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shall deliver the same to the collectors of tenths and fifteenths in aid of the commons for the time that the tenth and fifteenth runs, as well for the time past as the time to come, and that the said justices enquire in their sessions if the said ministers have any thing received of the same servants, and that they shall find by such inquests that the said ministers have received, the same justices shall levy of every of the said ministers and deliver to the said collectors, together with the excess and fines and ransom made, and also the amercements of all them that shall be amerced before the said justices, in alleviation of the said towns as before is said. And in case the excess found in one town exceeds the quantity of the fifteenth of the same town the remnant of such excess shall be levied and paid by the said collectors to the next poor town, in aid of their fifteenth, by advice of the said justices, and that the fines and ransoms, excesses and amercements of the said servants, labourers and artificers for the time to come, running of the said fifteenth be delivered to the said collectors in the form aforesaid by indentures to be made between them and the said justices so that the same collectors may be charged upon the account by the same indentures in case that the said fines ransoms, amercements and excesses be not paid in aid of the said fifteenth. And when the fifteenth ceases, it shall be levied to the king's use and answered to him by the sheriffs of the counties.
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same justices upon the certificate of the said stewards, bailiffs, and constables, of the names of the rebels shall cause their bodies to be attached before the justices, to answer of such contempts so that they make fine and ransom to the king in case they be attainted, and moreover to be commanded to prison there to remain until they have found surety to serve and take and do their work and to sell things vendible in the manner aforesaid. And in case that any of them come against his oath and be thereof attainted, he shall have imprisonment of forty days, and if he is convicted another time, he shall be imprisoned for a quarter of a year so that every time he offends and is convicted he shall have double pain. And that the same justices at every time they come into the country shall enquire of the said stewards, bailiffs and constables if they have made a good and lawful certificate or any concealment for gift, procurement or affinity, and punish them by fine and ransom if they are found guilty. And that the same justices have power to enquire and make due punishment of the said ministers, labourers, workmen and other servants, and also of
540:, St Michael and St Nicholas, and also at all times that shall be necessary, according to the discretion of the justices, and those who speak in the presence of the justices or do other things in their absence or presence in encouragement or maintenance of the servants, labourers or craftsmen against this ordinance, shall be grievously punished by the discretion of the justices. And if any of the servants, labourers or artificers flee from one county to another, because of this ordinance, then the sheriffs of the counties where such fugitives shall be found shall cause them to be taken at the commandment of the said justices of the counties from where they flee, and bring them to the chief gaol of the shire there to abide until the next sessions of the justices. And that the sheriffs return the same commandments before the same justices at their next sessions. And that this ordinance be held and kept as well in the
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512:, tawers of leather, tailors and other workmen, artificers and labourers, and all other servants not here specified, shall be sworn before the justices, and do use their crafts and offices in this manner as they were wont to do the said twentieth year, and in the time before, without refusing the same because of this ordinance, and if any of the said servants, labourers, workmen or artificers, after such oath made, come against this ordinance, he shall be punished by fine and ransom and imprisonment after the discretion of the justices.
231:, killed more than one-third of the population of Europe and 30–40% of the population in Britain and caused a dramatic decrease in the supply of labour. Landowners suddenly faced a sharp increase in competition for workers to work for them. Labourers had increased bargaining power and commanded higher wages. The increase in labour cost also led to inflation throughout the economy. The elite class lamented the sudden shift in economic power. In an attempt to control labour costs and price levels, Edward III issued the
529:
see best for the keeping of the same ordinances, and that they that will sue against such servants, workmen, labourers and artificers for excess taken of them, and they are attained thereof at their suit, they shall have again such excess. And in case none will sue to have again such excess then it shall be levied of the said servants, labourers, workmen and artificers and delivered to the collectors of the fifteenth in alleviation of the town where such excesses were taken.
