 previous time. Whatever the significance of the Black 

 Death, it must not be advanced as the explanation of a 

 condition which arose before its occurrence, nor of events 

 which took place long after its effects were forgotten. One 

 result of the pestilence was, indeed, to place villains in a 

 stronger position than before, but the changes which took 

 place on this account must not be allowed to obscure the fact 

 that landowners were already facing serious difficulties be- 

 fore 1348. Holders of land were already deserting, and the 

 tenements of those who died or deserted could frequently be 

 filled only by compulsion. Villains were refusing to per- 

 form their services on account of poverty, and they were 

 already securing reductions in their rents and services. The 

 temporary reduction of the population by the Black Death 

 has been advanced as the reason for the ability of the villains 

 of the decade 1350-1360 to enforce their demands; but 

 without the help of any such cause, villains of an earlier 

 period were obtaining concessions from their lords, and 

 after the natural growth of the population had had ample 

 time to replace those who had died of the pestilence, the 

 villains were in a stronger position than ever before, if we 

 are to estimate their strength by their success in lightening 

 their economic burdens. The Black Death at the most did 

 no more than accelerate changes in the tenure of land which 

 were already under way. Villain services were being re- 

 duced, and the size of villain holdings increased. The 

 strength of the position of the serfs lay not so jnuch in the 

 absence of competition due to a temporary reduction in their 

 numbers as in their poverty. Tenants could not be held at 

 the accustomed rents and services because it was impossible 

 to make a living from their holdings. The absence of com- 



