He was ilustrated by that by the tragedy that he got passing the years
I think the answer is number 4
Venice and Florence emerged as key centers of trade in the Mediterranean, based on the trade of silk, cotton, wool and spices. The Italian city-states were the bridge between the Byzantine Empire, Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
The sentence that provides a clue to the meaning of Slaughtered is
"Entire Populations were slaughtered".
Slaughtered means kill or defeat.
Hope This Helps!
