WI: The Black Death kills more than half/almost all of England's population?

The Black Death was bad. Really bad. It killed over a third of the population of Western Europe. But things could have been worse for Europe (Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson is a perfect example of this). But what if the pandemic hit England especially hard?

Here's what I was thinking -

1348 - Desperate to stop the plague spreading, Edward III enacts an isolationist policy for the entirety of the English Isles. Trading is shut down, boats are burned, etc.

Sometime in-between this - A combination of the plague and poorer living conditions (lack of trading leads to dwindling food/material supply) decimates Britain. The population falls below four million.

1349/1350 - After no deaths have been reported for a certain amount of time, the isolationist policy is raised. There is roughly two/one-and-a-half million people left alive...

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With England left in ruins, would other countries try to invade or occupy the land left behind? Would the mere notion of a future British Empire collapse? How would the rest of the world be without what we know as England?
 

trurle

Banned
The British will lost their continental possessions (Calais and other) to rebellions or conquest faster than in OTL. But i doubt it will affect England long-term. The population of era can double in 20 years if no shortage of food happens, and invading England with technology of era was difficult unless population of England fall below 1 million. You simply will stuck on siege of many fortified settlements before capturing enough territory to supply your army. Norman conquest of England and intermittent warfare afterwards have improved defences tremendously by 1300.
 
The Black Death OTL also fueled the rise of the Middle Classes and the "deserfment" of many peasants thanks to labour shortages removing their ties to a particular plot of land.
TTL that will happen much more quickly and I suspect the lower classes will comprise an even greater proportion of levies v OTL so perhaps earlier Agincourt type defeats and the end of chivalry
 
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