Papers by Annabell Engel
Climate of the Past, Discussions, 2020
The cold/wet anomaly of the 1310s («Dantean anomaly») has attracted a lot of attention from schol... more The cold/wet anomaly of the 1310s («Dantean anomaly») has attracted a lot of attention from scholars, as it is commonly interpreted as a signal of the transition between the MCA and the LIA. The huge variability that can be observed during this decade, similarly with the high interannual variability observed in the 1340s, has been highlighted as a side-effect 10 of this rapid climatic transition. In this paper, we demonstrate that a multi-seasonal drought of almost two years occurred in the Mediterranean between 1302 and 1304, and respectively a series of hot and dry summers north of the Alps from 1304 to 1306. We propose to interpret this outstanding dry anomaly, unique in the 13th/14th century, combined with the 1310s and the 1340s cold anomalies, as part of the climatic shift from the MCA to the LIA. Our reconstruction of the predominant weather patterns of the first decade of the 14th century from documentary and proxy data lead to the identification of multiple European 15 water seesaw events in 1302-1307, with similarities to the seesaw conditions which prevailed in 2018 over continental Europe. It can be debated to which extent the 1302-1307 period can be compared to what is currently discussed regarding the influence of the Arctic amplification phenomenon on the increasing frequency of long-lasting stable weather patterns that occurred since the late 1980s. Additionally, this paper deals with socioeconomic and cultural responses to drought risks in the Middle Ages from contemporary sources and provides evidence that there is a significant correlation between blazes that devastated cities 20 and pronounced dry seasons.
Published project presentation: https://mittelalter.hypotheses.org/12062
Articles by Annabell Engel
Climate of the Past, 2020
The cold/wet anomaly of the 1310s (“Dantean Anomaly”) has attracted a lot of attention from schol... more The cold/wet anomaly of the 1310s (“Dantean Anomaly”) has attracted a lot of attention from scholars, as it is commonly interpreted as a signal of the transition between the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). The huge variability that can be observed during this decade, like the high interannual variability observed in the 1340s, has been highlighted as a side effect of this rapid climatic transition. In this paper, we demonstrate that a multi-seasonal drought of almost 2 years occurred in the Mediterranean between 1302 and 1304, followed by a series of hot, dry summers north of the Alps from 1304 to 1306. We suggest that this outstanding dry anomaly, unique in the 13th and 14th centuries, together with cold anomalies of the 1310s and the 1340s, is part of the climatic shift from the MCA to the LIA. Our reconstruction of the predominant weather patterns of the first decade of the 14th century – based on both documentary and proxy data – identifies multiple European precipitation seesaw events between 1302 and 1307, with similarities to the seesaw conditions which prevailed over continental Europe in 2018. It can be debated to what extent the 1302–1307 period can be compared to what is currently discussed regarding the influence of the phenomenon of Arctic amplification on the increasing frequency of persistent stable weather patterns that have occurred since the late 1980s. Additionally, this paper deals with socioeconomic and cultural responses to drought risks in the Middle Ages as outlined in contemporary sources and provides evidence that there is a significant correlation between pronounced dry seasons and fires that devastated cities.
Outreach by Annabell Engel
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/weathered-history/hwJiMeBlg6zDLg
The online exhibiti... more https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/weathered-history/hwJiMeBlg6zDLg
The online exhibition "Weathered History" of the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) visualises climate history for the first time using objects from 12,000 years of human history. On display are diverse testimonies from a wide range of countries, from cave paintings to sometimes curious technical inventions such as the 'dandy horse' and weather reports on cigarette packets from Hong Kong. The exhibition, which is available in German and English, was realised in cooperation with the CRIAS working group of the international research network Past Global Changes (PAGES).
Humans have always been confronted with changing environmental conditions and climate changes. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms or natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions often brought destruction and death. They imprinted themselves on the memory of the survivors and left more or less visible traces in art, science and everyday life. The exhibition "Weathered History" follows some of these traces. Some objects may be surprising witnesses to the memory of weather catastrophes; but they also show how skilfully historical societies adapted to climate changes. The selection of objects is global, but there are remarkable pieces from the German-speaking countries in particular: The oldest drinkable wine in the world, which owes its creation to a millennial summer; a miniature horn made of clay for protection against thunderstorms from Martin Luther's childhood home or the bell that inspired Friedrich Schiller to write his famous poem of the same name.
The online exhibition was curated by GWZO staff members Diana Lucia Feitsch and Dr Martin Bauch, who leads the VW Foundation-funded Freigeist Junior Research Group "The Dantean Anomaly (1309-1321)" at the Institute. The team examines rapid climate change at the beginning of the 14th century and its effects on late medieval Europe. "What is unique about the exhibition is that no one ever tried to present a history of climate change with objects. Every researcher knows the one or the other object, but they have never been brought together. We tried to do that in a selection. I think we have successfully assembled the collective knowledge of a large professional community from the humanities and natural sciences“, says Martin Bauch. The greatest difficulty in realizing the exhibition was the current tense global pandemic situation. "It has been a challenge to clarify publication rights from around the world and get images with a decent resolution in these pandemic times," Diana Lucia Feitsch says, "with archives and libraries closed or hardly available for requests."
