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====Socio-Economic Consequences====

The social consequences of the plague on society came to be profound. The high mortality rate resulted in a drastic decline in the labor force.<ref> Hay, Denys. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521291046/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521291046&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=20ec38bb2892fda8011774d1b91c7f5b The Italian Renaissance in Its Historical Background]''. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1997) p. 19</ref>. Wages rose for both agricultural and urban workers. The survivors of the Black Death generally had a higher standard of living than before the plague.<ref> Hays, 1997, p. 78 </ref> This was a phenomenon that occurred in both urban and rural areas. The crisis caused by the Black Death led to many changes in the economy, in response to the fall in the population. Because of the labor shortages, there was a move from labor-intensive farming such as cereal to livestock and increase both in industry and agriculture more labor-saving devices employed.<ref> Pullan, 1997, p 145 </ref> The impact of the Black Death was contrary on feudalism in Italy. Feudalism was a system whereby peasants and farm laborers bound, as serfs, to serve a local lord. In the north of Italy, good farmland was plentiful, and wages increased, and the last vestiges of feudalism disappeared as serfs increasingly could purchase their freedom.