LABOR MIGRATION IN WESTERN EUROPE AFTER THE BLACK DEATH: ABANDON OR INTEGRATION?
Robert Braid (Paris)
Migration patterns and policy in Western Europe experienced a dramatic change in the fourteenth century. In the pre-plague era, urban labor markets tended to be relatively closed. Local authorities sought to keep out foreign workers who might jeopardize both the quality of workmanship and the balance of supply and demand. The Black Death changed all this quite radically. Many literary sources describe the Black Death as causing unprecedented breakdown of social ties and increased mobility. Husbands left wives, parents abandoned children, servants deserted masters. Workers in particular began to migrate with greater frequency and over longer distances in order to take advantage of the favorable imbalance on the labor market and seek out higher wages. This increased mobility brought together people from different regions and forced authorities to deal with new questions of migration and immigration.
Many ordinances promulgated by both central and local authorities indicate that labor migration became a major problem in the post-plague era and included measures to prevent such mobility. Yet other statutes from the period, and sometimes from the very same governments, seem to encourage certain types of labor migration. Some historians observe increased numbers of foreigners mentioned in labor contracts after the plague and consider employment a means of social integration. My presentation will analyze the labor policies of various authorities relative to mobility and migration, and try to establish to what extent these policies helped or hindered social integration of foreigners.