A Marvellous Sign and A Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning

Gasper, Giles E.M.; Tanner, Brian K.

doi:10.1002/wea.4144

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Authors

Professor Giles Gasper g.e.m.gasper@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Brian K. Tanner

Abstract

We describe an entry in a twelfth century monastic chronicle, compiled and composed by Gervase of Canterbury (c. 1145–c. 1210), which gives a credible description of ball lightning. It predates the earliest known report of the phenomenon from England by nearly 450 years. The meteorological descriptions in Gervase's 1195 report are examined in the context of the purpose of the chronicle and we compare them with modern reports of ball lightning.

Citation

Gasper, G. E., & Tanner, B. K. (2022). A Marvellous Sign and A Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning. Weather, 77(7), 232-234. https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.4144

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 22, 2021
Online Publication Date	Jan 26, 2022
Publication Date	2022-07
Deposit Date	Jan 13, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Jan 26, 2023
Journal	Weather
Print ISSN	0043-1656
Electronic ISSN	1477-8696
Publisher	Royal Meteorological Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	77
Issue	7
Pages	232-234
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.4144

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Copyright Statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Gasper, Giles E. M. & Tanner, Brian K. (2022). A Marvellous Sign and A Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning. Weather 77(7): 232-234, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.4144. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.