HISTORY

The Worst Year to be Alive in Human History [What Happened In 536AD?]

Death, destruction, and misery in biblical proportions

CREDIT: Follower of Hieronymus Bosch, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Planet Earth is a sanctuary for life in a presumably empty universe. On this relatively small rock is the entirety of all known life. Home to all manner of creatures to thrive in. Yet this seemingly perfect planet has a sinister secret up her sleeve. At any moment she can destroy all the life here. Weather, disease, and famine are just three deadly weapons in her infinite arsenal.

This is something that the Earth inhabitants of 536AD knew all about. They lived in a time period that scientists, archaeologists, and historians all unanimously believe to be the worst time to be alive.

What Was Life Like Before 536AD?

The year of 536AD sits at the beginning of the Early Middle Ages, better known as the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages ran from around 476AD to 1000AD. The time period gained its less than flattering name because of the Italian scholar Francesco Petrarch. In the 1300s, he dubbed the era the Dark Ages due to the lack of good quality Latin literature available at the time.

It’s also worth noting that during this period of time, the world was without any western Roman Empire and…