{"id":269827,"date":"2023-07-27T22:03:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T20:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269827"},"modified":"2023-07-27T22:03:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T20:03:33","slug":"european-heatwaves-soldiers-died-in-the-heat-in-1160-rivers-ran-dry-in-1303-animals-fell-dead-in-1393","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=269827","title":{"rendered":"European heatwaves: Soldiers died in the heat in 1160, Rivers ran dry in 1303, animals fell dead in 1393"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By JoNova<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medieval \u201cclimate change\u201d was filled with heatwaves, droughts, and crop failures<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One thousand years ago, \u201crivers ran dry under the protracted heat, the fish were left dry in heaps and putrefied in a few hours.\u201d\u00a0 Men and animals venturing in the sun in the summer of 1022 fell down dying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was so hot in 1132 that the rivers ran dry and\u00a0\u201cthe ground was baked to the hardness of stone\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0 Around 1200 at the Battle of Bela\u00a0\u201cthere were more victims made by the sun than by weapons\u201d<\/em>. In 1303 and 1304, the Seine, the Loire, the Rhine, and the Danube could all be crossed with dry feet, and they dried up again in 1538-1541. In 1393 and 1394 the crops were\u00a0\u201cscorched up<\/em>\u201d and\u00a0\u201cgreat numbers of animals fell dead\u201d.<\/em>\u00a0In 1625 in Scotland, it was so hot \u201cmeat could be cooked merely by exposing it to the Sun.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so it goes \u2014 history that was known in the 1800\u2019s appears to be disappearing, leaving us with a generation of snowflakes who think they are the only humans who ever faced hot weather. They with their air-conditioned bedrooms, mobile phones and filtered water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 879, agricultural laborers, who must have been as tough as nails, were struck down after \u201cjust a few minutes in the sun\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to Tony Heller at\u00a0RealClimateScience\u00a0<\/em>who has a resource page:\u00a0\u201c1500 Years of Heatwaves\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaillard\u2019s Medical Journal \u2013 Google Books<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Medieval Warm Period<\/a>\u00a0was a global phenomenon, see the\u00a0graphs, the pollen, the sea sediments and tree rings<\/a>. And the IPCC knew it in 1990 too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
1990 IPCC FAR Report, Medieval Warm Period.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve been rubbing out the Medieval Warm Period ever since. Even though Hubert Lamb did the graph in 1982, scores of different proxies have gone on to support it on every continent.\u00a0 References at the link above plus at the tag\u00a0Medieval Warm Period.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

h\/t also Paul Homewood at\u00a0Notalotofpeopleknowthat<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text copied below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cHot Weather.\u2014Many a man has mopped his brow during the summer months of 1884, declaring it was the hottest weather the world ever knew, which, of course, would not be true, for the extreme heat in the record of the past has not been approached during the late summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 627, the heat was so great in France and Germany, says the London Standard, that all springs dried up; water became so scarce that many people died of thirst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 879, work in the field had to be given up; agricultural laborers persisting in their work were struck down in a few minutes, so powerful was the sun. In 993, the sun\u2019s rays were so fierce that vegetation burned up as under the action of fire. In 1000, rivers ran dry under the protracted heat, the fish were left dry in heaps and putrefied in a few hours. Men and animals venturing in the sun in the summer of 1022 fell down dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1132, not only did the rivers dry up, but the ground cracked and became baked to the hardness of stone. The Rhine in Alsace nearly dried up. Italy was visited with terrific heat in 1189; vegetation and plants were burned up. During the battle of Bela, in 1200, there were more victims made by the sun than by weapons ; men fell down sunstruck in regular rows. The sun of 1277 was also severe; there was an absolute dearth of forage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1303 and 1304, the Rhine, Loire and Seine ran dry. In 1615, the heat throughout Europe became excessive. Scotland suffered particularly in 1625 ; men and beasts died in scores. Meat could be cooked by merely exposing it to the sun. Not a soul dared to venture out between noon and 4 p.m. In 1718, many shops had to be closed; the theatres were never opened for several months. Not a drop of water fell during six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1753 the thermometer rose to one hundred and eighteen degrees. In 1779, the heat at Bologna was so great that a large number of people died. In July, 1793, the heat became intolerable. Vegetables were burned up and fruit dried upon the trees. The furniture and woodwork in dwelling-houses cracked and split up; meat became bad in an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Paris in 1846, the thermometer marked one hundred and twenty-five degrees in the sun. The summers of 1859, 1860, 1869, 1870, 1874, etc., although excessively hot, were not attended by any disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medieval \u201cclimate change\u201d was filled with heatwaves, droughts, and crop failures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":269836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821395,691818056,691821394,691821396],"class_list":["post-269827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1500-years-of-heatwaves","tag-climate-change","tag-medieval-climate-change","tag-the-medieval-warm-period","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-18c3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":461857,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=461857","url_meta":{"origin":269827,"position":0},"title":"Europe\u2019s Forgotten Infernos: The Extreme Heat Waves and Megadroughts That Shaped History","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/10\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"These significant historical European heatwaves and droughts (or the associated extremely low water levels) were reconstructed using documentary sources (chronicles, annals), tree-ring data (e.g., the \"Old World Drought Atlas\" or OWDA), and other proxy data.","rel":"","context":"In \"1212 and 1252\"","block_context":{"text":"1212 and 1252","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=1212-and-1252"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Europes-Forgotten-Infernos-The-Extreme-Heat-Waves-and-Megadroughts-That-Shaped-History.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Europes-Forgotten-Infernos-The-Extreme-Heat-Waves-and-Megadroughts-That-Shaped-History.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Europes-Forgotten-Infernos-The-Extreme-Heat-Waves-and-Megadroughts-That-Shaped-History.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Europes-Forgotten-Infernos-The-Extreme-Heat-Waves-and-Megadroughts-That-Shaped-History.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Europes-Forgotten-Infernos-The-Extreme-Heat-Waves-and-Megadroughts-That-Shaped-History.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":248549,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=248549","url_meta":{"origin":269827,"position":1},"title":"Drought risk to England regions after (slightly) dry February, scientists warn","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/19\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It might feel wet this week but experts are warning that parts of England need unseasonable rainfall to compensate for an abnormally dry winter.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-730.png?fit=1200%2C1090&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-730.png?fit=1200%2C1090&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-730.png?fit=1200%2C1090&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-730.png?fit=1200%2C1090&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-730.png?fit=1200%2C1090&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":463559,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=463559","url_meta":{"origin":269827,"position":2},"title":"English oaks \u2018can\u2019t cope with British heat\u2019? 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These claims are patently false. 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