Nature Influencing History

You might be wondering why I use data from ancient times written by people with limited knowledge, why don’t I use only 21^st century methods. First of all they weren’t stupid back then. It is a great mistake for example to think that everyone during the middle ages thought that the earth was flat. The historian James Hannam wrote a book about it and states in it the following:

‘’The myth that people in the Middle Ages thought the earth is flat appears to date from the 17th century as part of the campaign by Protestants against Catholic teaching. But it gained currency in the 19th century, thanks to inaccurate histories such as John William Draper's History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1874) and Andrew Dickson White's History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). Atheists and agnostics championed the conflict thesis for their own purposes, but historical research gradually demonstrated that Draper and White had propagated more fantasy than fact in their efforts to prove that science and religion are locked in eternal conflict’’

The book is called: God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science (London, 2009) The book creates an image of the ‘’dark ages’’ that strongly opposes the image of most people about the middle ages. 

During the middle ages the knowledge of the Greeks and Romans was certainly not forgotten, it was only further expanded. The Middle East, the Far East and South America were far beyond the earth is flat stage. In these parts of the world there was much knowledge about astronomy, biology, chemistry and many others things. But also in Europe it was certainty not a dark age. There were many scholars who did excellent research and don´t forget that famous universities such as Oxford or Cambridge were founded in the middle ages. But not only in England but also in Italy, Germany and Spain are many universities founded in the middle ages. 

But much more import than making scientific progress is the fact that history can give us good arguments in the debate: who has an influence on who. Do people cause changes in nature or does nature have influence on nature. What made the Vikings leave Scandinavia to raid Western Europe.  How did the vast Maya  civilization  disappear, what happened with the inhabitants of Easter Island. Why died half of the population of Europe during the Black Death between 1348 and 1350. What triggered all the tribes during the Migration Period between 400 and 800 to leave their birth grounds and invade the Roman Empire. Was it the weather?, climate change or others factors. We don’t know it yet for sure. But in all these events weather and climate role play an significant role, and in some cases even a very big role. When we solve these historical questions they will not only give answers in historical terms but they will also reveal much about the weather and the climate of those days. Climate and weather have a great impact on human history and perhaps extreme weather functioned as the straw that broke the camel's back. After the biggest drought in many years the Vikings could have decided to raid England  for gold and other treasures to keep their families alive in Scandinavia for example. 

Anthropology professor Thomas McGovern of Hunter College, City University of New York did research on the question why the Vikings vanished from Greenland. And his answer is Climate change. Watch the video full his full answer