Were 460 years added to the official chronology?

[Human]

I was thinking about Catholic Encyclopedia entry about St. Methodius (Patriarch of Constantinople):

On 13 March, 842, Methodius brought the relics of his predecessor Nlicephorus (who had died in exile) with great honour to Constantinople. They were exposed for a time in the church of the Holy Wisdom, then buried in that of the Apostles. Methodius was succeeded by Ignatius, under whom the great schism of Photius broke out. Methodius is a saint to Catholics and Orthodox. He is named in the Roman Martyrology (14 June), on which day the Byzantine Church keeps his feast together with that of the Prophet Eliseus. He is acclaimed with the other patriarchs, defenders of images, in the service of the feast of Orthodoxy: "To Germanus, Tarasius, Nicephorus and Methodius, true high priests of God and defenders and teachers of Orthodoxy, R. Eternal memory (thrice)." The Uniate Syrians have his feast on the same day. The Orthodox have a curious legend, that his prayers and those of Theodora saved Theophilus out of hell. It is told in the Synaxarion for the feast of Orthodoxy.

and wondering to whom these first 3 names (Germanus, Tarasius and Nicephorus) really belonged to.

Being on the 4th place in acclamation, association was made with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Ali from Muhammad story, because Ali was the 4th of the "rightly guided" (rāshidūn) caliphs (name used for the first four successors to Muhammad).

From wiki about Ali's early life:

According to older historical sources, Ali was born on 13th of Rajab, about the year 600 AD, in Mecca. About the birthplace of Ali ibn Abi Talib, many sources, especially Shia ones, attest that Ali was the only person who was born inside the Kaaba.[1][10][4] His father, Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib, was the leader of the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe.[3] He was also Muhammad's uncle and raised him when his parents died. Later on, when Abu Talib became impoverished, Ali, who was five at the time, was taken home and raised by Muhammad and his wife, Khadija.[1]

Wiki about his father and protector of child Muhammad, Abu Talib:

Abu Talib was born in the city of Mecca in the Hijaz region in 535 CE. He was the son of the Hashimite chief, Abd al-Muttalib, and a brother of Muhammad's father, Abdullah, who had died before Muhammad's birth. After the death of Muhammad's mother Aminah bint Wahab, Muhammad, a child still, was taken into the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib. When Muhammad reached eight years of age, Abd al-Muttalib died. One of Muhammad's uncles was to take him in. The oldest, Al-Harith was not wealthy enough to accept guardianship for his nephew. Abu Talib, despite his poverty, took in Muhammad in an act of selfless generosity.[5] Another tradition states that while on his deathbed, Abdul Muttalib, the father of Abu Talib, chose the latter amongst his sons and entrusted him with the task of raising Muhammad.[6] Although Abu Talib was responsible for providing Siqaya and Rifada (Food and Beverages) of Hajj pilgrims, he lived in poverty. In order to fulfill his obligations towards the pilgrims, he had to borrow money from his uncle Abbas, which he failed to return, thus being forced to letting Abbas take over the duty. Nevertheless, his social position did not take any harm from this failure.[7]

Muhammad loved his uncle, and Abu Talib loved him in return.[8] Abu Talib is remembered as a gifted poet, and many poetic verses in support of Muhammad are attributed to him.[3][9] Once, as Abu Talib was about to leave for a trading expedition, Muhammad wept and could not bear being separated from him. To this Abu Talib responded, "By God I will take him with me, and we shall never part from each other."[10]

Later in life, as an adult, Muhammad saw that Abu Talib was struggling financially after a severe drought. Muhammad decided to take charge of one of Abu Talib's children and he convinced Al-'Abbas to do the same. They discussed this matter with Abū Ṭālib, who asked that his favorite child 'Aqīl be left with him. Al-'Abbās chose Ja'far, and Muhammad chose 'Alī.[11][12][13][14][15][excessive citations]

Wiki about Abu Talib's father Abd al-Muttalib, grandfather of Muhammad and 4th chief of the Quraysh tribal confederation:

His father was Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf,[1]  the progenitor of the distinguished Banu Hashim, a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. They claimed descent from Ismā'īl and Ibrāhīm. His mother was Salma bint Amr, from the Banu Najjar, a clan of the Khazraj tribe in Yathrib (later called Madinah).[2] Hashim died while doing business in Gaza, before Abd al-Muttalib was born.[1]

His real name was "Shaybah" meaning 'the ancient one' or 'white-haired' because of the streak of white through his jet-black hair, and is sometimes also called Shaybah al-Ḥamd ("The white streak of praise").[1] After his father's death he was raised in Yathrib with his mother and her family until about the age of eight, when his uncle Muttalib ibn Abd Manaf went to see him and asked his mother Salmah to entrust Shaybah to his care. Salmah was unwilling to let her son go and Shaybah refused to leave his mother without her consent. Muṭṭalib then pointed out that the possibilities Yathrib had to offer were incomparable to Mecca. Salmah was impressed with his arguments, so she agreed to let him go. Upon first arriving in Mecca, the people assumed the unknown child was Muttalib's slave, and started calling him 'Abd al-Muttalib ("slave of Muttalib").

Wiki about the death of Hashim, father of Abd al-Muttalib, says that "According to Muslim tradition, Hashim died after falling ill on a journey returning from Syria, in Gaza, Palestine in 497.", being 33 years old. About his uncle, Muttalib, wiki entry is basically empty.

Wiki about Adb al-Muttalib contains an interesting story about his son Abdullah, father of Muhammad, resembling much to Abraham and Isaac's story:

Al-Harith was 'Abdul-Muṭṭalib's only son at the time he dug the Zamzam Well.[3]  When the Quraysh tried to help him in the digging, he vowed that if he were to have ten sons to protect him, he would sacrifice one of them to Allah at the Kaaba. Later, after nine more sons had been born to him, he told them he must keep the vow. The divination arrows fell upon his favourite son Abdullah. The Quraysh protested 'Abdul-Muṭṭalib's intention to sacrifice his son and demanded that he sacrifice something else instead. 'Abdul-Muṭṭalib agreed to consult a "sorceress with a familiar spirit". She told him to cast lots between Abdullah and ten camels. If Abdullah were chosen, he had to add ten more camels, and keep on doing the same until his Lord accepted the camels in Abdullah's place. When the number of camels reached 100, the lot fell on the camels. 'Abdul-Muṭṭalib confirmed this by repeating the test three times. Then the camels were sacrificed, and Abdullah was spared.[3]

About Abdullah's death, wiki says:

Soon after their marriage [with Āminah] 'Abdullāh was called to Palestine and al-Shām (present day Syria) on a trading caravan trip. When he left, Āminah was pregnant. 'Abdullāh was absent for several months in Gaza. On his way back he stopped for a longer rest with the family of his paternal grandmother, Salma bint Amr, who belonged to the Najjar clan of the Khazraj tribe in Medina. He was preparing to join a caravan to Mecca when he felt ill.

