England is an island.  This meant that it was difficult to invade from continental Europe

England is mostly flat, but a range of small mountains (the Pennine Chain) runs up the centre of Northern England.

England shares the main British island with two other countries: Wales and Scotland.
Both are far more mountainous than England. In both countries Celtic languages survived - Gaelic in Scotland, Welsh in Wales
Wales was independent till late 1200s, divided into various principalities; but conquered by Edward I in the late thirteenth century. From then on it was increasingly anglicized but the Welsh language is still spoken.
Scotland preserved its independence far longer; only in 1603 were two crowns joined.

England's mild climate. it is north of the 49th parallel, but the climate today is far milder than that of Wisconsin.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the weather was unusually cold, leading to low agricultural productivity. [More information on the climate].

The main administrative unit was the county, headed by a sheriff.

Many of the larger towns and cities, were controlled by their own councils of mayor and aldermen.

The parish was a unit of local government as well as of ecclesiastical administration.

Most of the English population lived at or close to subsistence level.

Infant mortality was very high by modern Western standards.

Political and economic power was in the hands of a small minority of population - nobility and gentry.

At the summit of the social structure stood the monarch.