In Europe between 1348 and 49 about one third of the population died from the Plague. There were all kinds of stories of why it was happening although the true story was disease from black rats which jumped into humans. It is now thought there were over diseases due to logistical reasons of rats tended to be in urban port areas, while people died all in both rural and urban areas. Losing a third of the population changes the countries and in a book called In the Wake of The Plague by Norman Cantor published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001, the author outlines some of the changes.

In 1340 90% of the wealth of England was in land. Of this land 40% was owned by the King and the high aristocracy that carried the title lord. Another 30% was held by ecclesiastical officers and corporations. This left 30% to be owned by the rural upper middle class who are called gentry. 2% was in the hands of free peasants or yeoman.

In England before the Black Death there were likely half a million people in the gentry class. By 1400 the gentry was half the size. There were two kinds of people who benefited from the squabbles concerning property – the lawyers and women. The common lawyers made their money protecting, expanding, and defending the gentry estates. The other beneficiary was women. The common law had a procedure for protecting widows, partly because the gentry landlords engaged in serial marriages with wives who often died in childbirth and often gone by 30. The task was to have a son to inherit the land. The law declared the widow had a right to “dower” rights or 1/3 of the income from her husband’s estate until she died. Much of the life of gentry is focused on property and inheritance of property – who is line to inherit what?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, in the plaque or black death is was very important to have a will to provide for the seamless passing of property from one generation to the next. You invest for many reasons – to ensure your wealth is working, to provide an income for you, to give to charities of your choice and to pass on wealth to your beneficiaries. The investment in the middle ages was land, now it is a combination the issues have not changed. Investing in income producing will benefit you for a long time.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.