Heinrich Bullinger, sein Diarium und der Beginn der Kleinen Eiszeit-Phase von 1570 bis 1630

Abstract

This article uses Heinrich Bullinger’s Diarium and other texts by the reformer to analyze Bullinger’s perception of the beginning phase of the Little Ice Age (1570–1630) starting in the 1550s. A close reading of Bullinger’s texts is employed to develop a cultural interpretation of the great crisis of 1570/71 that was caused by climate change. During that crisis, Bullinger and his colleague Gwalther moved beyond seeing the connection between moral corruption, increased begging, and alcoholism as the cause of God’s climate scourge to making concrete proposals for poor relief. Understanding climate change as a portent, Bullinger, like many Protestants, concluded that the Day of the Last Judgment was near.