... and East Africa. Robert Gottfrieds The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, stats that the plague traveled from China, and thought to have been carried along the Silk Road into Central Asia in 1339. Plague reached Sarai, the Volga River, and the Crimea in 1345. From there it spread rapidly. By the next year, 1346, plague epidemics broke out ... products by three main routes. The first was entirely overland, running from Northern China, through Central Asia, and then to the Black Sea. This was the famous "Silk Road" manly carrying oriental spices and silk. Spice tr...

• Word Count: 1394
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of a merchant/explorer named Marco Polo. Marco Polo was born in Venice, Italy into a merchant family. In 1271, Marco set out with his father and uncle on a journey, along the Silk Road which was an ancient trade route from Rome to China. Marco Polo recorded the details of his journeys in a book titled, The Description of the World. This book was read ... encouraged Europeans to increase trade with these distant lands. After Marco Polo's travels and writings, trade increased between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Europeans sought such luxury items as silk, porcelain, spices, and jewe...

• Word Count: 775
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School