Final answer:
In 'The Wife of Bath's Tale,' fairies are said to be absent due to friars who blessed away their presence, the correct answer being A. friars. Travel difficulty in the 14th century was largely due to high costs and limited transportation options, while worsening environmental conditions prompted migration.
Step-by-step explanation:
In "The Wife of Bath's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the disappearance of fairies is humorously attributed to the proliferation of friars. The Wife of Bath suggests that fairies are no longer present because the friars, who roamed the countryside blessing every corner, have essentially chased them away. In her prologue, she muses about the past when elves used to roam in the very same spots where friars now walk. The answer to the question is A. friars.
Historical novels, like the one involving Anselm Adorne seeing Edinburgh, use imagination to weave factual events with fictional details, thus making these stories come alive for the reader. In terms of travel in the fourteenth century, it was made difficult primarily by the high cost and limited modes of transportation, indicating answer B is most relevant in that context. After the Black Death, many peasants moved to towns and cities, signaling a move away from feudalism and a search for employment, which can be connected to answer D. Regarding migration, the driving factor among fourteenth-century people was often related to seeking better living conditions due to worsening environmental conditions, pointing towards answer D as well.