Question

Which of the following concepts were effects of the Black Death?

1. Soil lost its nutrients.
2. Wages increased.
3. Forests became replenished.
4. People’s diets improved.
5. The price of grains fell.
6. Land holdings decreased.

Answer 1

Correct answers: 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Brief explanations:
- 2 (Wages increased): True — the sharp labor shortage gave surviving workers bargaining power, raising wages.
- 3 (Forests became replenished): True — much farmland was abandoned, allowing woods to regrow.
- 4 (People’s diets improved): True — survivors had access to more and better food per capita and diet diversified.
- 5 (The price of grains fell): True — with far fewer people, demand for grain fell and so did its price.

Not true:
- 1 (Soil lost its nutrients): False — reduced cultivation and more fallow periods often let soils recover rather than lose nutrients.
- 6 (Land holdings decreased): False as stated — the amount of cultivated land fell, but surviving peasants or landlords often consolidated or took over abandoned plots, so holdings did not simply shrink in the sense implied.