The Aurora of 1192: Examining Medieval Europe's Climate Change

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the climatic deterioration in medieval Europe post-1000 AD, as outlined in Ladourie's Histoire de climat depuis l'an mil. Historians attribute this decline to factors such as the Great Famine of 1315-1317 and the Black Death of 1347, often citing the "Era of the Quiet Sun" due to a lack of observed sunspots. However, the accuracy of this narrative is questioned, particularly regarding the historical observations of sunspots, which were not systematically recorded until J. Fabricius's work in 1611. The Maunder Minimum, occurring between 1645 and 1715, is highlighted as a significant period of low sunspot activity with notable climatic impacts.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of medieval European history and climate change
  • Familiarity with sunspot observation history, particularly J. Fabricius's contributions
  • Knowledge of the Maunder Minimum and its climatic implications
  • Awareness of historical climate reconstruction methods
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the methodologies used in historical climate reconstruction
  • Study the implications of the Maunder Minimum on European climate
  • Explore the relationship between solar activity and climate change
  • Investigate the historical context of the Great Famine and the Black Death
USEFUL FOR

Historians, climate scientists, and anyone interested in the interplay between historical events and climate change will benefit from this discussion.

wolram
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http://eserver.org/history/aurora-of-1192.txt

Since the publication of Ladourie's Histoire de climat depuis
l'an mil in 1967, historians have generally accepted that the
European climate deteriorated after about the year 1000. They
have seen this deterioration as a cause of the Great Famine of
1315-1317, a factor the Black Death of 1347, and contributing to
the depression of the fifteenth century. There has been little
demand for a more precise chronology, and even less for a cause.
Since it was noted that there were few sun spots during the
period, and since someone coined the term, "The Era of the Quiet
Sun," historians have been more or less content to accept a lack
of solar storms somehow caused the deterioration of the medieval
European climate.

Is this an accurate work ?
 
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Not really but the "best-before.." date of articles like this is only to the refuting discovery. However, in the abstact we see already a problem:

Since it was noted that there were few sun spots during the
period, and since someone coined the term, "The Era of the Quiet
Sun,"

The reason why nobody noticed sunspots was because they were not really discovered/registered, apart from some haphazard observations:

http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/IAGA2005/00507/IAGA2005-A-00507.pdf

The first one to observe the sun in a continuous way was the Dutch J.Fabricius. His book " de Maculis in Sole" (1611) is the first ever published on observation of sunspots.

The known period, practivally without sunspots, is know as the maunder minimum (1645 and 1715) with clear climatal clues:

http://www.stsci.edu/stsci/meetings/lisa3/beckmanj.html

The latest paper with a reconstruction of sunspot counts and climatal response is here:

http://cc.oulu.fi/~usoskin/personal/2004ja010964.pdf
 
Thanks Andre, you really are a mine of information, Ken Dodd would be proud :biggrin:
 
I am sure he would have welcomed you to his jam buttie mines in knotty Ash
any time. :biggrin:
The study of history and climate change seem to go hand in hand, the more one
reads the more it seems a natural variation, i wonder how many think that our
sun is not thermostaticaly controlled ?
 

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