The Dust Veil of AD 536

reply to post by loam


Sorry for the one-liner, but wasn't this mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle?
Either that or Bede's Historiam ecclesiasticam.

reply to post by ironorchid


I'm not sure about the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles...but I've just checked Bede and he skips straight from AD 447 to 582, referring only to the interim period as being rife with 'unspeakable crimes'.

I think that the Chinese and Asiatic sources are far more comprehensive for this period, literacy is Europe pretty much contracted to nothing during the Dark Ages, particularly in the few centuries immediately following the fall of the Roman Empire.

Just checked, and no, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle doesn't mention anything about it...this is all there is for the period...

A.D. 534 . This year died Cerdic, the first king of the West-
Saxons. Cynric his son succeeded to the government, and reigned
afterwards twenty-six winters. And they gave to their two
nephews, Stuff and Wihtgar, the whole of the Isle of Wight.

A.D. 538 . This year the sun was eclipsed, fourteen days before
the calends of March, from before morning until nine.

A.D. 540 . This year the sun was eclipsed on the twelfth day
before the calends of July; and the stars showed themselves full
nigh half an hour over nine.

www.britannia.com...

reply to post by Biliverdin


My mistake - I thought I read somewhere about a thick yellow fog and resulting crop failures/famine.
Having a senior moment because I can't remember where I read that.

Originally posted by ironorchid
reply to post by loam

 

Sorry for the one-liner, but wasn't this mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle?
Either that or Bede's Historiam ecclesiasticam.

The effects weren't as pronounced in continental northern Europe, in fact the event led northern Europe to having a very mild period of weather. It was this mild weather that caused the population explosion in scandanavia that ultimately kicked off the Viking expansion.
It was also responsible for changing north Atlantic currents , that allowed the scandanavians and the English to sail to the new world, the scandanavians settled but the English just fished for cod.
The effect on southern Europe and the med was more pronounced as crops failed and plague spread through the eastern empire.
In Japan it was written that the people starved because of a mid July snowfall that killed the rice. The Chinese i about the thick yellow fog and possibly of hearing a loud rumble in the south.
In Europe the only mention I know of is a byzantine monk writing that the summer of 536 the sun was very dimamd it was as if they started living in the dark ages, that's were the term came from.

I remember seeing the documentary that aired in the UK about this, it was part of the "Secrets of the Dead" series which was shown on Channel 4 a few years ago.

The dendrochronologist that was working on this is a nice bloke by the name of Professor Baillie, Queens' University in Belfast (I think) - I had the pleasure of picking his brains once during my early postgrad days...

There are a bunch of info and vids on this subject in general or of specific events, and from all over the world not just on that island of Britain. I never really had the inclination or the time to really get into it or watch them all, in fact I did not even watch the whole of those two vids I linked, because I never got around to it. But it is pretty interesting so it may be of interest to somebody else on this thread. And nature is funny sometimes it likes to surprise you when you least expect it.

A vid on the Icelandic eruption, that influenced Britain


And one on man made problems, a killer fog