How did the Black Plague transition Europe from the middle ages to the renaissance?

After the Plague subsided, more than 2/3 of all people in Europe were dead. The Feudal Lords had trouble finding people to harvest their crops and work for them. This led to peasants demanding more money and eventually freedom from their Lords. Joan of Arc contributed to this new idea that people should be loyal to their country, not to their Feudal Landlords. Strong popes, notably Gregory VII , worked for a new Europe guided by a centralized church, a goal that was realized under Pope Innocent III . Militant religious zeal was expressed in the Crusades , which led thousands into the lands of the ancient Greeks and Byzantine society. When they returned to Europe, the Crusaders brought back books and new ideas from these advanced societies. Without the Plague and pure survival to worry about, people began to explore art and sciences, which began the transition to the Renaissance years.