to 4 million. Prior to the Black Death the population had been much larger with numbers estimated at 4 to 6 million people The growing population stimulated economic growth, accelerated the commercialization of agriculture, increased the production and export of wool, encouraged trade, and promoted the growth of London.

The high wages and abundance of available land seen in the late 15th and early 16th centuries were replaced with low wages and a land shortage. Various inflationary pressures, perhaps