A Study Guide to Chapter One: Oimmeddam

And so many are the GenoeseAnd so spread…throughout the worldThat whenever one goes and staysHe makes another Genoa there

This quote demonstrates the that the Genoese, at their colonial apex, where prolific at influencing the areas that they colonized. They exported their culture and influence to areas around the world; from Caffa upon the Crimean Peninsula to various Middle-eastern port cities to Asia, the Genoese left a lasting impression upon the rest of the world during this period.

Kelly claims that Genghis Khan both railed against and complemented the Genoese, these “eaters of sweet greasy food [who wear] garments of gold…and hold their in their arms the loveliest of women.” This quote demonstrates that while the Mongols held some grudging respect for the Italians, they were equally repelled by them. The Genoese held a grant from the Mongols for occupation of the Crimea, and yet Kelly states that a conflict grew out of a skirmish between the Italians and the local Muslims where “insults were exchanged, fists waved, punches thrown.”This clearly shows that while these two cultures tolerated one another for a while, it was not a lasting and stable peace and the ensuing conflict may have helped spread the plague into the heart of Europe as the Genoese retreated from the Crimea.

When the plague first arrived in the Crimea it “came up behind the Tartar army in the hills above Caffa” and to the delight of the Genoese, took a heavy toll on the sieging army by “slay[ing] the infidel Mongols with golden arrows.” The Tartars for their part did not remain “stunned and stupefied” victims for long. The Tartar commander Janibeg soon ordered infected corpses to be flung over the walls of this city. This act of biological warfare was by all accounts successful, though the Genoese were amazed that they could be struck down by a disease that they had claimed were the scourge of the “pagans” from the east.

The sheer scope of the plague was staggering. In just several short years the pestilence had made an appearance from China to Greenland, taking significant stopovers in Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Italy, France, England. By most accounts Europe was bore the brunt of this disease, suffering a mortality rate of nearly 33% (Kelly 11). For the years between 1347 and 1352 Europe lost 25 million of its 75 million inhabitants. Kelly also notes that in urban Italy, eastern England and France the mortality rates were far greater, reaching between 40% and 60%.

Kelly notes that “for the pathogen to ignite a major outbreak of humna disease on the scale of the Black Death, a number of extraordinary things had to have happened.”One of this risk factors was increased mobility sparked by international trade. Kelly also notes that any number of environmental upheavals thought to have occurred prior to and during the outbreak could have played a major role. These include earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, swarms of locusts, solar eclipses and other calamities could have led to a displacement and migration of the rodent populations.

For continuing a common line of reasoning:

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To change the line of reasoning (contrast):

howeveron the other handbutyet neverthelesson the contrary