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Two things strike me as odd in this article: > 536 Icelandic volcano erupts, dimming the sun for 18 months I’m not aware of any evidence that the 536 eruption

Two things strike me as odd in this article: > 536 Icelandic volcano erupts, dimming the sun for 18 months I’m not aware of any evidence that the 536 eruption happened in Iceland. Ash has been found in both Antarctica and Greenland indicating that the eruption was probably much closer to the equator[1]. > 541–543 The “Justinian” bubonic plague spreads through the Mediterranean, killing 35%–55% of the population and speeding the collapse of the eastern Roman Empire. The Roman empire stood for another 9 centuries after the Justinian plague. I was under the impression that Justinian the Great had overextended the empire in the sixth century so it naturally shrunk to a more manageable size. 1: https://kvennabladid.is/2018/11/20/ekkert-bendir-til-ad-risagosid-536-hafi-ordid-a-islandi-segja-eldfjallafraedingar-hi/ https://kvennabladid.is/2018/11/20/ekkert-bendir-til-ad-risa... (Icelandic)

asdff 6y ago
Historical consensus favors the plague as quite significant, even if the city of constantinople managed to survive independently for several more centuries. The weakened mediterranian presented opportunities for the gothic tribes to take territory in gaul and italy in the decades following, and the economy nor the manpower of the empire never recovered. By the fall, Constantinople was a hollow shell of what it was, controlling hardly any territory and partially in ruins, ultimately abandoned by its few remaining allies in the face of the Turks.
- koheripbal 6y ago
  You are way way way oversimplifying nearly 1000 years of history between the plague of Justinian and the fall of Constantinople. The Justinian expansion was untenable. If you look at it on the map - there are strong enemies on literally all sides. It was a desperate but hopeless attempt to regain the Western Empire. The plague made it worse - but was hardly the catalyst. ...and the East Roman Empire was far more than a city state for a majority of the remaining NINE centuries.
mikhailfranco 6y ago
Yes, the Icelandic volcanoes are capable of this level of atmospheric disruption, but there is not yet a smoking hill in Iceland identified for these events: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather_events_of_535%E2%80%93536 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather_events_of_535%...
- runarberg 6y ago
  It is not that long ago, and the land is really well studied. I think I trust the Icelandic volcanologists over the middle age historian regarding the source of the 535 eruption. This size eruption would definitely leave sizeable evidence that wouldn’t be that hard to find given the barren landscape of Iceland. See compare this to the 1783 Laki eruption which caused similar weather events. Unlike 535, the weather events from the Laki eruption were limited to the Northern hemisphere. It is much more likely that this eruption happened close to the equator, where evidence erode much quicker and the ash has an easier time effecting the two hemispheres.

asdff 6y ago

Historical consensus favors the plague as quite significant, even if the city of constantinople managed to survive independently for several more centuries. The weakened mediterranian presented opportunities for the gothic tribes to take territory in gaul and italy in the decades following, and the economy nor the manpower of the empire never recovered. By the fall, Constantinople was a hollow shell of what it was, controlling hardly any territory and partially in ruins, ultimately abandoned by its few remaining allies in the face of the Turks.

koheripbal 6y ago
You are way way way oversimplifying nearly 1000 years of history between the plague of Justinian and the fall of Constantinople. The Justinian expansion was untenable. If you look at it on the map - there are strong enemies on literally all sides. It was a desperate but hopeless attempt to regain the Western Empire. The plague made it worse - but was hardly the catalyst. ...and the East Roman Empire was far more than a city state for a majority of the remaining NINE centuries.

mikhailfranco 6y ago

Yes, the Icelandic volcanoes are capable of this level of atmospheric disruption, but there is not yet a smoking hill in Iceland identified for these events: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather_events_of_535%E2%80%93536 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather_events_of_535%...

runarberg 6y ago
It is not that long ago, and the land is really well studied. I think I trust the Icelandic volcanologists over the middle age historian regarding the source of the 535 eruption. This size eruption would definitely leave sizeable evidence that wouldn’t be that hard to find given the barren landscape of Iceland. See compare this to the 1783 Laki eruption which caused similar weather events. Unlike 535, the weather events from the Laki eruption were limited to the Northern hemisphere. It is much more likely that this eruption happened close to the equator, where evidence erode much quicker and the ash has an easier time effecting the two hemispheres.