Question

"Alas! our ships enter the port, but of a thousand sailors hardly ten are spared. We reach our homes; our kindred and our neighbors come from all parts to visit us. Woe to us for we cast at them the darts of death! Whilst we spoke to them, whilst they embraced us and kissed us, we scattered the poison from our lips. Going back to their homes, they in turn soon infected their whole families, who in three days succumbed, and were buried in one common grave." - Gabriele de' Mussi, from Piacenza, Italy 1348.

According to Gabriele de Mussi, what do the "darts of death" describe?

A) It describes how the plague spread to Italy from Central Asia

b) It describes how the plague spread throughout Europe and eventually killed about 1/3rd of its population

C It describes the fact that people were rushing to greet arriving travelers from the seaport and welcoming them with kisses, unintentionally spreading the plague

D It describes how the fleas on infected rats that spread the plague

Answer 1

Option: C. It describes the fact that people were rushing to greet arriving travelers from the seaport and welcoming them with kisses, unintentionally spreading the plague.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Black Death also is known as the plague, was an epidemic that spread throughout Europe in the 1300s. The plague killed one-third of all the people in Europe. According to Gabriele de Mussi, the plague began to spread rapidly after being in contact with sailors. The plague spread through the trade route that connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The majority of the deaths happened in the coastal region with trading city-states.