mid1350s

The mid-1350s refer to the middle years of the 14th century, roughly 1353 to 1357. This interval sits in the wake of the Black Death (1347–1351), whose demographic and economic shocks continued to shape European society. Population losses varied by region, but the disease accelerated labor mobility and prompted a range of legal and fiscal responses, including wage controls such as England's Statute of Laborers (1351) and ongoing debates over peasants’ rights and obligations. The aftermath contributed to social and economic restructuring that would influence policy for decades.

Politically, the period was dominated by the ongoing conflict between England and France in the Hundred Years' War. A decisive event occurred in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers, where English forces under Edward, the Black Prince, defeated the French army and captured King John II. The victory disrupted French royal authority and shifted momentum in the war, with ransom payments and negotiations shaping events through the late 1350s and into the 1360s, culminating later in the Treaty of Brétigny (1360).

Religious and cultural life remained centered in the authorities of the Catholic Church, with the papacy in Avignon under Innocent VI during much of this period. The period saw continued Gothic artistic and architectural activity, even as political and economic strains persisted. In broader Europe, the mid-1350s represented a transitional moment when plague-recovery, war, and governance intersected to push toward new social arrangements and more centralized states, setting the stage for subsequent reforms and conflicts.