1. Which poet drew on his own experience of exile from his native city of Florence to write The Divine Comedy?

2. Who addressed his 14th-century poetry to an idealized beloved named Laura?

3. Which ancient Roman writer, who witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, was allegedly overcome and killed by fumes from the volcano?

4. What Italian literary critic and semiotician wrote a best-selling murder mystery?

5. What medieval collection of tales begins with the flight of people from plague-stricken Florence?