PART 1. “Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century” by Geoffrey Parker
A Book Report by S. Thomas Bond, Resident Farmer and Watershed Volunteer, Lewis County, WV
Geoffrey Parker defines the Little Ice Age as 1620 to about 1700, although others define it as a wider era. The cause is disputed, but perhaps the most widely accepted cause is that dust from volcanic eruptions reflected the warmth-causing rays of the sun back into space.
The first result was famine, and the others followed. Without food, a previously quiet underclass erupted. The effects were felt all over the world, not only Europe, but also the Americas, Asia and Africa. This was the era of the 30 years War in Germany, the English Civil War in which King Charles I deposed and killed by Cromwell’s forces, and the separation of Portugal from Spain. In France, Louis XIII and Louis XIV ( 1638-1715) reigned over the most powerful nation of Europe.
The Ming Dynasty in China was replaced by the Quing, or Manchu Dynasty, the consolidation of the Tokugawea shogunate in Japan and similar events occurred around the world. The Ottoman Empire in the Near East and the Mughal Empire in India somewhat avoided the effects of cold, but suffered terrible draughts due to the loss of the monsoon. The Mughal Empire produced twice the income of any other monarch society on Earth. Unlike in most areas, Shah Jahan, in the worst of it, opted for welfare rather than warfare.
In the “dark continents” (Americas, Africa and Australia) where aboriginal people left no records, historians and anthropologists have learned it was also a bad time due to unusual climate and the depredations of Europeans.
The worst difficulty was in areas with the most dense population and those further from the equator. These were the rice growing areas of Asia and the wheat, oats and barley growing areas of Europe. A reduction of average temperature by less than a degree would advance the first killing frost in the fall by 10 days, and would delay the last killing frost in the spring by the same amount. That is equivalent to raising the altitude by 1300 feet. The maximum decline in temperature in some areas was about 4 times that.
With the starvation, came disease. Various plagues affected different places in the world. People married later, partly because they could not afford it (think dowries and setting up a household) and partly because of depression. In the Orient this encouraged infanticide, and in Europe families dumped their daughters into convents, so they did not have to take care of them. Boys could work or go into the military, of course. Another outlet for unmarried girls was becoming a maid for a family that could afford it. They drew the water, carried the firewood and went to the market for the family, freeing the time of more fortunate women for a more enjoyable life.
In France there was a saying, “A pregnant woman has one foot in the grave.” In Europe generally, a quarter of all children born died in the first year, and another quarter died before reaching the age of reproduction. French historian Pierre Goubert remarked “it took two children to make an adult.” Many marriages occurred only a few weeks or months before the birth of the first child. Starvation caused delayed menarche, advanced menopause and amenorrhea in the worst times.
The record cards maintained for each man in the French army showed that the average height of French soldiers between 1666 and 1694 was five feet, three inches! The “Sun King,” Lewis IV, perhaps the most powerful king Europe ever knew, sent into battle men who were about the height of today’s American eighth grade boys.
“One third of the world died” is the title of one of the chapters. But even in the driest continent, Australia, where people had lived and adapted for 40,000 years, some managed to survive in extra long periods without rain, under the most terrible circumstances. In Africa, the slave trade which had been going on internally for centuries was accelerated as Europeans and Arabs eagerly sought forced laborers, who were criminals or captives of war in their home areas.
The “year without a summer” occurred in Europe in 1628. Crops failed to mature. Then a second occurred in 1675. Nor was extreme cold in winter, cool summers and late killing frost in spring and early fall frosts the only effects. Nor was cold the only effect of the climate change. Droughts and excessively wet weather affected parts of the world, often in succession.
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