The conference Climate Change and Religious Conflict during the Little Ice Age, organised by Jérémie Foa (maître des conférences HDR, TELEMMe, amU) and Brian Sandberg (Senior Fellow, Iméra), aims to explore environmental history and climate change in Europe and the the Mediterranean world (c. 1550-1650).
Detail from the painting ‘The Massacre of the Innocents’ by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565).
The period in question (c. 1550–1650) was marked by significant global cooling, known as the Little Ice Age, especially in the northern hemisphere. At the same time, there were many religious conflicts and internecine civil wars: The French Wars of Religion (1559-1629), Dutch Revolt (1566-1648), Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), British Civil Wars (1638-1660), and a series of interreligious conflicts in the Mediterranean.
History of climate and disasters
This conference focuses on the history of climate and disasters in European and Mediterranean societies during the 16th and 17th centuries. The climate changes of the Little Ice Age provoked cold and wet winters, storms, floods, and other environmental disasters. The growth periods for crops were shorter, diminishing harvests and often creating famines and misery for inhabitants of entire regions. Religious conflicts and civil wars exacerbated these miseries, forcing many people to flee their houses as temporary refugees or migrants.
Rethinking environmental studies
We need to rethink environmental studies in the context of climate history and societies’ responses to climate changes. Fernand Braudel based his conception of the Mediterranean space and environmental history largely on an agricultural definition focused on the production of olives, wine, and wheat. Interdisciplinary researchers in environmental studies such as Olivier Rackham, A.T. Grove, J. R. McNeill, Karl Appuhn, Sam White, and Dagomar DeGroot have produced new analyses of the environment and climate during the early modern period.
This conference invites contributions on environmental history, climate change, deforestation, flooding, protoindustrial pollution, erosion, overfishing, and disasters during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The participants in the conference engage in interdisciplinary discussions to rethink the ecologies of and the Mediterranean in the early modern period.
A long-term project
The organisation of this conference is the result of a long-standing collaboration between Brian Sandberg and Jérémie Foa.
Jérémie organised a first study day on Wars of Religion and Climate Change during his research-leave at Iméra on March 11th, 2025, with Brian’s participation.
Then, as part of Brian’s Senior Fellowship, they once again co-organised the seminar on Climate Change and Religious Conflicts throughout the 2025–2026 academic year. This conference brings the annual seminar to a close, whilst opening up opportunities for future collaboration.
Monday, April 27th, 2026
- 3:30-4pm: Coffee break
- 4-4:30pm: Introduction with Brian Sandberg, Professor of History (Northern Illinois University) and Senior Fellow (Iméra), and Jérémie Foa, Maître de conférences HDR (TELEMMe, Aix Marseille Université)
- 4:30-5pm: Pauline Goul, Assistant Professor of French Literature (University of Chicago), La verminière, le colombier et l’étang: les enjeux écologiques de la régénération à la Renaissance
- 5-5:30pm: Discussion
- 5:30pm: Apéro
Tuesday, April 28th, 2026
- 10-10:30am: Coffee break
- 10:30-11am: Méthodologies with Jérémie Foa (amU) et Brian Sandberg (Iméra)
- 11-11:30am: Claire Gantet, Professor of History (Université de Fribourg), ‘Des souris et des hommes.’ : La guerre de Trente ans et les animaux : quelques exemples.
- 11:30-12pm: Abdolmajid Naderi Beni, Associate Professor and Researcher (IMBE, amU), Geological and Historical Evidence of Paleoclimate Change and Their Coeval Socio-Economic Impacts in Iran over the Last Millennium.
- 12-12:30pm: Discussion
- 12:30-2pm: Lunch break
- 2-2:30pm: Sam A. White, Professor of Political History (University of Helsinki), Bridging Contemporary and Historical Research on Climate Change and Religious Conflict
- 2:30-3pm: Nicolas Maughan, Senior Research Fellow (amU) and at the Institute of History (University of Bern), Climate Change and Historical Social Conflicts in pre-Industrial Europe: First results from the HiSCoD database
- 3-3:30pm: Discussion
- 3:30-4pm: Coffee break
- 4-4:30pm: Jérémie Foa (amU), Survivre à l’hiver. Corps, catastrophe et guerre civile en France (1565)
- 4:30-5pm: Brian Sandberg (Iméra), Les misères de la guerre : Les soldats comme témoins des désastres climatiques pendant les dernières guerres de Religion (1588-1629)
- 5-5:30pm: Discussion
Practical information
- Date: Monday April 27th from 4 to 5:30pm and Tuesday April 28th 2026 from 10am to 6pm
- Venue: Maison des Astronomes conference room, Iméra, 2 place Leverrier 13004 Marseille
- This workshop can be followed online via Zoom.
Coming to Iméra
- Pedestrian access: come through the gate of the 2 place Leverrier, 13004 Marseille.
- PRM access: come through the gate of the Allée Jean-Louis Pons, 13004 Marseille.
