The Medieval Quiet Period
The Medieval Quiet Period By Raymond S Bradley, Heinz Wanner and Henry F. Diaz The Holocene, Vol 26, Issue 6 (2016) Abstract: For several centuries…
Greening Gawain: connecting environmental damage and masculinity in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
This paper explores medieval environmental attitudes through a historical reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Perceptions of Hot Climate in Medieval Cosmography and Travel Literature
This article is an attempt to examine bow climate, especially hot weather in exotic locations, was viewed by European travellers and writers in the middle ages.
Environmental Scarcity and Abundance in Medieval Icelandic Literature
Can medieval literary texts tell us anything about the environmental conditions and the availability of natural resources in premodern times?
Historical rise of waterpower initiated the collapse of salmon stocks
We demonstrate that populations declined by up to 90% during the transitional period between the Early Middle Ages (c. 450–900 AD) and Early Modern Times (c. 1600 AD).
Trees as a Central Theme in Norse Mythology and Culture
The continual theme of trees in Norse Mythology is important to our understanding of the cosmology of Norse Mythology.
A Collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean? New results and theories on the interplay between climate and societies in Byzantium and the Near East, ca. 1000–1200 AD
The reflection about the impact of climate on human society goes back to antiquity. It has gained renewed intensity with the discussion about climate change and its possible anthropogenic causes in the last decades.
What is a Volcano? A Medieval Answer
Volcanoes have long fascinated people. They have know how dangerous they can be, but throughout history many have tried to figure what causes them. Here is the explanation given by the medieval scholar Albert the Great.
Science and Nature in the Medieval Ecological Imagination
This dissertation explores the intersections between nature and culture in medieval literature and art with particular focus on Geoffrey Chaucer’s House of Fame, the thirteenth-century French Bible Moralisée, and William Langland’s Piers Plowman.
Climatic and environmental aspects of the Mongol withdrawal from Hungary in 1242 CE
The Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe, and especially its sudden withdrawal from Hungary in 1242 CE, has generated much speculation and an array of controversial theories. None of them, however, considered multifaceted environmental drivers and the coupled analysis of historical reports and natural archives.
Historical evolution of forest management in Europe and in Japan
This paper describes in brief the historical evolution of forest management in Europe and in Japan and the motivations of these changes. In particular, the paper analyses three periods: pre-industrial (from the Middle-ages until the mid-17th century), industrial (from the mid-17th until the mid-20th century) and the post-industrial period (from the late-20th century until today)
Researchers discover a ‘Little Ice Age’ in the 6th century
‘This was the most dramatic cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 2000 years.’
Flood Security in the Medieval and Early Modern North Sea Area: A Question of Entitlement?
All over the North Sea Area the later Middle Ages saw repeated flood disasters and massive land losses in coastal wetlands: in England, the Low Countries, Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia thousands of hectares of reclaimed land and hundreds of villages were lost to the sea.
The 1356 Basel earthquake: an interdisciplinary revision
The 1356 Basel earthquake is well known as one of the most damaging events in intra-plate Europe within historical times. It was one of several devastating catastrophes in the 14th century.
10 Natural Disasters that Struck the Medieval World
Here are ten of the most important natural disasters that took place in the Middle Ages.
Tornadoes in Mediaeval Britain
Mediaeval chronicles describe 21 tornadoes in Britain prior to the year 1500. Although the meanings of some of the accounts appear unclear at first sight, the features reported can nearly always be explained by reference to modern tornado cases.
Climate Change and Medieval Sacred Architecture
This study attempts to provide illustrations of how climate may have influenced architectural features during the Middle Ages.
‘The Worst Disaster Suffered by the People of Scotland in Recorded History’: Climate Change, Dearth and Pathogens in the Long Fourteenth Century
It is not the aim of this essay to provide an environmental history of medieval Scotland or even just of the fourteenth century in Scotland; that is a much larger task than can be addressed here. Rather, the intention is to explore the nature of the evidence that is available within the documentary record and place it alongside the various forms of proxy data for climate history to produce a synthetic narrative.
Of Wilderness, Forest, and Garden: An Eco-Theory of Genre in Middle English Literature
I posit that the components of the environment play a role in the deployment of the narrative by shaping the characters and influencing the action.
The Power of Poo: Waste and the Medieval Environment
This study will compare the ways in which three vastly different European cities and their civic institutions, London England – the Chartered Capital of a Kingdom, Siena Italy – an Oligarchic Republic, and Gdansk Poland – the reluctant territory of a Theocratic state
A Medieval Weather Report
What was England’s weather like in the year 1269?
Arthur Pendragon, Eco-Warrior
This essay explores the environmental agendas and ambitions that motivate John Timothy Rothwell, ‘a mad biker chieftain wielding an axe,’ who, claiming to be a ‘post-Thatcher’ King Arthur,
Medievalist helps scientists rewrite climate records
In a paper published in the world-leading scientific journal, Nature, Dr Conor Kostick’s research into medieval evidence for climate events has allowed scientists to pinpoint the exact relationship between historical volcanic activity and severe winters.
Explaining Extreme Weather in the Middle Ages
What was causing extreme weather in the Middle Ages? A medieval historian is starting to examine how chroniclers and writers from this period were turning to the night sky to better understand and perhaps prevent natural disasters.