Palmer goes into great detail on how the massive depopulation during the Black Death led to the passage the Statute of Labourers and how it was used to force the able bodied of the lower classes to work and set maximum wages and prices. (Chapter 3 pg. 14-27) According to Wikipedia the law was not repealed until 1863.

I was wondering what the public policy/moral justification for what today appears to be a manifestly unjust law? How could the law have continued to exist for such a long period of time as new Enlightenment ideals and a rising belief in the importance of the free market increased in England during the 18th and 19th centuries?

-- MichaelCoburn - 25 Sep 2014