Wait, what?!: In 2005, PBS on the Medieval Warm Period: "Europe basked in a warm spell known as the "Medieval Warm Period" (MWP); temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees Celsius higher than they are today. People got used to the longer growing season and the new crops that a warmer climate allowed for..."

A study of Redwood trees in California reveals that the Little Ice Age affected California, too:

'In addition to painstaking measurements of every branch and twig, the team took 15 half-centimeter-wide core samples of The President to determine its growth rate, which they learned was stunted in the abnormally cold year of 1580 when temperatures in the Sierra hovered near freezing even in the summer and the trees remained dormant."

 2005 article on the Little Ice Age:

"Global temperatures naturally fluctuate slightly from year to year. However, in the past 10,000 years, there have been three relatively long global cold spells. The Little Ice Age (LIA) is the most recent and best documented, especially in Europe.

It may have had a greater effect on history than its predecessors because it immediately followed several centuries of unusually warm temperatures. Between 800 and 1200, Europe basked in a warm spell known as the "Medieval Warm Period" (MWP); temperatures were 2 to 3 degrees Celsius higher than they are today. People got used to the longer growing season and the new crops that a warmer climate allowed for. In addition, more areas were suitable for agriculture. Vineyards and farms flourished farther north and at higher elevations than they do today. Calmer sea conditions and reduced pack ice encouraged exploration and allowed the Vikings to sail and settle in new areas such as Iceland and Greenland."   [Via DB]