Flood events of selected European rivers in the sixteenth century

The severity and frequency of sixteenth-century floods of the Rhine, the Ma in, the middle and upper Elbe with its tributaries, rivers of northern and central Italy, the Garonne and rivers in Catalonia and Andalusia are analyz ed using documentary evidence. The basic topographical and hydrological cha racteristics of the rivers investigated as well as the synoptic causes of t heir flooding during the instrumental period are presented. Different examp les of modifications of the run-off process due to anthropogenic activity a re discussed. Prevalence in flood occurrence during the second half of the sixteenth century in comparison to the first half is typical for central Eu ropean and Andalusian rivers (mainly in the 1560s and 1590s) and agrees wit h the evolution of precipitation patterns. On the other hand, Italian and C atalonian rivers, in part, had a higher occurrence of floods during the fir st half of the century. Changes in the flooding seasons in both halves of t he century are not unambiguous. Results of an analysis on a broader Europea n scale show floods to be a random natural phenomena with limited areal ext ent defined by the spatial influence of forcing meteorological factors (con tinuous heavy rains, sudden melting of thick snow cover, etc.). Despite som e limitations of documentary evidence, series of reconstructed historical f loods are valuable sources of proxy data which can be utilized for the stud y of the flooding fluctuations in the pre-instrumental period.