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Solid analysis. I'm not convinced that it's as unpractical as you ultimately conclude (at least not with the right POD), but you do illustrate that probability is against long-term isolation. Some considerations: -- Everything that's noted in this thread strengthens my impression that we ought...

You mean that only England goes (alt-)Protestant in this scenario, and the continent remais Catholic? That's just asking for a repeat of the Crusades. It would single England out as the prime target for everybody else.

It depends on the POD. While Christianity does have its far more hierarchical, encompassing ecclestiastical structure (certainly before the Reformation), this doesn't automatically mean that there can be no real isolation. I'd agree that "generally speaking", if England/Britain were to separate...

It's a good point, and it certainly changes the probabilities involved. Britain is likely to see more invasions, and indeed, it historically did. Although before any serious centralised state formation, the islands of Britain and Japan both saw similar patterns of migration from the continent...

This is why I mentioned scenarios involving the Wars of the Roses. The closing phase of this in particular could see things turn out pretty chaotically. If Richard III beats -- and kills -- Henry Tudor, but then gets killed off himself before producing an heir, you have the stage set for a...

It's a fair scenario, but I do feel it veers a bit close to the "North Korea" kind of set-up. The really interesting thing about Japan's sakoku policy is that it didn't manifest in a sort of ultra-rabid regime. It's more that they just really felt that reducing foreign influences as much as...

I've been thinking about the somewhat obvious comparison between Britain and Japan. Both insular domains, right off the coast of the great Eurasian continent. Therefore always close to the goings-on of the relevant continental powers and their struggles. Occasionally ambitiously involved in said...