The high regard for peasants in Poland contrasted with the neighboring East Slavic countries like Russia probably because of the influence of their Mongol rulers, but in the origin Slavic cultures were quite egalitarian and benevolent.
If the plague hit Poland, then... but that's a what-if ;) I find the difference is really well explained by the description of the Refeudalization process [1].
source: being Polish, currently living in Berlin
https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/16699/why-was-po...
It took a long time to die if that's really the case. The last bits of feudalism (feu duties) were removed from Scottish property law in 2004.
But half a pie in the fridge is a bit of pie, it doesn't matter that the whole thing isn't there anymore.
The black death didn't cause rises in wages. What caused wages to rises was trade. There as something called the mongol empire ( you might have heard of it ) which allowed europe to trade directly with china, india and the rest of asia. The mongol empire ( particularly the golden horde ) was central to european wealth generation. So much so that when it finally fell in 1480, wealthy merchants were desperately seeking another trade route to the east. A few years later, you have columbus ( you might have heard of him as well ).
The idea that death caused wage rises is ludicrous when you think about it for a second. If population decline causes wage increases then japan would be seeing a huge rise in income. Russia in the 90s should have seen a ridiculous rise in income.
What increases wages are increasing population and increasing trade.
The European economy at the close of the Middle Ages (c. 1500) differed fundamentally from the pre—plague economy. In the countryside, a freer peasant derived greater material benefit from his toil. Fixed rents if not outright ownership of land had largely displaced customary dues and services and, despite low grain prices, the peasant more readily fed himself and his family from his own land and produced a surplus for the market. Yields improved as reduced population permitted a greater focus on fertile lands and more frequent fallowing, a beneficial phenomenon for the peasant.
I would think that numbers, knowledge, technology and goods from the east had more to do with changing european society than a population decrease.
What do you think impacted korea more? The deaths during the korean war or trade with the west? What impacted european wages more? The deaths during WW2 or the american-led trade system?
Also, throughout history, there have been quite a few plagues ( not to mention mass killings ). Those didn't lift wages. China's wages didn't rise after tens of millions of people died during the taiping rebellion. But you are free to believe what you want.
Do you have any references to sources that support your alternative theory or discredit the usual explanations?
Life up until the industrial revolution was dominated by a single factor: the Malthusian limit. The Black Death obliterated that constraint. And, since it reoccurred every 10-15 years, it continued to make the Malthusian limit a non-issue for a long, long time.