The caravan went on without him to Mecca with news of his absence and disease. 'Abdul-Muttalib immediately sent his eldest son al-Harith to Medina. Upon his arrival, al-Harith learned that his brother had died and that he had been buried there a month after falling ill. Harith returned to Mecca to announce the death of `Abdullāh to his aged father and his bereaved wife Āminah.[6][7] Abdullah left a few camels and goats and a slave girl named Umm Ayman as terms of inheritance.

So, we have Hashim, Abdullah's grandfather, who died in Gaza after falling ill in 33rd year of life while returning from Syria, leaving his wife Salma pregnant with his son Saybah ('ancient one'), and Abdullah, father of Muhammad, being left to die in his 33rd year of life after falling ill on his way back from Gaza (Syria) by family of that same Salma, cca 70 years later!

On top of it, Hashim's son Saybah was about 8 years old when his uncle Muttalib came to take him (and when Saybah got 'new' name - Slave of Muttalib), while Adbullah's son (Slave of Allah's son) Muhammad was about 8 when his uncle Abu Talib (father of Ali) took him under his roof!

Something smells fishy in this story.

Going further, at the time of Hashim's death, Gaza was under Byzantine rule and it was prolly still 70 years later when Muhammad was born. Emperor in 570 was Justin II who just succeeded Justinian I 5 years before in a unusual way.

Justinian was struck by the plague in the early 540s but recovered. Theodora died in 548[33] at a relatively young age, possibly of cancer; Justinian outlived her by nearly twenty years. Justinian, who had always had a keen interest in theological matters and actively participated in debates on Christian doctrine,[34] became even more devoted to religion during the later years of his life. He died on 14 November 565,[35] childless. He was succeeded by Justin II, who was the son of his sister Vigilantia and married to Sophia, the niece of Theodora. Justinian's body was entombed in a specially built mausoleum in the Church of the Holy Apostles until it was desecrated and robbed during the pillage of the city in 1204 by the Latin States of the Fourth Crusade.[36]

Justinian I died childless on 14 November 565. Callinicus [pl], the praepositus sacri cubiculi, seems to have been the only witness to his dying moments, and later claimed that Justinian had designated "Justin, Vigilantia's son" as his heir in a deathbed decision. The clarification was needed because there was another nephew and candidate for the throne, Justin, son of Germanus. Modern historians suspect Callinicus may have fabricated the last words of Justinian to secure the succession for his political ally.[3] As historian Robert Browning observed: "Did Justinian really bring himself in the end to make a choice, or did Callinicus make it for him? Only Callinicus knew."[4]

...

In the first few days of his reign Justin paid his uncle's debts, administered justice in person, and proclaimed universal religious toleration. On 1 January 566, he became a consul, thereby reviving a post Justinian had discontinued since 541. Justin and Sophia initially promised to make peace with Justin's cousin and rival to the throne, Justin (son of Germanus), but had him assassinated in Alexandria not long after. According to a hostile source, the imperial couple kicked his severed head.[6]

The other Justin was son of general Germanus who was nephew of Justin I, just like Justinian I.

Justin was born around 525, the eldest son of Germanus and his wife Passara. Germanus was a cousin of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) and thus a member of the wider Justinian dynasty and cousin to Justinian's successor, Emperor Justin II (r. 565–578).[2] In 540, he was named ordinary consul at a very young age; he is illustrated as beardless in his consular diptych, and is still mentioned as a "young man" by Procopius nine years later. At this point, he already held the title of vir illustris and the honorary office of comes domesticorum. In the same year, he accompanied his father to the East against the Sassanid Persians, but saw no action.[2] In 549, he was instrumental in the revelation of the plot to overthrow Emperor Justinian by the Armenian general Artabanes and his associates. The conspirators intended to assassinate Emperor Justinian and his favourite general Belisarius, and raise Germanus to the Byzantine throne. Notified of their intentions, Justin informed his father, who then told Marcellus, the Count of the Excubitors, leading to the plotters' arrest.[3]

The plot was because of 'blocked' marriage, but surprisingly no severe punishment was executed.

Artabanes had felt slighted when the Empress Theodora had blocked his marriage with Emperor Justinian's niece Praejecta in 546 on the grounds of an existing marriage.

Irritated over this affair, shortly after Theodora's death (late 548/early 549) he [Artabanes] became involved in the so-called "Armenian Plot" or "Conspiracy of Artabanes". The real instigator, however, was a relative of his, named Arsaces, who proposed to assassinate Justinian, and elevate Justinian's cousin Germanus on the throne instead. The conspirators thought Germanus amenable to their plans, since he had been dissatisfied with Justinian's meddling in the settling of the will of his recently deceased brother Boraides, which had initially named Germanus as the major beneficiary as opposed to the former's sole daughter.[11] The conspirators approached Germanus's son Justin first, and revealed to him the plot. Immediately, he informed his father, and he in turn informed the comes excubitorum Marcellus. In order to find out more of their intentions, Germanus met the conspirators in person, while a trusted aide of Marcellus was concealed nearby and listened in.[12] Although Marcellus hesitated to inform Justinian without further proof, eventually he revealed the conspiracy to the emperor. Justinian ordered the conspirators imprisoned and questioned, but they were otherwise treated remarkably leniently. Artabanes was stripped of his offices and confined to the palace under guard, but was soon pardoned.[13]

Interestingly, general Germanus who revealed the plot, got married to 2nd wife at about that time.

Germanus (Greek: Γερμανός; died 550) was an East Roman (Byzantine) general, one of the leading commanders of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565). Germanus was Emperor Justinian's cousin, and a member of the ruling dynasty. He held commands in Thrace, North Africa, and the East against Persia, and was slated to command the final Byzantine expedition against the Ostrogoths. Having married into the Gothic Amal royal line through his second wife Matasuntha and a distinguished service record, at the time of his sudden death, he was considered the probable heir to Emperor Justinian.

In the meantime, the Gothic War in Italy against the Ostrogoths had been going badly for the Byzantine Empire, with the Gothic king Totila having wrested most of the peninsula back from the Byzantine troops. In 549, Emperor Justinian decided to send a major expeditionary force to Italy with Germanus as its head. Soon, however, he changed his mind and appointed the patricius Liberius instead, before cancelling the expedition altogether.[13]

In 550, however, Emperor Justinian did finally appoint Germanus as commander-in-chief of an Italian expedition. Installing his base at Serdica (modern Sofia, Bulgaria), he began assembling an army. According to Procopius, his fame was such that soldiers, both Byzantines and barbarians, flocked to his banner. Even a Slav invasion headed for Thessalonica allegedly diverted itself towards Dalmatia at the news of his taking up command in Thrace.[13] Germanus also took a step that he hoped would significantly decrease the resistance he would face from the Ostrogoths: he took as his second wife Matasuntha, the former queen of the Goths, granddaughter of Theodoric the Great and last surviving heir of the royal Amal line.[14] Contemporary accounts certainly suggest that this move, combined with news of the massive preparations, produced an effect among the Goths in Italy, as well as the numerous Byzantine defectors in their ranks, some of whom sent messages promising to return to Byzantine allegiance upon his arrival.[14]

In addition, this marriage, which was endorsed by Emperor Justinian himself, marked Germanus out as the heir to both the East Roman and the Gothic realms.[2] It was not to be, however: only two days before the army was to set out, in the early autumn of 550, he fell ill and died.[14] His demise dashed any hopes for the reconciliation of Goth and Roman in Italy, and led to further years of bloodshed, until the peninsula was definitively conquered by the Byzantines.[3]

Germanus is given a very favourable treatment in the work of Procopius, he openly praises him for his virtue, justice, and generosity, as well as for his energy and ability both as a soldier and an administrator.[2][13]

Who was this former queen of the Goths, last surviving heir to royal line?

