Climatic Variability in Sixteenth-Century Europe and Its Social Dimension

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-2

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2. Guest Editorial

   1. Guest Editorial

      • Christian Pfister, Rudolf Brázdil, Rüdiger Glaser

      Pages 3-4

3. Climatic Variability in Sixteenth-Century Europe and its Social Dimension: A Synthesis

   1. Climatic Variability in Sixteenth-Century Europe and its Social Dimension: A Synthesis

      • Christian Pfister, Rudolf Brázdil

      Pages 5-53

4. The Evidence

   1. Documentary Evidence on Climate in Sixteenth-Century Europe

      • Christian Pfister, Rudolf Brázdil, Rüdiger Glaser, Mariano Barriendos, Dario Camuffo, Mathias Deutsch et al.

      Pages 55-110

   2. Daily Weather Observations in Sixteenth-Century Europe

      • Christian Pfister, Rudolf Brázdil, Rüdiger Glaser, Anita Bokwa, Franz Holawe, Danuta Limanowka et al.

      Pages 111-150

   3. European Tree Rings and Climate in the 16th Century

      • K. R. Briffa, P. D. Jones, R. B. Vogel, F. H. Schweingruber, M. G. L. Baillie, S. G. Shiyatov et al.

      Pages 151-168

5. Reconstructions of Climate

   1. Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Fluctuations in Selected Parts of Europe During the Sixteenth Century

      • Rüdiger Glaser, Rudolf Brázdil, Christian Pfister, Petr Dobrovolný, Mariano Barriendos Vallvé, Anita Bokwa et al.

      Pages 169-200

   2. European Surface Pressure Patterns for Months with Outstanding Climatic Anomalies During the Sixteenth Century

      • Jucundus Jacobeit, Heinz Wanner, Gerhard Koslowski, Martin Gudd

      Pages 201-221

6. Impacts and Perception

   1. Glacier Fluctuations in the Western Swiss and French Alps in the 16th Century

      • H. Holzhauser, H. J. Zumbühl

      Pages 223-237

   2. Flood Events of Selected European Rivers in the Sixteenth Century

      • Rudolf Brázdil, Rüdiger Glaser, Christian Pfister, Petr Dobrovolný, Jean-Marc Antoine, Mariano Barriendos et al.

      Pages 239-285

   3. A Method to Assess the Impact of High Tides, Storms and Storm Surges as Vital Elements in Climatic History the Case of Stormy Weather and Dikes in the Northern Part of Flanders, 1488 to 1609

      • A. M. J. De Kraker

      Pages 287-302

   4. The Influence of Climatic Change on Price Fluctuations in Germany During the 16th Century Price Revolution

      • Walter Bauernfeind, Ulrich Woitek

      Pages 303-321

   5. The Crisis of Wine Production in Late Sixteenth-Century Central Europe: Climatic Causes and Economic Consequences

      • Erich Landsteiner

      Pages 323-334

   6. Climatic Change and Witch-Hunting: The Impact of the Little Ice Age on Mentalities

      • Wolfgang Behringer

      Pages 335-351

A multidecadal cooling is known to have occurred in Europe in the final decades of the sixteenth-century. It is still open to debate as to what might have caused the underlying shifts in atmospheric circulation and how these changes affected societies. This book is the fruit of interdisciplinary cooperation among 37 scientists including climatologists, hydrologists, glaciologists, dendroclimatologists, and economic and cultural historians. The known documentary climatic evidence from six European countries is compared to results of tree-ring studies. Seasonal temperature and precipitation are estimated from this data and monthly mean surface pressure patterns in the European area are reconstructed for outstanding anomalies. Results are compared to fluctuations of Alpine glaciers and to changes in the frequency of severe floods and coastal storms. Moreover, the impact of climate change on grain prices and wine production is assessed. Finally, it is convincingly argued that witches at that time were burnt as scapegoats for climatic change.

• Atmospheric circulation
• ITC
• Precipitation
• Storm
• Storm surge
• Tide
• Weather
• climate change
• temperature
• hydrogeology

• Institute of History, University of Berne, Switzerland

  Christian Pfister

• Department of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

  Rudolf Brázdil

• Institute of Geography, University of Würzburg, Germany

  Rüdiger Glaser

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