In the year 536, a massive volcanic eruption released vast amounts of particles into the atmosphere, creating a veil that dramatically dimmed sunlight across the Northern Hemisphere. Contemporary accounts described the sun as faint and the world as if under a permanent eclipse. This led to a sharp drop in temperatures, widespread crop failures, and famine. Europe experienced its coldest decade in over two millennia, with unusual weather events such as summer snow in China and persistent bread shortages in Ireland. The crisis was compounded a few years later when the bubonic plague erupted in Egypt and swept through the Eastern Roman Empire.