Mataswintha, also spelled Matasuintha, Matasuentha, Mathesuentha, Matasvintha,[1] or Matasuntha,[2] (fl. 550), was a daughter of Eutharic and Amalasuintha. She was a sister of Athalaric, King of the Ostrogoths. Their maternal grandparents were Theodoric the Great and Audofleda.[3]

According to the Getica by Jordanes,

"Eutharic, who married Amalasuentha...begat Athalaric and Mathesuentha. Athalaric died in the years of his childhood, and Mathesuentha married Vitiges, to whom she bore no child. Both of them were taken together by Belisarius to Constantinople. When Vitiges passed from human affairs, Germanus the patrician, a cousin of the Emperor Justinian, took Mathesuentha in marriage and made her a Patrician Ordinary. And of her he begat a son, also called Germanus. But upon the death of Germanus, she determined to remain a widow."[4]

...
Her son Germanus was born following the death of his father (late 550/early 551). Nothing further is known of him with certainty ...

Wait a minute, what???

General Germanus, very likely the heir to Justinian I (Roman Empire) and Gothic throne at the time also, suddenly fell ill and died in the Balkans, leaving behind his pregnant 2nd wife who was also brought as a 'slave' to Constantinople, and about baby Germanus nothing is known!

Lets take a look again at what Abdullah, Muhammad's father, left behind 20 years later (except unborn Muhammad).

Abdullah left a few camels and goats and a slave girl named Umm Ayman as terms of inheritance.

Wiki about this slave girl:

Barakah bint Tha'alaba (Arabic: بَـرَكَـة), commonly known by her kunya Umm Ayman (Arabic: أمّ أيمن), was an early Muslim and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

She was an Abyssinian slave of Muhammad's parents, Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib and Aminah bint Wahb. Following the death of Aminah, Barakah helped to raise Muhammad in the household of his grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib ibn Hashim. He saw her as a mother figure. Muhammad later freed her from slavery, but she continued to serve Muhammad and his family. She was an early convert to Islam, and was present at the important battles of Uhud and Khaybar.

Following her freedom Muhammad also arranged her marriages, first to Ubayd ibn Zayd of the Banu Khazraj, with whom she had a son, Ayman ibn Ubayd, giving her the kunya Umm Ayman (meaning mother of Ayman). She was later married to the adopted son of Muhammad, Zayd ibn Harithah. Her son with Zayd, Usama ibn Zayd, served as a commander in the early Muslim army and led the Expedition of Usama bin Zayd into the Byzantine Empire.

Honestly, in my wildest dreams I wouldn't have expected this kind of "Germanus" to pop up when wondering about who those 3 guys along St. Methodius in Orthodox acclamation were!

 

[irjO]

Crazy idea just pop up, what if the history as we know it, or "remember" it, is actually history that happened in more than one reality? In some time in history more realities merged, and our 3D brains now sees it as one history.

Interesting idea, and it may happened indeed in a phew specific cases but I don’t think this is one of them. Cases where you can get evidence of events being faked! Like the example of Caesar-Jesus story. We can prove the story of Jesus being a fiction as presented on the Bible.

 

[Jtucker]

These are all very rational, reasonable, and interesting speculations. I've wondered something similar before, but never quite so developed as you have done here.

Thank you so much for the kind compliment, Laura.

I'm sure I've done less than 1% of the research you've pored over, but after reading "From Paul to Mark", I finally realized that the ancient world was very different than I had originally suspected.

My younger years in university always led me wander the library in search of books on early medieval architecture, hagiography and pre-10th century theology - all for no particular reason. I was a film major in a metal band then. But my interest in that historical period never left me.

30 years later, I finally understood a glimmering of just how radically different the world of classical Rome was from that early-medieval successor civilization of the Carolingians. 9th century Europe seems a shivering shadow desperately trying to recapture Rome's glory. I guess we are the successor's of that hope and struggle. Possibly its end result?

This is a fascinating thread and thanks to everyone for your hard work trying to loosen this Gordian knot

 

[Gallo]

I haven't read all this fascinating thread, so forgive me if a similar question has already been asked. I'll get to it when "time" permits, but a thought comes to me, without me being particularly attached to it: what about Muhammad in all this history? When and how does the Muslim Prophet appear? Maybe I'm getting the dates wrong, but his appearance comes right in the middle of these "added" years. What about this man?

 

[Jtucker]

I haven't read all this fascinating thread, so forgive me if a similar question has already been asked. I'll get to it when "time" permits, but a thought comes to me, without me being particularly attached to it: what about Muhammad in all this history? When and how does the Muslim Prophet appear? Maybe I'm getting the dates wrong, but his appearance comes right in the middle of these "added" years. What about this man?

I have a lot of questions about Muhammad as well. But he is traditionally dated as born after Justinian's death. I would say he is one of the first major voices of the new Medieval world.

I can't find the original source, but I believe he was referred to a few times in early medieval European writings as "formerly" St. Mohammed. His writings definitely feel like an ascetic desert monk. That raises a lot of questions. The historical events after Muhammad's death by a few decades seem to make sense and have a coherent timeline. The Muslim expansion into Mesopotamia and a Persia all seem to fit as well as the Persianization (possibly including a transition of Zoroastrianism into Sufism) of Islam and the flowering of its Golden Age.

I can't read Arabic, and I believe the Quran is only written in Arabic, so all interpretations are sketchy unless you read Arabic fluently according to my co-worker friend who is Muslim (The Hadiths apparently clear up some of the issues). But It seems to me that much of the battles and controversies that took place during the prophet's life in Medina and Mecca have many parallel's to the New Testament. Many of his trials and tribulations almost read Arthurian through an Arabic lens.

This would make sense if Muhammad was born in the first generation after the destruction of Justinian. Possibly he came from a Christian family. I think the C's mentioned that Islam was born out of cataclysm. It's strictures and (from our viewpoint) harshness may have been perceived of as the only possible survival strategy in the complete failure of previous religious systems (Paganism/Judaism/Christianty/Zoroastrianism) to protect the populace.

