Climate and Famines in the Czech Lands Prior to AD 1500: Possible Interconnections in a European Context

Brázdil, Rudolf; Kotyza, Oldřich; Bauch, Martin

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-54337-6_5

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…Post (1977) even spoke of this time as "the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world". However, the impacts on life in the Czech Lands in the post-Tambora years were not comparable with the "Hungry Years" of 1770-1772 (Brázdil et al, 2001;Pfister and Brázdil, 2006) or with other known, massive famines before AD 1500 (in the 1280s, 1310s and 1430s -see Brázdil et al, 2015a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Climatic effects and impacts of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Czech Lands

et al. 2016

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Abstract. The eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815 was one of the most powerful of its kind in recorded history. This contribution addresses climatic responses to it, the post-eruption weather, and its impacts on human life in the Czech Lands. The climatic effects are evaluated in terms of air temperature and precipitation on the basis of long-term homogenised series from the Prague-Klementinum and Brno meteorological stations, and mean Czech series in the short term (1810–1820) and long term (1800–2010). This analysis is complemented by other climatic and environmental data derived from rich documentary evidence. Czech documentary sources make no direct mention of the Tambora eruption, neither do they relate any particular weather phenomena to it, but they record an extremely wet summer for 1815 and an extremely cold summer for 1816 (the "Year Without a Summer") that contributed to bad grain harvests and widespread grain price increases in 1817. Possible reasons for the cold summers in the first decade of the 19th century reflected in the contemporary press included comets, sunspot activity, long-term cooling and finally – as late as 1817 – earthquakes with volcanic eruptions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Climatic effects and impacts of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Czech Lands

et al. 2016

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Effects of social and climatic factors on building activity in the Czech lands between 1450 and 1950: a dendrochronological analysis

Kolář

Dobrovolný

Szabó

et al. 2021

J Quaternary Science

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The development of settlement and building activity is the result of socioeconomic, political and demographic changes in the past. However, accurate information on temporal variation in building activity is rather limited. Dendrochronological databases containing dated historical wooden constructions provide an important resource. We used 6514 tree-felling dates to reconstruct building activity in the Czech lands for the period 1450-1950. Comparing felling dates with historical events demonstrated that building activity was negatively associated with intense wars, particularly during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). After the Peace of Westphalia (1648), socioeconomic renewal and demographic growth were reflected in an upsurge of building activity, especially ecclesiastical buildings. While the construction of ecclesiastical and noble buildings culminated around the 1720s, rural buildings peaked in the 1780s and the 1820s. Although no direct effect of climate was demonstrated, adverse climatic conditions leading to harvest failures and subsequent famines (e.g. the 'Hunger Years' 1770-1772) significantly contributed to declines in building activity. In contrast, a higher number of felling dates were detected when strong and/or frequent windstorms occurred. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of building activity in Central Europe and advocates the use of dendrochronological databases for the investigation of human activities in history.

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Famines in medieval and early modern Europe—Connecting climate and society

Ljungqvist,

Seim,

Collet

2023

WIREs Climate Change

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The article evaluates recent scholarship on famines in Europe during the medieval and early modern periods (c. 700–1800), synthesizing the state‐of‐the‐art knowledge and identifying both research gaps and interdisciplinary potentials. Particular focus is placed on how, and to what extent, climatic change and variability is given explanatory power in famine causation. Current research, supported by recent advances in palaeoclimatology, reveals that anomalous cold conditions constituted the main environmental backdrop for severe food production crises that could result in famines in pre‐industrial Europe. Such food crises occurred most frequently between c. 1550 and 1710, during the climax of the Little Ice Age cooling, and can be connected to the strong dependency on grain in Europe during this period. The available body of scholarship demonstrates that famines in medieval and early modern Europe best can be understood as the result of the interactions of climatic and societal stressors responding to pre‐existing vulnerabilities. Recent research has shown that societal responses to these famines, and the appropriation of their consequences, have been much more comprehensive, dynamic, and substantial than previously assumed. The article concludes by providing recommendations for future studies on historical famines.This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Major Historical Eras Climate, History, Society, Culture > Disciplinary Perspectives Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Paleoclimate

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Climate and Famines in the Czech Lands Prior to AD 1500: Possible Interconnections in a European Context

Cited by 4 publications

References 22 publications

Climatic effects and impacts of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Czech Lands

Climatic effects and impacts of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Czech Lands

Effects of social and climatic factors on building activity in the Czech lands between 1450 and 1950: a dendrochronological analysis

Famines in medieval and early modern Europe—Connecting climate and society

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