The beginning of After the Black Death examines the lives of the inhabitants of the small, isolated village of Sennely. For the most part, life for the villagers was very difficult. There was little money and little food, and if there was a bad harvest there was not much to fall back on. Although the general assumption is that people from this time period married early, that is not the case. Couples would wait until after their parents had died to marry so that there were not as many mouths to feed. In addition, marriage was a contract, and two people did not usually marry for love.
In contrast, cities were large and luxurious. There were shops filled with food and drink in excess. However, not everyone who lived in the cities lived in the lap of luxury. A great deal of a city's inhabitants were poor or foreign. In essence, a city was a commune run by the bourgeoisie. They were the members of craft fellowships, the holders of the wealth, the voters. The marketplace was also a wonder to behold. Food prices were fixed, so there was no panic in the event of a bad harvest, no chance of bread riots in the streets.
Craft fellowships were extremely important. All members of the husbands Craft would be present at his wedding (because, of course, he would not get married unless he had a Craft). There was a strong sense of unity between the members of a Craft, but there was still a distinct hierarchy. Cities were split another way as well - into wards, or neighborhoods. Each ward was distinct, and there was a strong sense of pride in one's ward. One would be born into their ward, so it encompassed everyone, rich or poor, working or not, man or woman.
Since the marriage age was later, there were many unmarried young men on the streets with unfulfilled needs. There were rape gangs that would ravish young, unmarried women. In an attempt to remedy the situation, public brothels were instituted and prostitution was legalized.
Most cities were run by elected officials. Although, in practice, every male citizen was eligible to hold office, in reality the officials were mostly the wealthy elite. And these elite did not work. They produced nothing, so they sold nothing. But they did become rentiers (sellers of rentes, or cash advances, who received annual payments and interest). The Three Orders/Estates were the clergy (first estate), nobility (second estate), and everyone else (third estate). But it was unclear where the rentiers fit into all this. In order to be considered noble, they had to prove that their family had lived nobly for at least three generations. However, they were disliked by nobles and commoners alike, and kept mostly to themselves. Eventually they became their own class: the officeholders.
Like today, most people did not like to pay taxes. It was not uncommon for rebellions or protests to occur. Since it was usually the people who could not pay that were taxed the most heavily, there was some hatred for the elite and nobles. They maintained their control with violence and intimidation. This aristocracy was extremely small, and most of its wealth came from land. They often fought among themselves, competing in an attempt to increase their own status by belittling others.
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