If Procopius is accurate - then many people in the know believed that the demonic avarice and evil of Justinian directly led to the destruction of the ancient world. If Muhammad was born into the after effects and lingering horror of that cataclysm - then there would be a desperate need for a new faith that guarantees safety through the opposite of "Byzantine" excess. A Spartan, almost militant self-discipline with unwavering observance would seem like the only way to survive in that world. Everything else had led to disaster. You can see the remnants of this strict code resonate today in "Resurrection: Ertugrul".

The same reaction arose after Black Death with the flagellants, and the Anabaptists. The Amish and the Hutterites are still sure that the reaction they had after Black Death is the right one after hundreds of years.

One thing I want to explore more, is the complex relationship between Mohammed and the Black Stone (weird how that's the name of the largest property owning group in North America). Early Islam seems completely Iconoclast with no images of anything at all - the complete firbidding of fetishes and idols. Yet here's this ancient Black Stone from who knows how long. How did Muhammad reconcile the worship of something other than God in the form of a pagan, Black Stone?

 

[Laura]

Here's something to pique your neurons.

During the course of doing the research for my "Chronicle of the Fall", I came across something exceedingly curious. When I noticed it, it struck me as completely bizarre. You will see it in the table below. The table is seriously stripped down from the one that includes all the descriptive text from the sources. This stripped version makes it faster to glance through and get a feeling for the problem.

Story behind the table is this: I combed through the sources looking specifically and only for environmental stress signals - nothing else. I just wanted to see how it "flowed" through time, so to say. In order to keep it all organized, I decided to just make a table, year by year, and transcribe the descriptions from the various sources even including the multiple descriptions of the same event if it existed in more than one source (this was for comparison purposes). I started with Byzantine/Eastern Empire sources. As I was giving the table a final check, I thought it was odd that there was nothing about any environmental event in ANY source for the years 580 through 590, but I just assumed that must have been a quiet decade! Things had finally calmed down.

The next step was to comb through Gregory of Tours for similar descriptions which I knew to be there. I was thinking that there might be some of his observations that overlapped/matched with the later Eastern observations. I expected that I would have to insert a couple of table rows as I went along because he may have recorded things in years when nothing was recorded in the East. Certainly, many of his observations would have Eastern counterparts. That was the theory.

But what actually happened is what you see in the table. And that really got my attention.

Year	Eastern Empire – Various Chronicles	Gregory of Tours
431	comet grasshoppers, earthquake the 7th of April and the 6th of July: The fire fell on Constantinople MtS (Michael the Syrian)
450-457	earthquake Tripoli MtS
457-474	Constantinople fire ash fell from the sky Cyzicus earthquake: MtS,
474-475	earthquake in Thrace, (MtS, Book IX – Chapter V - p.147)
491	eclipse of the sun. grasshoppers, MtS, Book IX – Chapter VII – page 154)
498	earthquake. Nicopolis springs of Abarne stopped flowing river Euphrates stopped its flow on the same day. . (Zuqnin) earthquake, spring of Abarnê dried out. … Nicopolis was destroyed grasshoppers: fire on the north side, (MtS, Book IX – Chapter VII – page 154;
500	23/10 eclipse ash Edessa breach in the wall November signs in the sky January sign in the sky, (Zuqnin)
501	Famine locusts plague. (Zuqnin)
502	… earthquake Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon fire in the northern quarter of the sky. (Zuqnin) earthquake, Neocaesarea (MtS, Book IX – Chapter VIII – page 167)
503	sign, like [a spear] was visible in the sky. (Zuqnin)
504	… earthquake Rhodes (Zuqnin)
505	, killing, Persian territory . (Zuqnin)
518	9th July comet (Zuqnin) a great spear in the sky. MtS, Book IX – Chapter XII – Page 175)
521	Dyrrachium, wrath of God. (John Malalas)
522	…Anazarbos calamity from the wrath of God. (John Malalas)
524	Edessa, flooded (John Malalas) (Pseudo Zachariah ) (Zuqnin) (Procopius, Buildings of Justinian, II.7) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XVI – Page 180)
525	, Antioch earthquake (PZ) (Zuqnin) (Mts, Book IX – Chapter XVI – Page 181-182, 183)
528	earthquake .(Zuqnin) … earthquake Dyrrachium (Zuqnin) Antioch earthquake 29th of November… (Zuqnin)
529	Amaseia in Pontus wrath of God, Myra, the metropolis of Lykia, wrath of God… (John Malalas) … earthquake Corinth, (Zuqnin) Euphrates obstructed + flood (Zuqnin) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXI – Page 195)
530	great star in the western region (John Malalas)
531	Anazarbos, the metropolis of Cilicia was also overthrown, its fourth collapse. (Zuqnin)
532	The Nika Rebellion great shower of stars (John Malalas) (Zuqnin) earthquake Constantinople (Chronicon Paschale)[1] earthquake Antioch the (John Malalas)
535	biggest volcanic eruption of the Holocene era, (David Key, The Chinese chronicle strange double roll of “thunder” in February, coming from the south-west. Nan shi (History of the Southern Dynasties), Krakatau eruption (An eye-witness account from a medieval manuscript ) Tree-ring evidence from Siberia indicates that this year began a ten year period of the worst climate conditions experienced for almost 2,000 years.
536	The Sun...seems to have lost its wonted light, and appears of a bluish colour. through almost a whole year. (John Lydos, writing from Constantinople in On Portents) (Michael the Syrian, obviously extracted from John of Ephesus) …. (Zuqnin)[2] ... (Anonymous Syriac chronicler) In China: "the stars were lost from view for three months A failure of bread in the year 536 AD (The Annals of Ulster) A failure of bread from the years 536–539 AD (The Annals of Inisfallen) MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXVI – Page 220) There was a drought in Peru, which affected the Moche culture[3] [4] pestilence (Procopius Book IV, XIV) Tree rings reveal that 536 and the ten following years were a period of slow growth
537	Battle of Camlann, According to Mike Baillie, this was a mythical representation of comets in the sky and cometary bombardment drought in Mecca in the mid to late 530s. (8th and 9th century Arab historians)
538	Pompeioupolis earthquake (John Malalas) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXI – Page 193) (Zuqnin) In the eleventh year of Justinian… a great and terrible comet appeared. (PZ) (MtS, Book IX Chapter XXIV page 209) the great Beirut earthquake and tsunami occurred in the same year. (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXIX – page 241-247).
539	Comet, famine, Vesuvius rumble The Wars, Procopius: [539 A.D.] Book II, IV Antioch earthquake (John Malalas) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXI – Page 193)
540	Cometary bombardment (Chinese historical records) Comet bombardment (Gildas), Flood Collapse of the great dam of Marib in Yemen (Sheba).
541	plague in Egypt (John Malalas) Comet in Gaul (Roger of Wendover ) earthquake occurred in Kyzikos, (John Malalas) Comet drought . (Zuqnin) earthquake Cyzicus (Zuqnin) Earthquake (Constantinople)
542	The sun appeared about noonday, (Boethius) plague began in the East. ~ Book VI, VI
543	plague Mesopotamia. . (Zuqnin)
544	plague, Italy, southern France, Spain.
545	plague. Plague in Persia (Procopius)
546	famine, plague, Mesopotamia. (Zuqnin)
547	tremendous thunder and lightning (John Malalas)
549	Cilicia, flood (Zuqnin) plague British territories, ( Bishop of Llandaf)
551	earthquake Beirut, tsunami. earthquake over Middle east sea retreats (John Malalas, Ps.D. John of Ephesus) Plague (MtS)
553	earthquake. terrible thunder and lightning (Theophanes)[5]
554	earthquake Constantinople (Malalas) Destruction of Baalbek (Zuqnin, Ps. Z., MtS)
555	earthquake Constantinople (Zuqnin) Plague (Zuqnin)
556	Famine Constantinople plague (Malalas) Ashes from the sky (Zachariah of Mitylene)
557	… plague Amid (Zuqnin, MtS) earthquake Constantinople (Malalas, Zuqnin)
558	Constantinople plague. (Malalas)
559	fire in Julian’s harbor, plague + earthquake Cilicia Antioch (Malalas, restored from Theophanes)
562	drought Constantinople (Malalas)
563	shortage of water, (Malalas)
565	Comet (Zuqnin, MtS)	.
566	Comet. (MtS,)
570	earthquake between Edessa and Samosata1 (MtS) Plague and famine Yemen bombardment of stones from the sky
574	earthquake (MtS)
577	Famine, cometary bombardment (MtS)	Comet (20 rays)
580		great floods comet earthquake. Epidemic [6]
581		heavens aflame. flood. Wind. comet epidemic
582		torrential downpours thunder. comet appeared again, whole sky seemed to catch fire. two centers of light, blood rained plague; earthquake
583		great ball of fire fell from the sky flood
584		locusts plague in the northern sky a multitude of rays great circle of many colours appeared round the sun, hailstorm drought. earthquake
585		Rays of light were seen in the northern sky, clouds were blood-red
586		heavy rain two islands were consumed by fire from the sky. Flashes of light appeared in the northern sky.
587		rained heavily a fall of snow buried everything. frost
588		Plague
589		rained and hailed very heavily. flood
590		Comets earthquake eclipse of the sun plague flood
591	eclipse of the sun, violent earthquake, plague Constantinople (MtS)	Plague fire from heaven… a terrible drought
592	blazing drought (MtS)
593	bruchus [aphid, a small parasitic insect] Syria (MtS
610	solar eclipse (April 17?) lack of rain, (MtS. 400)

