Space Weather and Social Instability: Verifying D.O. Svyatskii and A.L. Chizhevskii’s Research Findings as a Case Study of the 12th–17th Centuries

Abstract

This work investigates the relationship between episodes of social instability in Europe during the 12th–17th centuries and solar activity, i.e., space-weather variations. For data, it employs indices of social instability after P. Sorokin, recovered Wolf numbers, and statistics on aurora borealis and sunspots seen by the naked eye. It has been found that events analogous to revolutions are recorded upon 2 or 3 years on average after the occurrence of the 11-year solar-cycle maximum. The same effect has been revealed for large-scale faith-based conflicts and episodes of pathological ferocity. The findings agree with Svyatskii and Chizhevskii’s hypothesis about an existence of psychotropic factor controlled by the space weather. The physical nature of the latter is discussed using the interdisciplinary approach. Magnetosphere and ionosphere radio waves of extremely low frequency and infrasound appear to be the acting agents.