What if roughly three centuries of history never actually happened?
A German writer claimed about three centuries of the Middle Ages were invented. What part of an old tree helps prove him wrong?
Its growth rings Heribert Illig said dating methods were unreliable, but tree-ring dating and archaeological remains refute his "phantom time" instead of supporting it.
Illig said an emperor and a pope secretly padded the calendar. What round-number year were they supposedly trying to rule in?
The year 1000 His theory blames Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II for faking the dating system to put themselves at AD 1000 and boost Otto's claim to the throne.
Illig's best clue was a calendar fix that skipped fewer days than he expected. Which spring holiday turns out to explain the gap?
Easter The papal calendar reform only meant to match the calendar of the Council of Nicaea, which set the rules for dating Easter, so the "missing" centuries were never missing.
Roman writers and Chinese astronomers both recorded the sky doing something dramatic in broad daylight. What were they watching?
Solar eclipses Eclipses like one reported by Pliny the Elder line up with normal history, not with Illig's version of the timeline.
If those centuries were fake, which major world religion would have its whole early story erased too?
Islam The phantom years cover the life of Muhammad and the spread of Islam into Spain, so forgers would have had to fake history from England to China, which is one reason historians rejected the idea.
