What do primary sources during and after the plague suggest about the direct effect of the Black Death on European society?

The Black Death was a horrible disease that overwhelmed European societies, specifically social, religious, and political affairs.

One large factor of the Black Plague was that it severely diminished the amount of workers, which created a need to farm the land of the wealthy. This allowed the workers to now be in control of their employment, making wages their choice, not of the landowners. If the owner would not give into the demands, the workers could simply move on to an owner that would.

During the Black Plague, the serfs and peasants realized that they were no longer held down by the Kings, Queens, and knights of the land. In the midst of the chaos, there were large rebellions and riots, rising up against their former leaders. They went on brutal raids, murdering knights, violating their families, and killing them also. The peasants rebelling believed that what they were doing was justified, due to the horrible treatments they received prior to the plague. Those who were bystanders or being persecuted viewed these acts as appalling and absurd acts of violence.

In the time of the Black Plague, many people needed a scapegoat to blame the event on, looking for any way to solve their problem. In this time, the unlikely people were the Jews, who suffered a large deal due to this improper persecution. The Jews were then tortured until they had to reveal false confessions, which would then further the blame on them, stating that they created the plague with poison. This then led to large numbers being rounded up and killed.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/seth/ordinance-labourers.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/froissart2.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.html