215:, which aimed at regulating the labour force by prohibiting requesting or offering a wage higher than pre-Plague standards and limiting movement in search of better conditions. The popular narrative about its success and enforcement holds that it was poorly enforced and did not stop the rise in real wages. However, immediately after the Black Death, real wages did not rise, despite the labour shortage.
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431:, and other places may come in time of August and labour in other counties, and safely return as they were wont to do before this time; and that those who refuse to make such oath, or to not perform as they were sworn to do or have taken upon them shall be put in the stocks by the said lords, stewards, bailiffs and constables of the towns for three days or more or sent to the next
558:. Therefore, wages during the Black Death were set even lower to match those during this depression. In practice, the statute was poorly enforced and unsuccessful, but it set a precedent that distinguished between labourers who were "able in body" to work and those who could not work for whatever reasons. This distinction resurfaced in later laws regarding
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great men and impoverishment of all the commonality; whereof the commonality prays remedy. Wherefore in the parliament by the assent of the prelates, earls, barons, and those of the commonality assembled there, in order to refrain the malice of the servants, there are ordained and established the underwritten articles.
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Item that no sheriffs constables, bailiffs, and gaolers, the clerks of the justices or of the sheriffs nor other ministers whatsoever they be take any thing for the cause of their office of the same servants for fees, suit of prison or other manner and if they have any thing taken in such manner they
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and all those that sell victuals by retail or other things here not specified, as well as the suit of the party as by presentment, and to hear and determine and put the things in execution by the exigend after the first capias if need be and to depute others under them, as many and such as they shall
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and other workmen of houses shall not take by the day further work except in the manner as they were wont to do, that is to say, a master carpenter 3 d and other carpenters 2 d; a master mason 4 d and other masons 3 d and their servants 1½ d; tilers 3 d and their boys 1½ d; and other coverers of fern
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and constables of the said towns be sworn before the same justices to enquire diligently by all the good ways they may, of all them that come against this ordinance and to certify the same justices of their names at all times, when they shall come into the country to make their sessions, so that the
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in the first week of August 2 d, and the second 3 d and so on until the end of August and less in the country where less was wont to be given, without meat or drink, or other courtesy to be demanded, given, or taken; and that all workmen bring their tools openly in their hands to the merchant towns,
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That every person, able in body and under the age of 68 years, not having enough to live upon, being required, shall be bound to serve him that doth require him, or else be committed to gaol until he shall find surety to serve, and that the old wages shall be given and no more; whereas lately it was
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of their bodies, as is more plainly contained in the said statute. Whereupon commissions were made to diverse people in every county to enquire and punish all those who offend against the same. And now for as much as it is given to the king to understand in the present parliament by the petition of
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that the servants having no regard to the ordinance but to their ease and singular covetousness, do withdraw themselves from serving great men and others, unless they have livery and wages double or treble of what they were wont to take in the twentieth year and earlier, to the great damage of the
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1½ d, if so much were wont to be given. And in the country where it is usual to reap by certain sheaves and to thresh by certain bushels they shall take no more nor in other manner than was wont the said twenty year and before, and that the same servants be sworn two times a year before lords,
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without excessive wages, that such manner of servants, men as well as women, should be bound to serve, receiving the customary salary and wages in the places where they are bound to serve in the twentieth year of the reign of the king that now is, or five or six years before, and that the same
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The
Statute of Labourers (and its counterpart, the Ordinance of Labourers) was, of course, very unpopular with the peasants, who wanted higher wages and better living standards, and was a contributing factor to subsequent peasant revolts, most notably the
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of every town to observe and perform these ordinances; and that none of them go out of the town where he lives in the winter to serve the summer if he may serve in the same town, taking as before is said. Saving that the people of the counties of
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The statute's changes failed to take into account the changing economic conditions during the Black Death, and furthermore the period from which wage levels were taken was one of economic depression in
England as a result of the
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for labourers that was commensurate with wages paid before the Black Death, specifically, in the year 1346. It also mandated that able-bodied men and women should work and imposed harsh penalties for those who remained idle.
