The great Castilian fire of the year 949 and what historical records say about it

Northern Spain has been experiencing one of the largest waves of forest fires in recent decades for days.

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Some media outlets are claiming this is the worst disaster of its kind to occur in Spain since records began. However, historical records show that the Northern Meseta of Spain suffered a terrible wave of wildfires that began on June 1, 949, during the Early Middle Ages, a time when forest fires were rarely recorded, but this one was so massive that it devastated cities and caused widespread famine.

In 2019, David Nicholas Scott Peterson, historian and professor at the University of Burgos, published a comprehensive study in Spanish and English on the fire, which can be read here. In it, he reviews the chronicles of the time and what they say about the disaster. Its causes are unclear: some say it could have been due to an earthquake, while others attribute it to a meteorite. It was, in any case, a major fire due to natural causes, at a time when there were also arson attacks and laws that punished them.

On this interesting issue, yesterday Isaac Moreno Gallo, civil engineer and historian, published an excellent video reviewing what happened that year and its consequences (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

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Photo: Elentir.