by Peggy Barnett

Created on: December 22, 2006   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

The Tale of Gervase of Canterbury

"that orbed maiden, with white fire laden, whom mortals call the moon"
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

It was June 25, 1178. Henry II, the father of Richard the Lion-hearted and the first English king of the Plantagenets, ruled over England and northern France. Seven and one-half years earlier, in response to comments made by Henry II, members of his court had murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, who was declared a saint two years later. (Becket's grave was to become the favorite pilgrimage of a devoutly Roman Catholic society for centuries and was later immortalized in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.) A monk of Canterbury named Gervase, who knew Tomas Becket, chronicled the manner of Becket's death for posterity. After June 25, 1178, however, his chronicles would also include the observations of the sky on that evening by the monks of Canterbury.

June 25, 1178 occurred 1.5 days after the new moon. Approximately 520 miles (840 kilometers) beyond the edge of the portion of the moon visible from earth, an incident was to occur, which, it was thought, could not have occurred within the time of recorded history. It seemed even less likely that such an incident would have been witnessed and recorded. According to Gervase of Canterbury, the monks who witnessed the occurrence were "prepared to stake their honor on an oath that they had made no addition of falsification" in their narrative. What they had witnessed on that evening was a huge impact on the moon, probably by a meteorite.

To understand the implication of such an incident, it is necessary to examine the influence that the moon's pull of gravity has upon bodies of water on the earth, such as oceans. It is known that the moon affects the movements of the tides. This is due, in part, to its elliptical orbit around the earth. A major impact on the moon has the potential to affect its orbit, however slightly, which would, in turn, result in a corresponding reaction to the impact on earth, possibly affecting its bodies of water. The reaction on the earth that occurred was what has come to be termed the Little Ice Age. (This event has previously been considered to be solely the result of solar activity minima, which, undoubtedly, was a contributing factor.)

It has been recorded, as early as 1197, in the region near Greenland, that drift ice had begun to appear along vital trade routes, which would result, over the centuries that followed, in the establishment of entirely

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>