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The technologies of metal-working and the Protestant ethic of “work hard and save money” were important foundations of the Industrial Revolution. There were, of course, more to come.

The soclal organisation of the cities began to rival the feudal society of life on the land. The cities and would eventually triumph, even though they were often no larger than the small towns of today. Feudalism was undermined when plague spread throughout Europe with the Black Death of the 1340s and the population was reduced significantly. There was a rapid fall in the supply of people to work on the land and in the manorial houses. This resulted in successful demands for higher wages and, in the case of serfs and villains, some kind of freedom. A labour market was opening up. In turn, this affected the nature of agriculture, which began to turn away from social structures and become more of a “business”, supplying merchants in the cities. Even the peasant could produce a surplus for the market. If not ready for the Industrial Revolution yet, Europe entered a period of new beginnings – the Renaissance.