Climate extremes and human response in the former Romanian Principalities during the 18th century. A historical–climatological perspective

This study reconstructs the 18th century climate in the former Principality of Transylvania using direct historical sources (chronicles, administrative documents, travel accounts, etc.). The investigation focuses on identifying temperature and precipitation anomalies, as well as extreme climatic events that caused major disruptions in agriculture, public health and the socio-economic structure of local communities. Documented climatic events (abnormally cold winters, excessive precipitation, floods, droughts and associated food crises) were systematically coded and compared with the proxy data to validate the reconstruction. The convergence between documentary evidence and indirect records confirms the presence of a colder and wetter climate than the current one, characteristic of the persistent influence of the Little Ice Age in Europe. The extreme phenomena were reflected in frozen rivers, prolonged cold springs, rainy summers, frequent floods, locust invasions, poor harvests and different epidemics. In the absence of systematic historical-climatic studies for the formal Romanian Principalities, the results highlight the decisive role of climatic factors in shaping pre-modern social vulnerability.