Marco Polo

1. Marco Polo (1254 – 1324) By Kaylyn Nadon

2. Life at a Glance… • Born in Venice (his father, Nicolo Polo, was a merchant • Nicolo and his brother, Maffeo Polo, had left on a trading mission shortly before Marco’s birth (from Venice to Asia in the mid 1200’s) • Marco’s mother died when he was a young boy, and he was raised by his aunt and uncle- who trained him to be a merchant. He therefore learned about using foreign money, judging products, and handling cargo ships. • Nicolo and Maffeo Polo returned to Venice in 1269. They had traveled to eastern Asia and had met the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan in China. The Khan had invited them to visit them to visit China again, and so they prepared for another expedition- one that would include the seventeen year old Marco. • In 1271, Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle set off for Asia on a series of adventures that would later be documented in Marco’s book. When they returned 24 years later in 1295 very wealthy, Venice was at war with Genoa, and Marco Polo was taken prisoner.

3. He spent the few months of his imprisonment dictating an account of his travels to an inmate, Rustichello da Pisa, who incorporated accounts from both his travels and current affairs from China. The book became known as The Travels of Marco Polo, and depicted his journey throughout Asia, and gave Europeans the first accurate comprehensive look into the inner workings of the Far East, including China, India, and Japan. • He was finally released in 1299, and returned home to Venice where is father and uncle had bought a large house. The company continued business, and soon Marco Polo became a very wealthy merchant. He financed many more expeditions but never left Venice again. • In 1300, he married the daughter of a fellow merchant, Donata Badoer, and they had three daughters : Fantina, Bellela, and Moreta. Gobi Desert – Marco’s account suggests it was a safe and well established route during Mongol’s reign. • Marco Polo died between the sunsets of January 8 and 9, 1324 (discrepancy due to Venetian Law that states the day ends at sunset) at the age of 70, from illness.

4. Best Known For… • Being possibly the most famous Westerner to have travelled the Silk Road. • Reaching further than any of his predecessors, beyond Mongolia to China. • Becoming a confidant of Kublai Khan (China) and having travelled the whole of China and living to tell the tale (accounts found in the Cathay.) • Writing a book that gave Europeans some of their earliest information about China, called the Cathay. While many names have been given to this book, it is even said that Christopher Columbus carried it with him while attempting to reach the East Indies by sea, two centuries later! • The game named after him… MARCO POLO! • The game was created in Spain, as it was believed that Marco Polo never knew where he was headed when he set out on his travels. It was later used by two men in Germany who got separated in the mountains and called “Marco!” ‘Polo!” back and forth until they were reunited.

5. Handwritten notes by Christopher Columbus on a Latin edition of Polo’s book.

6. Contents of the Book… • A preface about his father and uncle travelling to : Bolghar, Ukek, Bukhara, Beijing, and then back to Venice. • Niccolo, Maffeo, and Marco Polo setting out to fulfill the Khan’s request (delivering a letter to the pope, requesting 100 Christians acquainted with the Seven Arts.) • Three years later, their return to China and completion of request • Kublai Khan’s decline of their requests to leave China • Their perilous two year voyage with the wedding party back to Venice

7. The Age of Discovery! • The Age of Discovery or the Age of Exploration was a period in history starting in the 15th century until the 17th century, during which Europeans and their descendants intensively explored and mapped the world. • Historians often refer to it as the period of Portuguese and Spanish pioneer oceanic explorations that established links with Africa, Asia and the Americas in search for an alternative trade route to Asia between the 15th and 16th centuries. This was fostered by the trade of gold, silver, and spices. • The prelude to the Age of Exploration was a series of European expeditions crossing Eurasia by land in the late Middle Ages. While the Mongols had threatened Europe with pillage and destruction, from 1206 on the Mongol states also unified much of Eurasia creating trade routes and communication lines stretching from the Middle East to China. Many Europeans took advantage of these to explore eastwards and most of these were Italians as they almost completely controlled trade between Europe and the Middle East. Marco Polo was the most famous traveller of these Italians.

8. Travels from Venice to Pagan and back…

9. MARCO POLO’S TIMELINE 1227- Death of Genghis Khan 1251-Kublai Khan becomes Governor of China 1254-Marco Polo is born 1260-first defeat of the Mongols by the Mamluks; brothers Nicolo and Maffeo Polo set sail from Constantinople for the Crimean port of Sudak in search of new markets for their wares 1268- Death of Pope Clement IV (delays the Polo brothers in fulfilling their request from the Khan of delivering a letter to the pope.) 1271- New Pope is crowned and thus begins Marco Polo’s journey with his father and uncle back to see the Khan 1269-The Polo brothers return to find Nicolo’s wife has died and his son, Marco 1275-Marco Polo arrives in Peking 1292- The Polo's settle in Kaikhatu in the Levant for seven months 1294- The Death of Kublai Khan: effectively the end of the Mongol empire despite several later attempted invasions by independent khanates. Marco Polo returns to Venice in 1295.) 1298- Marco Polo is imprisoned at Genoa following the battle of Kurzola: there, he meets a writer, Rustichello of Pisa, and together they begin a book of Marco's travels 1299- Marco Polo is released as a prisoner of war in Genoa: at about this time, Marco marries a Venetian, Donata: they have three daughters, Bellela, Fantina and Moreta: the death of Nicolo Polo 1324-Death of Marco Polo from illness at the age of 70

10. Bibliography… • "Marco Polo and His Travels". Silkroad Foundation. December 23, 2009. http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml • "Marco Polo ". Wikipedia. December 20, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo • Adair, Jones. "In Search of...the Road in Literature". wordpress.com. December 23, 2009 <http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://adairjones.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/travels-of-marco-polo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://adairjones.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/in-search-of-the-road-in-literature/&usg=__WKide1teykToSr4aPI42UfXS53k=&h=434&w=300&sz=56&hl=en&start=20&tbnid=InvGGJg68y-OdM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMarco%2Bpolo%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den>. • "Age of Discovery". Wikipedia. December 30 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery>. • Crouch, Michael. "The Travels of Marco Polo". December 30 <http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/marcopolo.htm>. FOR AN EXTENSIVE INDEPTH LOOK AT MARCO POLO’S LIFE VISIT : http://website.lineone.net/~mcrouch/marcopolo/marcopolo.htm