>England did not return to its pre-plague population until about 1625, 280 years after the first strike. During most of that period Western Europe had about hal

>England did not return to its pre-plague population until about 1625, 280 years after the first strike. During most of that period Western Europe had about half the population it had in 1345. And yet 1400-1500 ‘is the very century in which Western Europe’s global expansion began’, the period of what has been called ‘the Great Divergence’ between Europe and the rest of the world. ‘The Black Death and the Rise of Europe’, as Belich’s subtitle has it, do seem to be linked in time, and it may not be a coincidence. This period also coincided with the renaissance and the European wars of religion. Europe was a busy place.