---

[1] Chronichon Paschale, a 7th century Greek Christian chronicle which utilizes earlier sources and is original from the years 600 to 627. AKA Codex Vaticanus græcus 1941. The chief authorities used were: Sextus Julius Africanus; the consular Fasti; the Chronicle and Church History of Eusebius; John Malalas; the Acta Martyrum; the treatise of Epiphanius, bishop of Constantia (the old Salamis) in Cyprus (fl. 4th century), on Weights and Measures.
[2] Oddly, the Zuqnin chronicle dates this to 530-531. But it has other dates that are quite wrong including the death of Justin and several other important dates.
[3] Ochoa, George; Jennifer Hoffman; Tina Tin (2005). Climate: the force that shapes our world and the future of life on earth. Emmaus, PA: Rodale. p. 71
[4] Keys, David Patrick (2000). Catastrophe: an investigation into the origins of the modern world. New York: Ballantine Pub. ISBN 0-345-40876-4.
[5] Chronographia; C. De Boor, ed, 2 vols, Leipzig, 1883, reprinted Hildesheim, 1980.
[6] V. 33, 34.


Now, what do any of you think about this?

 

[Laura]

Here's another angle on history as we 'know' it.

I grew up knowing the story of Edward II pretty well because the account of how he died was so horrible it would give anybody nightmares. For those who don’t know, he was king of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife, Isabella, in 1327. She was called a “She-Wolf” because she went off to France, where her brother was king, and there hooked up with Roger de Mortimer, Edward’s sworn enemy (who was one of the few people in history who ever escaped from the Tower of London so he was a pretty clever guy), and together, they got help from some Continental nobles, assembled a small army, went back to England and just took over, more or less. We can note that they did this with the almost unanimous support of the people so obviously, at the time, Isabella and Mortimer were not seen as predators. Next, they put Edward in the protective custody of some of their supporters where he was imprisoned in some style and comfort, but somewhere along the way he was allegedly killed by having a hot poker inserted in his anus and “stirred around”. The story said that his screams could be heard all over the countryside.

That’s the really, REALLY, short version.

A few years later, Isabella and Edward’s son, who was the nominal king “guided” by Isabella and Mortimer, feeling a bit hostile that his mother’s lover had killed his father, got some friends together and confronted Roger de Mortimer, took him prisoner, tried him for murder, treason, whatever, and he, too, died a most horrible death. (Think William Wallace in the movie Braveheart . Wallace, by the way, was murdered by Edward I, the father of Edward II and grandfather of Edward III, so they were keeping the family traditions alive.)

Awful story, yes? Oh, of course I knew that Edward II was, at the very least, bi-sexual (he and Isabella had several children together) because he had male friends who scandalized the country: Piers Gaveston and later, Hugh Despenser. I knew that he allowed his male lovers to dominate him and use him to enrich themselves at the expense of the entire country. Both of them come across as complete, rapacious, psychopaths. But knowing that didn’t make the way Edward died right. As it turns out, revealed only in recent years, is that the part about how Edward died – or even that he died at that time - is probably not true. It was propaganda at the time created by enemies of Roger de Mortimer.

It seems that there was a letter written by an unimpeachable source, the Italian Bishop of Vercelli, stating that Edward II actually was helped to escape, went to Italy, became a hermit and lived the rest of his life in exile. The now famous Fieschi Letter was discovered in 1878 in Montpellier France by a French archivist in an official register dated before 1368. The letter was tested and is not a forgery. The letter contains accurate details that few people knew at the time and was written long before the accepted accounts of the murder were penned by propagandists out to get Mortimer.

Historian, Ian Mortimer (no relation to Roger), following the financial accounts and administrative documents of the reign Edward III, demonstrates effectively that Edward III probably did receive this letter and that he met with his father in Germany later, (after he had executed Mortimer for the supposed murder) and that this was the background to a certain change in behavior and attitude on the part of this king. Edward II obviously was content for his son to be king probably because he knew that the whole country had turned against him because of his “vile” sexual proclivities and tendency to want to be the dominated one in any relationship which is what had resulted in the almost complete collapse of royal administration while Gaveston and Despenser were “ruling.” He also probably realized that he could pursue his urges more discreetly and with less opposition as a private person under the guise of a “hermit.” Also, it was important, at the time, for Edward III to protect the reputation of his mother, Isabella, who, after Mortimer’s execution had nearly lost her mind (based on the royal records of the exchequer) and lived out her life in quiet seclusion. This, apparently, is “what really happened.” And nobody had a clue for over 600 years. What is remarkable about this is the fact that this letter was found and the truth revealed at all. How much more of our history is exactly like this: concealed, covered-up, and the truth NEVER comes out at all?

