Select all that apply. Which statements about how the Black Death travelled are correct?
It began in western Europe and travelled eastwards from there
It moved along established trade routes rather than at random✓Correct answer
It was carried home by armies returning from the crusades
Ships carried it from Black Sea ports to ports in the Mediterranean✓Correct answer
From the Mediterranean ports it spread inland across Europe✓Correct answer
Explanation
The pattern of infection followed commerce: the disease appeared first at busy harbours and then worked inland along the roads and rivers that carried goods, which is why coastal cities were struck before inland districts. The idea of returning crusading armies fails because the great expeditions to the east belong to earlier centuries, while this outbreak arrived with merchant shipping.