The Worst of Years

A.D. 536 — the worst year to be alive in the northern hemisphere, according to research by a group of history and climate specialists. Yet, if we listen to the prophet Amos, we learn of other dire circumstances.

“A foreboding cloud of black ash blocks out the sun from Europe to Asia. An outbreak of bubonic plague coincides with a piercing cold snap. Crops fail. Starvation, darkness and squalor abound.”

That’s the opening paragraph of an article last year declaring that in the history of humankind, the year 536 was the worst year to be alive in the Northern Hemisphere, according to research by a group of history and climate specialists.

Or as Harvard history professor Michael McCormick put it, “It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year.”

The black cloud was the result of a massive volcanic eruption in Iceland that triggered 18 months of darkness; “For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year,” wrote Byzantine historian Procopius. And this was compounded by two more eruptions in the years 540 and 547. This cloud of ash blocked the sun, which caused frigid...