536 AD was perhaps the darkest year in European history!
That year, a mysterious black fog descended on the European continent, enveloping the sky for 18 months. The sun was hazy and dim as the moon, and summer temperatures dropped by 1.5-2.5 degrees, beginning the coldest decade in 2300 years.
That year, China was the era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it was the year of the death of the Shaolin Dharma ancestors. The Zizhi Tongjian records: "It was the age, the Great Famine in Wei Guanzhong, the cannibalism of man, and the deceased Shi 78." ”
Scientists tested the composition of the ice in Greenland and Antarctica, and the black fog that year was caused by an eruption of a volcano in Iceland.
In 540, the volcano erupted again, and the temperature dropped by another 1.4 to 2.7 degrees. Subsequently, the Great Plague of Constantine broke out in the Eastern Roman Empire, and the population plummeted by 35% to 55%, accelerating the demise of the Eastern Roman Empire.
When it comes to the dark history of Europe, most people must have the Black Death that comes to mind. The plague of 1349 wiped out half of Europe's population. There was also the 1918 flu, which claimed 50 million to a hundred million lives.
But Harvard historian McCormick is adamant that the worst year in Europe was 536, not one!
Is it really so terrifying that volcanic ash shrouds the sky?
