The demographic expansion came to an end in the course of the 14th century, during which a deterioration of the status of "paroikoi", an erosion of the economic function of village by the role of the large estates, and a precipitous demographic decline in Macedonia is established by modern research. The upper levels of the aristocracy lost their fortunes, and eventually there was a concentration of property on the hands of the larger, and more privileged monasteries, at least in Macedonia. The monasteries did not show great versatility or innovative spirit, and the rural economy had to wait, for its recovery, until the effects of epidemics had been reversed, security had been established, and communications restored: that is, until the firm establishment of the Ottomans in the Balkans.