Of course, some old school historians criticize this new conclusion and Ian Mortimer’s “methods”, but isn’t that always the case? If you want to know the details, read his book The Greatest Traitor as well as Alison Weir’s book: Isabella: She Wolf of France, Queen of England. I think you’ll agree that it’s time to put a period to that terrible story and acknowledge that people in power do a lot of things that the rest of us don’t know about and, without certain accidents of fate, such as the discovery of the Fieschi letter, we have no way whatsoever of knowing what is truth and what lies.

The point is that, when studying history, everything can appear, on the surface, to follow a fairly logical cause-event process and the history can be powerfully influenced by the propaganda of the time, such as including the story of the horrible murder of Edward II as “possibly true”. That, of course, puts Isabella and Mortimer in a particular light which, it seems obvious now, they did not deserve to be cast. It also makes it obvious that, even the peoples of the time(s) can be influenced by propaganda to act in certain ways that they later learn were not appropriate. Undoubtedly, Edward III was exposed to horrible rumors about the death of his father and this worked him up to the point that he was willing to go against his mother and her partner, and to execute the man who made him king in retribution. I’m not totally defending Isabella and Mortimer because both of them had axes to grind in the situation, but it seems that the shadow of this event spread over the entire period and it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff when one already has an opinion of how bad they were because they were responsible for such a horrifying act against the person of the lawful king. Isabella and Mortimer obviously did save England from the ravages of the Despensers and who knows how history might have played out if the two of them had continued to rule for a bit longer before Edward III came of age. Things may not have actually been that different except that a truly awful crime against an innocent Mortimer would not have been committed. But then, perhaps the later realization of the fact that he had, in fact, executed an innocent man, a man loved by his mother, affected Edward III in a positive way, making him more thoughtful and willing to wait for more data before making decisions; his realization of his mistake may have made him a better man and king.

So, when we research history, we have to pay close attention because there are not just two sides to a story, sometimes there is the truth that hides behind all the smoke and mirrors and when we come across odd questions, dangling threads that make us aware that something isn’t right, we need to sit up and take notice.

 

[Laura]

Well, has anyone grasped the probable meaning of the Gregory of Tours table?

I sent it to Walter Goffart, the living expert on the topic, and he wrote back to me as follows:

Dear Laura:
Thank you for your message.
As to your question, I see what your table tells and can't account for it except by the obvious supposition that other sources are lacking for the years that Gregory describes. That doesn't seem wholly satisfactory, to say the least, but is there anywhere else to go? It stands to reason that there were plenty of natural occurrences elsewhere than in Gaul.
So, I really can't help you. Good luck with your research. Best wishes, Walter

 

[Human]

Well, has anyone grasped the probable meaning of the Gregory of Tours table?

Well, on a quick glance, it almost looks like an 'inserted' period of 10y, completely invented or copied from somewhere else (another time period).

I sent it to Walter Goffart, the living expert on the topic, and he wrote back to me as follows:

One direction to go would be to be suspicious of those 'entries' of the Gregory of Tours, but it seems Goffart doesn't want to go there. Is Gregory of Tours kind of 'untouchable' as a source?

 

[Human]

From there, trail led in 2 directions (so far) I'm gonna follow:
1. Glagolitic inscriptions, manuscripts and books;
2. general Alexios Mosele, betrothed to Theophilos' youngest daughter Maria and raised to the supreme dignity of Caesar, who just happened to had the same name as Alexios Mosele, general active under Constantine VI (r. 780–797).

2nd thread just kept going in circles, making my brain hurt of all the spinning around few names that constantly kept (re)appearing: Leo, Constantine and Michael, and few others.
Interestingly, Leo - Constantine - Michael are exactly the names of St. Brothers' father, St. Cyril's and St. Methodius', respectively, as given in St. Brothers' biography Lives.

So, I decided to change the approach, leaving 1st thread at the side for now (I'll prolly open a new thread about that, some help from linguistically oriented members needed) and starting to 'check' Arab (Muslim) history timeline with Byzantine one, especially at the time of emperor Theophilos (r. 829 - 842) and alleged Constantine the Philosopher's mission to Samarra (850/1 - 856).

Curious event, from historical perspective, happened 853.

The Sack of Damietta was a successful raid on the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta by the Byzantine navy on 22–24 May 853. The city, whose garrison was absent at the time, was sacked and plundered, yielding not only many captives but also large quantities of weapons and supplies intended for the Emirate of Crete. The Byzantine attack, which was repeated in the subsequent years, shocked the Abbasid authorities, and urgent measures were taken to refortify the coasts and strengthen the local fleet, beginning a revival of the Egyptian navy that culminated in the Tulunid and Fatimid periods.

It's curious because no Byzantine source mentioned the raid.

Although the raid at Damietta was, according to historian Vassilios Christides, "one of the brightest military operations" undertaken by the Byzantine military, it is completely ignored in Byzantine sources, probably because most accounts are warped by their hostile attitude to Michael III (r. 842–867) and his reign. As a result, the raid is known only through two Arab accounts, by al-Tabari and Ya'qubi.[7][14]

There's more to this raid and I'll come back to it.

Story about young Ali becoming 1st Muhammad's follower at the age of 13-14 was described in History of the Prophets and Kings written by that same al-Tabari, about whom wiki says:

Tabari was born in Amol, Tabaristan (some 20 km south of the Caspian Sea) in the winter of 838–9.[9] He has been described as Iranian and of either Persian or Arab origin.[10][11][12][13] He memorized the Qur'an at seven, was a qualified prayer leader at eight, and began to study the prophetic traditions at nine. He left home to study in 236 AH[14] (850/1 AD), when he was twelve. He retained close ties to his home town. He returned at least twice, the second time in 290 AH (903 AD), when his outspokenness caused some uneasiness and led to his quick departure.[15]

He first went to Ray (Rhages), where he remained for some five years.[16] A major teacher in Rayy was Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi, who had earlier taught in Baghdad, but was now in his seventies[17] While in Ray, he also studied Muslim jurisprudence according to the Hanafi school.[18] Among other material, ibn Humayd taught Jarir Tabari the historical works of ibn Ishaq, especially al-Sirah, his life of Muhammad.[19] Tabari was thus introduced in youth to pre-Islamic and early Islamic history. Tabari quotes ibn Humayd frequently, but little is known about Tabari's other teachers in Rayy.[17]

Tabari then travelled to study in Baghdad under Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who, however, had recently died (in late 855 or early 856).[20] ... Tabari's view of Ibn Hanbal, the school's founder, became decidedly negative later in life. Tabari did not give Ibn Hanbal's dissenting opinion any weight at all when considering the various views of jurists, stating that Ibn Hanbal had not even been a jurist at all but merely a recorder of Hadith.[26]

...

