The Little Ice Age During Shakespeare's Lifetime

That Shakespeare Life

Since 1939, when Francios E. Matthas wrote it into scientific literature, the Little Ice Age has been known as a period in history between the 15th and 19th centuries, when the climate was significantly colder than what is typical. The history generally divides the Little Ice Age into sections, which alternate with periods of warming to create wild weather phenomena, including long frozen winters and cold, wet summers. According to the latest research from our guest this week, this Little Ice Age was delayed in England, specifically, not taking hold there until much later, in the first part of the 17th century. While continental Europeans encountered Little Ice Age conditions during the sixteenth century, the English population faced volatile seasonal variations with extremes of drought and severe storm weather and violent tidal surges. Our guest this week, Laurie Johnson, joins us to share some of the weather data he is compiling for his latest publication that looks at the impact of climate and weather on how we should understand the plays that were written as these climate phenomena were occurring, as well as the playing companies staging them.

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