A Study Of British Labor Legislation In The Late Middle Ages

Labor legislation is a passive reaction of the late medieval English rulers in response to the bad consequences, such as population crisis, labor shortages, sharply rising wages and prices that brought by the Black Death and the following pestilence. It appeared in The Statutes of the Realm very often:from the Black Death to the late medieval, England has experienced five king’s rule, in this 150 years, they issued or reiterated a total of 20 labor legislations and its supplementary conditions, the significance of the labor legislation to the English rulers and the ruled is self-evident. However, scholars mainly concentrated in the industrial revolution, the study of the late medieval English labor legislation is quite rare. Therefore, make a holistic study of the late medieval English labor legislation is necessary.In general, this paper is composed of four parts, namely, introduction, text, conclusion and references. The introduction outlines the purpose and significance of the topic, introduces the research status of the late medieval English labor legislation of the domestic and foreign scholars. The text includes the following four parts:The first part introduces the cause of the late medieval England labor legislation enacted. English tradition of wage controls start from the 13th century, provide ideological basis and legislative experience for the establishment of labor legislation. The bad consequences brought by the Black Death and the following pestilence, such as population crisis, wages and prices rose sharply, the wind of pleasure prevails and the rural labor transfer is the direct cause of the English government issued labor legislation.The second part briefly describes the process of labor legislation enacted and its main content. This part mainly introduces the all labor legislations issued by the king from 1349 to 1445, gave a detailed introduction on the three stages of it’s enacted and development:the first stage is a trial period of the Ordinance of Labourers in 1349, from June 1349 to February 1351.The second stage is a supplement period that based on the Statute of Labourers in 1351, reiterated and supplemented the Statute of Labourers of 1351, this period lasted from 1351 to 1388. The third stage is a perfect period that based on the statute of Cambridge in 1388, reiterated and supplemented the statute of Cambridge in 1388, from 1388 to 1445. Labor legislation can be roughly divided into two parts, the first part is the clause that labors should obey, the second part is the responsibility of all kinds of officials should fulfill. In the clauses of the Labors should obey there are four mandatory clauses, namely compulsory service clause, contract clause, wage clause and price clause are particularly important. Because they established the fundamental key of labor legislation, clear the purpose of the legislation, are the basis clause of the labor legislation. The second part of the labor legislation stipulate the responsibility of all kinds of officials, such as local officials, justice of the labor and justice of the peace should fulfill, made clear their obligations and rights.The third part mainly explores the enforcement of the labor legislation in England. Firstly, introduce the main executor of labor legislation:justice of the labor and justice of the peace; their duties are briefly introduced, as well as the complicated relationship between them. And then discuss the enforcement of the labor legislation, found that many employers and employees still adhere to pay or receive high salary of illegal practice after the legislation enacted, illegal cases has repeatedly. Finally detailed analysis some typical cases that brought by the basic clause of labor legislation, also explore the status of the offenders, the penalty forms of the violators, fines disposal and illegal behavior of the officials, etc.The fourth part discusses the validity of the labor legislation and its influence. The implementation effect of the labor legislation is not ideal, but it is not without effect. Labor legislation slow down the rising speed of wages at least, has brought profound influence on England’s serf system, the social contradiction and the authority of the state:accelerated the decline of serfdom, intensified the social contradictions, and enhanced the English national authority.The final conclusion summarizes the full text, review the deficiency of the article, and discuss the research direction of this topic in the future.