In his late twenties, he travelled to Syria, Palestine, India and Egypt.[29] ...

Tabari arrived in Egypt in 253 AH (867 AD),[30] and some time after 256/870, he returned to Baghdad,[31] ... He never took a government or a judicial position.[35]

Tabari was some fifty years old when al-Mu'tadid became caliph. He was well past seventy in the year his History was published. During the intervening years, he was famous, if somewhat controversial, personality. Among the figures of his age, he had access to sources of information equal to anyone, except, perhaps, those who were directly connected with decision making within the government. Most, if not all, the materials for the histories of al-Mu'tadid, al-Muktafi, and the early years of al-Muqtadir, were collected by him about the time the reported events took place. His accounts are as authentic as one can expect from that period.[36] Tabari final years were marked by conflict with the Hanbalite followers of Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Barbahari, a student of the students of Ibn Hanbal. Tabari was known for his view that Hanbalism was not a legitimate school of thought, as Ibn Hanbal was a compiler of traditions and not a proper jurist.[37] The Hanbalites of Baghdad would often stone Tabari's house, escalating the persecution to the point where Abbasid authorities had to subdue them by force.[38] The Baghdad chief of police tried to organize a debate between Tabari and the Hanbalites to settle their differences. While Tabari accepted, the Hanbalites did not show up, but instead came later to pelt his house with stones again. The constant threat of violence from the Hanbalites hung over Tabari's head for the rest of his life.[39]

Tabari died on 17 February 923.[39] [83-84 years old] Some sources suggest that Abbasid authorities buried Tabari at night in secret as they feared mob violence by the Hanbalites,[40] but these reports are uncertain, and other sources agree that he was buried in the morning after his death.[39] Regardless, Tabari was remembered positively by contemporaries such as Ibn Duraid,[39] and the Hanbalites were condemned by Abbasid authorities in their entirety for persecuting opponents, roughly a decade later. They even prevented people from meeting with him, and Ibn Jarir remained trapped in his home until he died.[41] The period in which Tabari lived was full of religious differences and political unrest, which was characterized by the stigmatization and accusation of individuals.[42]

What caught my eye is that ibn Hanbal died the same year as regent Theoktistos, 'protector' of St. Brothers, and that Constantine the Philosopher was on his diplomatic mission to Samarra (allegedly 'new' capital of Abbasids for (short) period of time, then it moved back to Baghdad) when these Byzantine raids happened (and nothing happened to Constantine because of that?).

Disentangling of the Gordian knot continues...

 

[Laura]

I think it would be helpful to separate out Self-Importance's speculations on Eastern histories into a sub-thread if that is possible.

What this thread is most concerned about is sorting out the time problem by examining the histories on which the timeline of Western history is constructed. It is the Western history that led to the domination of Christianity and its timeline and, like it or not, that is what has prevailed for a very long time.

It isn't very helpful to confuse the issues which are actually pretty basic.

 

[dennis]

Maybe the 3 solar eclipses are a clue, 491 in the first column and 590 in second column, then 591 in first column.
100 years apart? In the same general area of the planet?

On average, it takes about 375 years for a total solar eclipse to happen again at the same location.

How Often Do Solar Eclipses Happen?

There are between 2 and 5 solar eclipses every year, each one visible only in a limited area.

www.timeanddate.com

 

[dennis]

NASA table of eclipse maps

NASA Technical Publication TP-2006-214141

This is part of NASA's official eclipse home page. It contains information on the Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses.

eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov

 

[thorbiorn]

Maybe I'm getting the dates wrong, but his appearance comes right in the middle of these "added" years. What about this man?

The circumstances for the founding of Islam is discussed in this thread: The Mecca Mystery: Probing the Black Hole at the Heart of Muslim History by Peter Townsend It began in 2018, but there are also more recent updates.

 

[Human]

Here's something to pique your neurons.

During the course of doing the research for my "Chronicle of the Fall", I came across something exceedingly curious. When I noticed it, it struck me as completely bizarre. You will see it in the table below. The table is seriously stripped down from the one that includes all the descriptive text from the sources. This stripped version makes it faster to glance through and get a feeling for the problem.

Story behind the table is this: I combed through the sources looking specifically and only for environmental stress signals - nothing else. I just wanted to see how it "flowed" through time, so to say. In order to keep it all organized, I decided to just make a table, year by year, and transcribe the descriptions from the various sources even including the multiple descriptions of the same event if it existed in more than one source (this was for comparison purposes). I started with Byzantine/Eastern Empire sources. As I was giving the table a final check, I thought it was odd that there was nothing about any environmental event in ANY source for the years 580 through 590, but I just assumed that must have been a quiet decade! Things had finally calmed down.

The next step was to comb through Gregory of Tours for similar descriptions which I knew to be there. I was thinking that there might be some of his observations that overlapped/matched with the later Eastern observations. I expected that I would have to insert a couple of table rows as I went along because he may have recorded things in years when nothing was recorded in the East. Certainly, many of his observations would have Eastern counterparts. That was the theory.

But what actually happened is what you see in the table. And that really got my attention.

