7. Thanks To The Black Plague, Church and Nobility Declined
The Black Death created a lot of problems for the church and nobility. The population loss caused a collapse of the urban grain markets, which was a major source of income for the nobles and churches with surplus grain to sell. The clergy and nobles whos income was based on land and relied on grain selling were hit the hardest, losing much of their income. Both the nobility and clergy resorted to selling their serfs for some quick cash. This wasn’t the best idea for them in the long run since they lost their future revenues. Serfs that were now free peasants had an incentive to work harder since they were working for themselves instead of a lord.
These changes led to a major shift in the economy as well as the end of serfdom and feudalism. The distribution of wealth evened out, and town, agriculture, and trade began to rise. It led to the rise of capitalism since the guild’s would not lower prices for their expensive goods for the average person. Nobles sold the same goods outside of the guilds’ jurisdiction for a decent profit. The church, however, had other ideas. They would sell church offices (simony), charges fees for church services, and sold indulgences to buy time out of Purgatory after death. As a result of the Black Death, the church’s authority started to crumble, and the rise of Christian factions like Lutheran and Protestant began.