The current pandemic period is threatening our society, but nevertheless, it is still really good to live right now , especially if we put ourselves in the shoes of our ancestors. Many of us ask ourselves, in these troubled times: "Well, it 's not terrible at the moment, but which period in history was the most complicated for humanity to live? ". Well, we have an answer for you .
Really ugly times for mankind
If you have ever asked yourself the question "And you, what period would you have hated living? ", you may have already thought of some of the following periods :
- Europe in 1347 to 1352 : fight against the Black Death. Half of the European population is decimated. We can imagine that the time was not fun to live.
- Indonesia in 1815 : a volcano which enters eruption that darkens the sky for an entire year. A blow to be afraid of the dark.
- Ireland in 1840 : a little reminder of your history lessons! The country was hit by a very serious famine which raged until 1952 and led to 1 million people starving to death. The fault of a nasty parasite.
What if we told you that the worst period of Humanity is none of these three periods, but that it combines, on the other hand, elements of these three answers ?
The answer to the question
The question of the worst period in history for mankind was excavated and made public thanks to researchers in History. This is a coincidence, since this team was initially interested in the evolution of the European monetary system after the fall of the Roman Empire of the West . The results, made public by Science Magazine , claim that mankind suffered the most during the year 536, and the century that followed.
Michael McCormick , medieval historian at Harvard, said:
It announces color. But what could have happened that was so appalling during this period that such remarks were made? Well, this period was particularly dark for mankind, but neither wars nor disease are involved here. If historians have agreed on this period , it is mainly because of the many extreme weather events that have occurredts (in addition to a pandemic), and which led to widespread famine .
According to the writings of the time, mankind experienced a "volcanic winter . In other words, ash and dust would have were thrown into the air as a result of a very large volcanic eruption, thus obscuring the sun with a "mysterious cloud ". Even today, the most famous historians do not know which volcano was at the origin of the drama . From recents studies (focusing on ice cores in Europe) however claim that the eruption occurred in Iceland. This sudden eruption in any case triggered a "small ice age at the end of antiquity ". Indeed, the temperature would have dropped by 2.5 ° C on average after this eruption. And small bonus: the first plague epidemic was born in 541 .
The consequences of the volcanic eruption
If you think that the consequences were only visible in Europe , think again. Snow fell regularly in China in the middle of summer, and hellish droughts hit Peru. In Ireland, the harvests were impossible. No corner of the earth would have been spared . A Byzantine historian living in the Middle East at the time had also written about the "fear caused by this total and hazy solar eclipse ".
This mini ice age also led to many social problems. According to the researchers, the impact of the volcanic eruption was so therefore that it led to the collapse of several empires. The century which followed this eruption indeed saw the collapse of the Sassanid empire, the decline of the Roman empire East, bloody social unrest in Eurasia, and very significant political upheaval in China .
Imagine yourself: being plunged into permanent semi-darkness , with a light that you have never seen before (those who have new a sandstorm today 'hui will know directly what we are talking about here), and this, for many, many months. Imagine the cold, the snow, when the sunny days should be there. Wherever you go , the reserves are empty : hunger hangs in your stomach.or from you, from hunger, or from disease. You are always afraid. For you, and for your loved ones. And there is nowhere on Earth you could take refuge in, or even see the light of day. Good. Finally, we might stay in 2021 , and see if the President will assume the McFly and Carlito anecdotes competition .
