Question 10
In that year (1450 CE] there came to Naples a three-man embassy from the King of Ethiopia to His Highness, our King Alfonso. Among the ambassadors was a certain Pietro Rombulo, an Italian, native of the city of
Messina. This Pietro claimed that he had lived among the Ethiopians for over 40 years. And he described to me how in Ethiopia there are innumerable Christians-since both the people and the king there worship Christ
-among whom he had been able to live a good Christian life safely and honorably. The ruler of Ethiopia, King David, whom they call Zara Yacob, was said by the ambassadors to be the most civilized, the most just, and
the most pious of princes
Pietro Ranzano, Catholic Church official in Naples and Sicily, Universal story written circa 1480
Which of the following was a key similarity in the policies of the rulers of African states such as Ethiopia in the period circa 1200-1450 ?
A They granted their subjects unrestricted freedom of speech.
They used religion and laws to bolster their legitimacy
They faced challenges to their power from powerful merchant elites.
They sought to achieve economic self-sufficiency by restricting trade contacts with other societies.

According to the excerpt given, some envoys were sent by the King of Ethiopia and one of them, an Italian who claims to have lived in Ethiopia for over forty years recounts how the land is peaceful and bolstering because most people are Christians, including the King.

The key similarity in the policies of the rulers of African states such as Ethiopia between 1200-1450 was that they used religion and laws to bolster their legitimacy