Question

Read a report of the Paris Medical Faculty from 1348 about the plague.

We can say that the main cause of this pestilence was and is the configuration of the heavens. In 1345, at 1:00 in the afternoon of March 20th, there was a major conjunction of three planets in the constellation of Aquarius. This conjunction, along with others like it and the eclipse caused a deadly corruption of the air around us.

What is the most likely reason this document would be important to a historian’s study of the Black Death?

A) It shows the importance of astronomy in medicine today.
B) It shows how medicine once differed in Paris and London.
C) It shows how the plague’s cause was interpreted in the past.
D) It shows the desperation to find a cause of the Black Death.

Answer 1

the correct answer  is:

C. It shows how the plague’s cause was interpreted in the past.

Answer 2

The correct answer is C. It shows how the plague’s cause was interpreted in the past.

Explanation:

Historians are experts that study event s of the past and multiple elements related to them including the causes and consequences of an event and the cultural and social context of it based on multiple sources. In the case of the excerpt presented, this is part of a report written in the Paris Medical Faculty in 1348 that explains the cause for the Black Death was that on March 20th of the same year there was a conjunction of three planets. This implies although it has been determined the Black Death causs was not related to an astronomical event like the one described in the excerpt this document can be used by a historian to understand the social and cultural context of this event and especially the way people that lived during that age interpreted  and explained it. Therefore the reason to use this document to study the Black Death is that "it shows how the plague’s cause was interpreted in the past".