What Happened In Year 536 Ad?
As a millennial, you must think 2020 is the most tragic year on the face of the earth. If you look back at the past centuries, some other catastrophic events might change your perception. For instance, in 1945 when atomic bombs swept away two cities in Japan. 1929 had the Great Depression. How can we forget 1520 when the Spanish introduced smallpox to the Americas? Worst years, you say? “Hold my beer,” enters 536, the mother of all disasters. Why? What happened in year 536 AD?
If we are to compare the blows to humankind, this devastating year beats all. Call it dark, call it ominous—words will fall short to describe its unfortunate series of events. How bad was the year 536? You are about to find that out. Buck up for a jam-packed history session!
What Happened In 536 Ad?
The question should be, what did not happen in that year? To begin with, there was a mysterious fog in the world in 536 that engulfed the lion’s share of the northern hemisphere. The consequences of that incident lasted for more than a hundred years. Luckily there are some written documents by contemporary authors to deconstruct the events of that decade.
One prominent account is the History of the Wars by Procopius. In his exact words, “For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year, and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse…” So, what happened in year 536 AD, the saddest year in history?
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1. The sun went out for 18 months
A deep fog blanket wrapped the sky over Europe, Middle Eastern countries, and certain portions of Asia. The sunlight couldn’t pierce through the fog and the days were dusky and gloomy for the longest time. “We marvel to see no shadows of our bodies at noon,” writes Cassiodorus, a Roman statesman. It was the first Dark Age in the literal sense.
2. Climatic cooling
Winter came early that year due to the summer without sun. In Europe, temperatures dropped down to as low as 1.5°C to 2.5°C. China even witnessed summer snow! A decade of such bitter cold came only once in the last 2300 years as reported by AAAS(American Association for the Advancement of Science). 536 commenced the Late Antique Little Ice Age which persisted till 660 AD.
3. Famine and social disarray
Research shows how the rapid climate changes resulted in famine and worldwide social disruption. It is no wonder that plants didn’t survive the lack of sunlight. Agriculture took the worst hit. There was practically no harvest season for quite a few years. The chilly weather destroyed all the crops.
Naturally, the cost of food skyrocketed along with a complete breakdown of the economy. People fought and killed each other for food and many died of starvation.
4. The Justinian Plague and the fall of the Byzantine Empire
If you thought the Black Death was the first pandemic, let’s get our facts straight. A global epidemic, known as The Plague of Justinian, broke out some 800 years back in Egypt, a then part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Soon it spread all over Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and other distant corners of the world. The extreme cold and hunger made people more susceptible to the Yersinia pestis bacterial infection.
Byzantine emperor Justinian was on a quest to reclaim the glory of the old Roman empire at that time. His army reconquered Rome and Naples in the Gothic War under the heroic leadership of General Belisarius. Right after this victory, the plague killed a whopping 30-40 million people, almost half of the Roman population. The empire couldn’t fight back the loss of manpower and the economic breakdown and it collapsed.
5. Worldwide social and political upheaval
As an aftermath of the plague and natural disasters, many other civilizations fragmented into pieces. For instance, the Gupta dynasty in India and the Sassanian empire in Persia. The documentary, ‘Catastrophe: How the world changed’ talks about its influence in China becoming a united country and the rise of Islam.
Yes, 536 was the worst year to be alive but it also counts as a turning point in history as it shaped the modern world as we know it today.
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What Caused The Darkness In 536 Ad? Why Is Year 536 Called As The Worst Year Of Human History?
Harvard historian and archaeologist, Professor Michael McCormick labels 536 AD as the worst year in human history. We have already given you an account of the darkest time that led him to this conclusion. What you don’t know is what caused this very abrupt climate change.
For many years the mystery behind the fog remained unresolved. Until recently, research found out that the series of catastrophic events stemmed from a massive volcanic eruption. McCormick and his team conducted a dig in a Swiss glacier. After examining the ice samples, they tracked down the origin to be in Iceland. The eruption spewed ash and toxic elements like sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.
The aerosols created a thick layer of fog which became a hindrance for the sunrays to enter the northern hemisphere. To worsen the situation, it was followed by two more bigshot eruptions in 540 and 547. As a result, the volcanic winter set in permanently for the whole century. It wiped away roughly 10-15% of the world population in the year 536.
Could The Year Without A Summer Happen Again?
536 is not the last year since the world suffered through the repercussions of climate change and famine. In the year 1816, history repeated itself to a great extent. After a gigantic eruption in Mount Tambora in Indonesia, there was a similar, although short-spanned, volcanic winter.
Nature is unpredictable and we are mere puppets in the hands of natural calamities. How can we say for sure that no other mountain on Earth will ever burst into lava and ash clouds? It can be just as dreadful as 536 or 1816. But we can hope that with modern technology and disaster management protocols, the human race will survive a year without summer.
By this point, you must be convinced that calling that decade or even that century the worst period in history was not an overstatement. What surprised me the most was how this impactful event never made a place in our regular history books! As a literature major, we studied the Anglo-Saxon era but never got to know what happened in year 536 AD. I guess, school doesn’t teach you everything. If you want to expand your horizons, come back to us for more interesting stories and facts.
