Catastrophic Climate History in Post-Roman Britain

• In Event: Towards Better Histories of Climate and Society: Investigating Late Antique and Medieval Climate Change

Abstract

Post-Roman Britain is shrouded in mystery. The paucity of textual evidence for northwest insular Europe in this period makes an interdisciplinary approach to its history particularly necessary, but that same shortage of written sources can encourage inadequately informed interpretations of paleoscientific data. This paper examines post-Roman British specialists' treatment of the 536-50 climate downturn. Scholars’ recent use of the 536 'mystery cloud' to date Gildas’ "De excidio Britonum" -- our only near-contemporary narrative source for the period -- exemplifies the potential pitfalls of applying scientific evidence to historical questions and reveals how poorly understood scientific data can encourage uncritical interpretations of texts, which in turn lead to unfounded assertions about historical events. The paper thus demonstrates how inexpert treatment of paleoscientific evidence for calamity can create methodological disasters.

Author

• Rachel Singer, Georgetown University