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Medieval scholars say 536 CE was the worst year to be alive.
History Facts ^ | 12/09/2024

Posted on 12/10/2024 8:21:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind

If you’re ever despairing about the state of the world, you can — at least, according to some scholars — be thankful it’s not the year 536 CE. To be fair, it’s medieval scholars, not 21st-century ones, who called 536 CE the worst year to be alive. But hear them out, because it sounds pretty bad. That year, a massive volcano erupted, historians believe, filling the air with volcanic ash. Of course, the majority of people affected by the disaster had no idea what was happening — they just knew it was very suddenly very dark for a very long time. The sun didn’t shine in Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia for 18 whole months — or as the Byzantine historian Procopius put it, “The sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year.”

That summer, temperatures dropped more than 30 degrees in parts of Europe and Asia (it even snowed in China), so crops failed, leading to widespread famine, starvation, and economic stagnation. Many people who were literate wrote about this at the time — the sun disappeared overnight, after all — but academics didn’t take the accounts seriously until the late 20th century. In 1983, a volcanic eruption was theorized to be the source of the darkness, and researchers examining tree rings in Ireland in the 1990s noted a severe temperature drop occurred in the sixth century. In 2018, researchers published a study pointing to a volcano as the likely culprit after analyzing ice cores drilled from glaciers.

Historian Michael McCormick told Science that 536 CE wasn’t just the worst year up until then, but “the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive.” The climate still hadn’t recovered five years later when the first bubonic plague broke out, wiping out up to half the population of the Eastern Roman Empire. Two more eruptions in the 540s certainly didn’t help matters, either. The Late Antique Little Ice Age, as the period is known, lasted more than a century, clearing up between 660 CE and 680 CE, depending on the location.


TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: 536ad; ad; ad536; byzantineempire; catastrophism; ce; climatechange; ecoterrorism; ecoterrorists; eruption; fauxiantroll; fauxiantrolls; globalwarminghoax; godsgravesglyphs; greennewdeal; history; middleages; plague; procopius; romanempire; volcano; worstyear
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1 posted on 12/10/2024 8:21:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

AD.


2 posted on 12/10/2024 8:23:02 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: NorthMountain

I agree. But where did the use of CE come from and is it the more popular usage nowadays?


3 posted on 12/10/2024 8:24:19 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind; SunkenCiv

Climate change!


4 posted on 12/10/2024 8:26:01 AM PST by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: NorthMountain

ARSH: Anno Reparatae Salutis Humanae


5 posted on 12/10/2024 8:27:12 AM PST by one guy in new jersey
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To: SeekAndFind

Must not have been alive yet in 1968.


6 posted on 12/10/2024 8:27:20 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Perfect timing for the onslaught of Islam.


7 posted on 12/10/2024 8:27:27 AM PST by nwrep
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To: SeekAndFind

Christian Era. After our Lord.


8 posted on 12/10/2024 8:27:47 AM PST by nwrep
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To: NorthMountain

I agree, beat me to it. What is this ce stuff?


9 posted on 12/10/2024 8:28:00 AM PST by phormer phrog phlyer
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To: SeekAndFind
That year, a massive volcano erupted, historians believe, filling the air with volcanic ash.

People say when old faithful really blows we will experience similar times.

10 posted on 12/10/2024 8:28:15 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: SeekAndFind
"CE" came from atheists and communists who thought "AD" gave Christ too much free publicity.

11 posted on 12/10/2024 8:28:22 AM PST by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endureth forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: SeekAndFind

So what is CE referring to? Did something happen then in year one “CE”?

It’s idiotic and one reveals bigotry by using the CE term with BC/AD years.


12 posted on 12/10/2024 8:28:32 AM PST by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI..)
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To: SeekAndFind

At least they didn’t have Klaus Schwab and his pal Jubal to deal with.


13 posted on 12/10/2024 8:29:22 AM PST by Zionist Conspirator (בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ)
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To: BenLurkin

2020 really sucked.


14 posted on 12/10/2024 8:30:33 AM PST by Manic_Episode (Harpazo imminent. Each post may be my last. It's been real =)
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To: SeekAndFind

Take your CE and put it where the sun don’t shine!


15 posted on 12/10/2024 8:30:53 AM PST by JesusIsLord
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To: DesertRhino

Yes


16 posted on 12/10/2024 8:31:08 AM PST by wardaddy ( .If the GOPe didn’t go wobbly slightest incoming flak we’d always win)
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To: nwrep

No, it means “Common Era” because atheists and communists and others who reject Christ want to appropriate our Calendar, but choke on using the terms proper to it.

Effem.


17 posted on 12/10/2024 8:31:11 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

I discovered that you can REALLY rile these folks in academia when you read out CE as “Christian Era” instead of “Common Era”


18 posted on 12/10/2024 8:31:11 AM PST by AzSteven ("War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." Jean Dutourd )
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To: NorthMountain

Thank you!


19 posted on 12/10/2024 8:32:03 AM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to says it.)
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To: nwrep; SeekAndFind

C.E. officially stands for “Common Era” by those who want to deny Our Lord, or are respecters of persons and don’t want to offend non-believers.


20 posted on 12/10/2024 8:32:31 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ("Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:5))
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