#656-659 The Frisian Atlantis
Fun Fact #656
Dikes of Dread
As the world warmed up from the Medieval Climate Anomaly, there were of course going to be issues created such as rising sea levels and stronger local storms. Yet what happened on January 16th, 1219 was completely unexpected as the First Saint Marcellus’ Flood killed almost 36,000 people in modern Netherlands and Germany alone. Despite the sudden catastrophe one of the first ports to spring back into operation was the city of Rungholt on the Island of Strand.
Thanks to their speedy repairs they quickly became the local power in terms of trade. Then their island provided a natural defense against overland-invasion, preventing them from sharing the fate of many coastal towns. Lastly, while dikes (to keep back water) did exist even in the region before this incident, Rungholt hired experts in the construction of newer versions which had the potential to last hundreds of years to prevent any such disaster from ever happening again. Yes, the Frisian and Halligan Islands were a growing power to whom the world seemed to only need time to win.
Image shows the efforts of land reclamation The Netherlands has been undergoing since the 1300s
#657
The Typo of Terror
With a warmer world and the dike system to defend against natural disasters, the Port cities of the North and Baltic seas seemed to be bright as their trade became ever more profitable/powerful. Then came two separate natural disasters in less than 100 years which would tarnish this idea. The first started in 1280 in which crops began to suffer a decreasing crop yield every year until they hit a seed yield ratio of 2:1 in Northern Europe forcing increased trade with southern Europe which only went down to a 7:1. For reference, in 2023 the average seed yield ratio for crops in the US was 30:1 (you get 30 seeds harvested for every seed planted). The worst year of the famine is known today as “The Great Famine of 1317”.
While expensive, the famine actually increased profits for the port cities, yet expanded trade was sustained even after crop yields returned to normal. Thus when the bacteria Yersina Pestis (Plague) came about in 1346AD, it found convenient transportation on the fleas carried by trade throughout Europe. At the time this Plague event was known as “The Great Death” but today it’s better known as “The Black Death” thanks to it being included in a Danish history record produced in The Port of Aalborg in the 1500s. This is thanks to it using the latin phrase “atra Mors” meaning “Terrible Death” but was often mistranslated as “Black Death” thanks to “atra” also referring to the color.
Fun Fact # 658
The Second Flood of St. Marcellus
Coming out of The Black Death, Europe was in terrible shape. Actually, that’s an understatement as the plague spread so far and fast good records just weren't kept making the estimated death toll vary widely between 25-50Million deaths in just 7 years. Suffice it to say many settlements were just wiped off the map, and in all this chaos something was forgotten which should not have been. It had been 143 years since the last great flood of Northern Europe, and now the dikes had fallen into disrepair.
Thus came that terrible day on January 16th, 1362 when an extratropical-Cyclone (essentially a hurricane) swept into the North Sea, pounded the coastlands, and broke the dikes. Worse yet, that night was a new moon, making rescue from the floods near impossible until morning. When the daylight shone the survivors found the world forever changed as the flood waters had washed away whole cities such as Ravenser Odd and the Harbor of Dunwich. The most drastic change was the formation of the ZeiderZea covering around 1,900 square miles.
Fun fact #659
The Frisian Atlantis
The second Flood of Saint Marcellus was disastrous for The coasts of the North sea, however one region was hit harder than most in what is today The Wadden Sea Coast in Schleswig-Holstein (Northern Germany). This region is the Halligen Islands who have been separated from the mainland by storm surges over the centuries. The most famous of these was the port city of Rungholt which was completely sunk during this natural disaster and for many decades the area remained dangerous to sail through becoming known as “The Curse of Strand”.
Thankfully the region is much safer today –although still largely depopulated and relies mostly on agriculture and tourism. The islands are protected from the open Ocean by The North Frisian Barrier Island and most structures on the islands themselves are built upon constructed mounds called “Terps”. Their main function is to protect people, buildings, and churches from storm surges. The idea of partially inhabited earthen mounds (most of the structure is on top) just makes me think of the Hobbits from Lord of the rings, however I couldn't find any link between Tolkien and the Islands meaning the similarity is likely coincidental.