On the GWZO's YouTube channel, the two curators provide a more detailed insight into the exhibition "Weathered History", which can now be visited online. For example, they explain their motives for creating this exhibition and present their personal favourite piece. The interview is the first episode of the new in-house GWZO video series "Ostblick", which allows insights into the work at the GWZO even under pandemic conditions. | https://youtu.be/lnjQroBDZtM
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Papers by Annabell Engel
Articles by Annabell Engel
Outreach by Annabell Engel
The online exhibition "Weathered History" of the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) visualises climate history for the first time using objects from 12,000 years of human history. On display are diverse testimonies from a wide range of countries, from cave paintings to sometimes curious technical inventions such as the 'dandy horse' and weather reports on cigarette packets from Hong Kong. The exhibition, which is available in German and English, was realised in cooperation with the CRIAS working group of the international research network Past Global Changes (PAGES).
Humans have always been confronted with changing environmental conditions and climate changes. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms or natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions often brought destruction and death. They imprinted themselves on the memory of the survivors and left more or less visible traces in art, science and everyday life. The exhibition "Weathered History" follows some of these traces. Some objects may be surprising witnesses to the memory of weather catastrophes; but they also show how skilfully historical societies adapted to climate changes. The selection of objects is global, but there are remarkable pieces from the German-speaking countries in particular: The oldest drinkable wine in the world, which owes its creation to a millennial summer; a miniature horn made of clay for protection against thunderstorms from Martin Luther's childhood home or the bell that inspired Friedrich Schiller to write his famous poem of the same name.
The online exhibition was curated by GWZO staff members Diana Lucia Feitsch and Dr Martin Bauch, who leads the VW Foundation-funded Freigeist Junior Research Group "The Dantean Anomaly (1309-1321)" at the Institute. The team examines rapid climate change at the beginning of the 14th century and its effects on late medieval Europe. "What is unique about the exhibition is that no one ever tried to present a history of climate change with objects. Every researcher knows the one or the other object, but they have never been brought together. We tried to do that in a selection. I think we have successfully assembled the collective knowledge of a large professional community from the humanities and natural sciences“, says Martin Bauch. The greatest difficulty in realizing the exhibition was the current tense global pandemic situation. "It has been a challenge to clarify publication rights from around the world and get images with a decent resolution in these pandemic times," Diana Lucia Feitsch says, "with archives and libraries closed or hardly available for requests."
On the GWZO's YouTube channel, the two curators provide a more detailed insight into the exhibition "Weathered History", which can now be visited online. For example, they explain their motives for creating this exhibition and present their personal favourite piece. The interview is the first episode of the new in-house GWZO video series "Ostblick", which allows insights into the work at the GWZO even under pandemic conditions. | https://youtu.be/lnjQroBDZtM
The online exhibition "Weathered History" of the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) visualises climate history for the first time using objects from 12,000 years of human history. On display are diverse testimonies from a wide range of countries, from cave paintings to sometimes curious technical inventions such as the 'dandy horse' and weather reports on cigarette packets from Hong Kong. The exhibition, which is available in German and English, was realised in cooperation with the CRIAS working group of the international research network Past Global Changes (PAGES).
Humans have always been confronted with changing environmental conditions and climate changes. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms or natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions often brought destruction and death. They imprinted themselves on the memory of the survivors and left more or less visible traces in art, science and everyday life. The exhibition "Weathered History" follows some of these traces. Some objects may be surprising witnesses to the memory of weather catastrophes; but they also show how skilfully historical societies adapted to climate changes. The selection of objects is global, but there are remarkable pieces from the German-speaking countries in particular: The oldest drinkable wine in the world, which owes its creation to a millennial summer; a miniature horn made of clay for protection against thunderstorms from Martin Luther's childhood home or the bell that inspired Friedrich Schiller to write his famous poem of the same name.
The online exhibition was curated by GWZO staff members Diana Lucia Feitsch and Dr Martin Bauch, who leads the VW Foundation-funded Freigeist Junior Research Group "The Dantean Anomaly (1309-1321)" at the Institute. The team examines rapid climate change at the beginning of the 14th century and its effects on late medieval Europe. "What is unique about the exhibition is that no one ever tried to present a history of climate change with objects. Every researcher knows the one or the other object, but they have never been brought together. We tried to do that in a selection. I think we have successfully assembled the collective knowledge of a large professional community from the humanities and natural sciences“, says Martin Bauch. The greatest difficulty in realizing the exhibition was the current tense global pandemic situation. "It has been a challenge to clarify publication rights from around the world and get images with a decent resolution in these pandemic times," Diana Lucia Feitsch says, "with archives and libraries closed or hardly available for requests."
On the GWZO's YouTube channel, the two curators provide a more detailed insight into the exhibition "Weathered History", which can now be visited online. For example, they explain their motives for creating this exhibition and present their personal favourite piece. The interview is the first episode of the new in-house GWZO video series "Ostblick", which allows insights into the work at the GWZO even under pandemic conditions. | https://youtu.be/lnjQroBDZtM