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Evidence from the Archives of Societies: Institutional Sources

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The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History

Abstract

Records kept by official institutions usually provide the most precise, continuous, and objective information for historical climatology. These sources include official records of grape and cereal harvests, port records, and ships’ logbooks, among others. Nevertheless, use of these sources requires critical evaluation of their institutional framework and the stability and validity of any climate proxies they may contain, such as plant or ice phenology. This chapter reviews the major types of institutional sources employed by historical climatologists and advice for their use, with a focus on early modern Europe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rodrigo, 2008.

  2. 2.

    Ge, 2008.

  3. 3.

    Le Roy Ladurie, 1967, 1971.

  4. 4.

    Daux et al., 2012.

  5. 5.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2013.

  6. 6.

    Guerreau, 1995.

  7. 7.

    Guerreau, 1995.

  8. 8.

    Ruffing, 1997.

  9. 9.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011.

  10. 10.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011.

  11. 11.

    Chuine et al., 2004, 289.

  12. 12.

    Garnier et al., 2011.

  13. 13.

    Labbé and Gaveau, 2011.

  14. 14.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011.

  15. 15.

    Glaser et al., 1999.

  16. 16.

    Labbé and Gaveau, 2013.

  17. 17.

    Wetter et al., 2014.

  18. 18.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011.

  19. 19.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011.

  20. 20.

    Orth et al., 2016.

  21. 21.

    Kiss et al., 2011.

  22. 22.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011.

  23. 23.

    Pfister, 1979.

  24. 24.

    Wetter and Pfister, 2011; Možný et al., 2012.

  25. 25.

    Pribyl et al., 2012, 395.

  26. 26.

    Titow, 1960, 368.

  27. 27.

    Titow, 1960, 394.

  28. 28.

    Pribyl et al., 2012.

  29. 29.

    Le Roy Ladurie and Goy, 1982.

  30. 30.

    García-Herrera et al., 2003.

  31. 31.

    Rohr, 2013.

  32. 32.

    Brázdil and Kotyza, 1999.

  33. 33.

    Mikami et al., 2015.

  34. 34.

    Tarand and Nordli, 2001.

  35. 35.

    Leijonhufvud et al., 2010.

  36. 36.

    de Vries, 1977.

  37. 37.

    Rodrigo and Barriendos, 2008.

  38. 38.

    Wetter et al., 2011.

  39. 39.

    Glaser, 2001, 66.

  40. 40.

    Garza-Merodio, 2007.

  41. 41.

    Barriendos, 2005.

  42. 42.

    Wheeler and Wilkinson, 2005.

  43. 43.

    García-Herrera et al., 2003, 1027.

  44. 44.

    Wheeler and Wilkinson, 2005.

  45. 45.

    García-Herrera et al., 2003.

  46. 46.

    Wheeler, 2005.

  47. 47.

    García-Herrera et al., 2003.

  48. 48.

    Wheeler et al., 2006.

  49. 49.

    Wheeler, 2005.

  50. 50.

    Ayre et al., 2015.

  51. 51.

    Grove and Conterio, 1995.

  52. 52.

    Rodrigo et al., 1998.

  53. 53.

    E.g., White, 2011 for examples from Istanbul.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of History, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change, Bern, Switzerland

    Christian Pfister

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  1. Christian Pfister
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Sam White

  2. Institute of History, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change, Bern, Switzerland

    Christian Pfister

  3. Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Franz Mauelshagen

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Pfister, C. (2018). Evidence from the Archives of Societies: Institutional Sources. In: White, S., Pfister, C., Mauelshagen, F. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Climate History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43020-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-43020-5_6

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