Enacted by Napoleon, Emporer of France, an embargo was placed on England which restricted trade between them and the rest of the European continent. During this period, all connections to Britain were cut including mail services. After Napoleon's exile and the end of the Napoleonic wars, the embargo was lifted and British interaction with the continent could resume. In George Eliot's Middlemarch, the characters take advantage of the lifted embargo to travel to the continent and explore cultural sites. The Casaubons are able to travel to the Vatican and explore its art, which was formerly restricted.

“Continental System.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_System#:~:text=The%20embargo%2....