Year	Eastern Empire – Various Chronicles	Gregory of Tours
431	comet grasshoppers, earthquake the 7th of April and the 6th of July: The fire fell on Constantinople MtS (Michael the Syrian)
450-457	earthquake Tripoli MtS
457-474	Constantinople fire ash fell from the sky Cyzicus earthquake: MtS,
474-475	earthquake in Thrace, (MtS, Book IX – Chapter V - p.147)
491	eclipse of the sun. grasshoppers, MtS, Book IX – Chapter VII – page 154)
498	earthquake. Nicopolis springs of Abarne stopped flowing river Euphrates stopped its flow on the same day. . (Zuqnin) earthquake, spring of Abarnê dried out. … Nicopolis was destroyed grasshoppers: fire on the north side, (MtS, Book IX – Chapter VII – page 154;
500	23/10 eclipse ash Edessa breach in the wall November signs in the sky January sign in the sky, (Zuqnin)
501	Famine locusts plague. (Zuqnin)
502	… earthquake Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon fire in the northern quarter of the sky. (Zuqnin) earthquake, Neocaesarea (MtS, Book IX – Chapter VIII – page 167)
503	sign, like [a spear] was visible in the sky. (Zuqnin)
504	… earthquake Rhodes (Zuqnin)
505	, killing, Persian territory . (Zuqnin)
518	9th July comet (Zuqnin) a great spear in the sky. MtS, Book IX – Chapter XII – Page 175)
521	Dyrrachium, wrath of God. (John Malalas)
522	…Anazarbos calamity from the wrath of God. (John Malalas)
524	Edessa, flooded (John Malalas) (Pseudo Zachariah ) (Zuqnin) (Procopius, Buildings of Justinian, II.7) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XVI – Page 180)
525	, Antioch earthquake (PZ) (Zuqnin) (Mts, Book IX – Chapter XVI – Page 181-182, 183)
528	earthquake .(Zuqnin) … earthquake Dyrrachium (Zuqnin) Antioch earthquake 29th of November… (Zuqnin)
529	Amaseia in Pontus wrath of God, Myra, the metropolis of Lykia, wrath of God… (John Malalas) … earthquake Corinth, (Zuqnin) Euphrates obstructed + flood (Zuqnin) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXI – Page 195)
530	great star in the western region (John Malalas)
531	Anazarbos, the metropolis of Cilicia was also overthrown, its fourth collapse. (Zuqnin)
532	The Nika Rebellion great shower of stars (John Malalas) (Zuqnin) earthquake Constantinople (Chronicon Paschale)[1] earthquake Antioch the (John Malalas)
535	biggest volcanic eruption of the Holocene era, (David Key, The Chinese chronicle strange double roll of “thunder” in February, coming from the south-west. Nan shi (History of the Southern Dynasties), Krakatau eruption (An eye-witness account from a medieval manuscript ) Tree-ring evidence from Siberia indicates that this year began a ten year period of the worst climate conditions experienced for almost 2,000 years.
536	The Sun...seems to have lost its wonted light, and appears of a bluish colour. through almost a whole year. (John Lydos, writing from Constantinople in On Portents) (Michael the Syrian, obviously extracted from John of Ephesus) …. (Zuqnin)[2] ... (Anonymous Syriac chronicler) In China: "the stars were lost from view for three months A failure of bread in the year 536 AD (The Annals of Ulster) A failure of bread from the years 536–539 AD (The Annals of Inisfallen) MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXVI – Page 220) There was a drought in Peru, which affected the Moche culture[3] [4] pestilence (Procopius Book IV, XIV) Tree rings reveal that 536 and the ten following years were a period of slow growth
537	Battle of Camlann, According to Mike Baillie, this was a mythical representation of comets in the sky and cometary bombardment drought in Mecca in the mid to late 530s. (8th and 9th century Arab historians)
538	Pompeioupolis earthquake (John Malalas) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXI – Page 193) (Zuqnin) In the eleventh year of Justinian… a great and terrible comet appeared. (PZ) (MtS, Book IX Chapter XXIV page 209) the great Beirut earthquake and tsunami occurred in the same year. (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXIX – page 241-247).
539	Comet, famine, Vesuvius rumble The Wars, Procopius: [539 A.D.] Book II, IV Antioch earthquake (John Malalas) (MtS, Book IX – Chapter XXI – Page 193)
540	Cometary bombardment (Chinese historical records) Comet bombardment (Gildas), Flood Collapse of the great dam of Marib in Yemen (Sheba).
541	plague in Egypt (John Malalas) Comet in Gaul (Roger of Wendover ) earthquake occurred in Kyzikos, (John Malalas) Comet drought . (Zuqnin) earthquake Cyzicus (Zuqnin) Earthquake (Constantinople)
542	The sun appeared about noonday, (Boethius) plague began in the East. ~ Book VI, VI
543	plague Mesopotamia. . (Zuqnin)
544	plague, Italy, southern France, Spain.
545	plague. Plague in Persia (Procopius)
546	famine, plague, Mesopotamia. (Zuqnin)
547	tremendous thunder and lightning (John Malalas)
549	Cilicia, flood (Zuqnin) plague British territories, ( Bishop of Llandaf)
551	earthquake Beirut, tsunami. earthquake over Middle east sea retreats (John Malalas, Ps.D. John of Ephesus) Plague (MtS)
553	earthquake. terrible thunder and lightning (Theophanes)[5]
554	earthquake Constantinople (Malalas) Destruction of Baalbek (Zuqnin, Ps. Z., MtS)
555	earthquake Constantinople (Zuqnin) Plague (Zuqnin)
556	Famine Constantinople plague (Malalas) Ashes from the sky (Zachariah of Mitylene)
557	… plague Amid (Zuqnin, MtS) earthquake Constantinople (Malalas, Zuqnin)
558	Constantinople plague. (Malalas)
559	fire in Julian’s harbor, plague + earthquake Cilicia Antioch (Malalas, restored from Theophanes)
562	drought Constantinople (Malalas)
563	shortage of water, (Malalas)
565	Comet (Zuqnin, MtS)	.
566	Comet. (MtS,)
570	earthquake between Edessa and Samosata1 (MtS) Plague and famine Yemen bombardment of stones from the sky
574	earthquake (MtS)
577	Famine, cometary bombardment (MtS)	Comet (20 rays)
580		great floods comet earthquake. Epidemic [6]
581		heavens aflame. flood. Wind. comet epidemic
582		torrential downpours thunder. comet appeared again, whole sky seemed to catch fire. two centers of light, blood rained plague; earthquake
583		great ball of fire fell from the sky flood
584		locusts plague in the northern sky a multitude of rays great circle of many colours appeared round the sun, hailstorm drought. earthquake
585		Rays of light were seen in the northern sky, clouds were blood-red
586		heavy rain two islands were consumed by fire from the sky. Flashes of light appeared in the northern sky.
587		rained heavily a fall of snow buried everything. frost
588		Plague
589		rained and hailed very heavily. flood
590		Comets earthquake eclipse of the sun plague flood
591	eclipse of the sun, violent earthquake, plague Constantinople (MtS)	Plague fire from heaven… a terrible drought
592	blazing drought (MtS)
593	bruchus [aphid, a small parasitic insect] Syria (MtS
610	solar eclipse (April 17?) lack of rain, (MtS. 400)

---

[1] Chronichon Paschale, a 7th century Greek Christian chronicle which utilizes earlier sources and is original from the years 600 to 627. AKA Codex Vaticanus græcus 1941. The chief authorities used were: Sextus Julius Africanus; the consular Fasti; the Chronicle and Church History of Eusebius; John Malalas; the Acta Martyrum; the treatise of Epiphanius, bishop of Constantia (the old Salamis) in Cyprus (fl. 4th century), on Weights and Measures.
[2] Oddly, the Zuqnin chronicle dates this to 530-531. But it has other dates that are quite wrong including the death of Justin and several other important dates.
[3] Ochoa, George; Jennifer Hoffman; Tina Tin (2005). Climate: the force that shapes our world and the future of life on earth. Emmaus, PA: Rodale. p. 71
[4] Keys, David Patrick (2000). Catastrophe: an investigation into the origins of the modern world. New York: Ballantine Pub. ISBN 0-345-40876-4.
[5] Chronographia; C. De Boor, ed, 2 vols, Leipzig, 1883, reprinted Hildesheim, 1980.
[6] V. 33, 34.


Now, what do any of you think about this?

I don't see a record of a big vulcano eruption, so prominently seen in Greenland ice cores Pierre has shown us.
Do you see it?