Quiz on 'How the Black Death Made Life Better'

What was the Black Death?

• A famine in Asia

• A bubonic plague outbreak

• A war in Europe

• A type of influenza

What percentage of Europe's population was killed by the Black Death?

• Two-thirds

• A quarter

• Half

• At least a third

What did the Black Death cause in terms of labor?

• An increase in the number of workers

• An increase in serfdom

• A severe labor shortage

• A decrease in wages

What was the reaction of aristocrats to the labor shortage?

• They abolished the social hierarchy

• They refused to perform manual labor

• They willingly worked in the fields

• They paid workers less

What was the Ordinance of Labourers?

• A law to freeze wages at pre-plague levels

• A law to increase taxes

• A law to increase wages

• A law to abolish serfdom

What did many peasants do in response to the labor laws?

• Became knights

• Worked for free

• Accepted the conditions

• Left their jobs for better wages

What did the Black Death reveal about social hierarchies?

• They were easily changed

• They remained the same despite changes

• They were abolished

• They became more rigid

What is a similarity between the Black Death and the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Both caused the same number of deaths

• Both started in the same country

• Both led to changes in labor dynamics

• Both were caused by the same virus

What did elites do after the Black Death?

• They abolished all hierarchies

• They became peasants

• They reclaimed a greater share of wealth

• They lost all their power

What did the Rochester chronicler refuse to contemplate?

• The role of women

• A radically different social order

• The scale of the disaster

• The number of deaths