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The Black Death and the Post- Economic and Social Life of Europe The Black Death is the name given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. So much death could not help but tear apart economic and social structures and it did - the disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation created a shortage of labor that hastened changes already creeping into the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Lack of peasants and laborers sent wages soaring, while the value of land plummeted. For the first time in history the scales tipped against wealthy landlords as peasants and serfs gained more bargaining power. Without architects, masons, and artisans, great cathedrals and castles remained unfinished. Governments, lacking officials, floundered in their attempts to create order out of chaos. Tension and conflict within church and society, as well as between states, brought about constant unrest and disorder. The plague caused many peasants to demand a restructuring of society, often with a religious fervor. A more democratic system was demanded thereby limiting aristocratic rights and privileges. The plague itself wa