361:, or wheat at the will of the giver until it be otherwise ordained. And that they be hired to serve by a whole year, or by other usual terms, and not by the day; and that none pay at haymaking time more than a
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who shall be assigned thereunto. And those who carry by land or by water shall take no more for such carriage to be made than they were wont to do in the said twentieth year and four years before.
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The statute was poorly enforced in most areas (and even then, typically only against laborers and not employers), and farm wages in
England on average doubled between 1350 and 1450.
640:. c. 106) summary jurisdiction to convict workmen who, by intimidation, persuasion, or by other means, induced persons not to work, or who refused to work with other workmen.
630:. c. 6) allowed justices of peace to fix hours of work for all classes of worker. It became a criminal offence for workers to receive more than their set price of wages.
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Item that the justices make their sessions in all
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shall not sell boots or shoes nor any other thing touching their craft, in any other manner than they were wont to do in the said twentieth year.
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Cohn, Samuel (2007). "After the Black Death: Labour
Legislation and Attitudes Towards Labour in Late-Medieval Western Europe".
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shall take the liveries and wages accustomed in the twentieth year or four years before so that in the countryside where the
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and others of his council, against the malice of servants who were idle and not willing to serve after the AM
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Poos, Larry R. (1983). "The Social
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The 20th year of the rieign of Edward III was 1347.
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120:Learn how and when to remove this message
714:The complete history of the black death
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373:5 d, or 5 d by the day; and reapers of
182:Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872
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458:and straw 3 d and their boys 1½ d;
303:and by the assent of the prelates,
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695:Before and After the Black Death
568:English peasants' revolt of 1381
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743:. pp. 220–223 – via
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45:needs additional citations for
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861:Putnam, Bertha Haven (1908).
770:Statute Law Revision Act 1863
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385:over 2½ d and the quarter of
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18:Statute of Labourers of 1351
919:Economy of medieval England
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233:Ordinance of Labourers 1349
69:"Statute of Labourers 1351"
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345:, day men, and all other
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27:English wage control law
818:Economic History Review
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793:Clark, Gregory (2007).
585:It was repealed by the
402:stewards, bailiffs and
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365:a day; and a mower of
939:Edward III of England
914:History of labour law
299:ordained by our lord
152:Parliament of England
934:Medieval English law
634:Combination Act 1800
604:Apprentices Act 1536
462:and other worker of
198:Statute of Labourers
54:improve this article
638:39 & 40 Geo. 3
556:Hundred Years' War
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538:St Margaret
483:cordwainers
423:and of the
225:Black Death
204:under King
177:Repealed by
893:Categories
665:References
526:harbergers
494:goldsmiths
492:Item that
487:shoemakers
481:Item that
472:Michaelmas
460:plasterers
448:carpenters
446:Item that
404:constables
343:swineherds
329:Item that
313:pestilence
219:Background
206:Edward III
80:newspapers
618:5 Eliz. 1
608:28 Hen. 8
502:spurriers
441:Pentecost
413:Lancaster
339:shepherds
239:in 1381.
110:June 2024
778:Schedule
776:c. 125)
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517:bailiffs
510:corriers
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476:justices
429:Scotland
409:Stafford
369:for the
347:servants
275:May 2024
264:too long
213:shortage
160:Citation
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610:. c. 5)
560:poverty
506:tanners
367:meadows
335:ploughs
331:carters
323:commons
262:may be
243:Content
94:scholar
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720:
581:Repeal
468:Easter
455:tilers
451:masons
437:stocks
421:Craven
415:, and
387:barley
355:bushel
309:barons
210:labour
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827:JSTOR
798:(PDF)
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363:penny
351:wheat
305:earls
101:JSTOR
87:books
718:ISBN
485:and
453:and
433:gaol
427:and
399:oats
397:and
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