MARCO POLO
1254 - 1324
The Granger Collection, NY

We can't be exactly sure about Marco's year of birth. It was around 1254. And he probably grew up in Venice.

Marco Polo's trips to Asia made him famous. What was the big deal about his journeys? And was he already famous in his days?

MARCO POLO'S FAMILY
Marco Polo's father was Niccolò Polo. Marco Polo's uncle was Maffeo Polo.

They were smart traders and thus Marco's family was pretty comfortable financially. One of their friends was even made pope. That was Gregory X.

Marco Polo was married and had three daughters.

MARCO POLO'S TRAVELS
Marco, Niccolò, and Maffeo were travel companions and on the road from 1271 until 1295. First they settled in Constantinople and made a fortune there. In 1260, they exchanged all their money for jewels and took off direction Mongol Empire, as you do.

In 1275, the Polos arrived in Cathay, or China. They set up camp there for 17 years and made friends with and worked for Kublai Khan, famous grandson of Genghis Khan.

In 1292, the exploratory trio left China and got mugged. Well, finally. What did we expect.
 

MARCO POLO'S TRAVELS
Click to enlarge

MARCO POLO'S RETURN
The homecoming of the Polos after 24 years must have been quite the sight. The year was 1295. Marco was now 41 or 42 years old. Nobody recognized them.

Soon after, in 1298, there was a sea battle between Venice and Genoa. The Genoese took Marco captive and locked him up in a prison in Genoa. Marco Polo's co-prisoner was the accomplished writer Rustichello. 

Rustichello offered to write Marco's travel log. Marco was delighted and dictated his Description of the World. Marco Polo got out of prison around 1299 when Venice and Genoa agreed to a more peaceful approach towards each other.

And here is another map of Marco Polo's travel route

ROUTE OF MARCO POLO
Click map to enlarge

MARCO POLO'S WRITINGS
Marco Polo wrote Il milione, which means The Million, and is today better known as the Travels of Marco Polo. Its original title was Description of the World (Divisament dou monde.)

What was the big deal about Marco's travel writings?

People's imaginations were triggered by descriptions of unknown civilizations, enormous fortunes, new and exciting things such as asbestos, coal, magic rites, youtube, and paper money. The weird thing is that Marco wrote it in a way that you have no clue how he felt about the story. He just gave the plain facts.

As usual, you might or might not believe all you read. For instance, the Polos might or might not have acted as military advisers to Emperor Kublai Khan. And Marco might or might not have been temporarily the governor of Jiangsu. 

There were several versions of Marco Polo's work and some editors, of course, felt free to lent a writing hand when the text didn't go along with their opinions. Or their taste. And did the people know how to spell all the foreign names and towns? Of course not.

In any case, the piece hit the bestseller lists. The kicker was that each copy was written by hand.

You can read The Travels of Marco Polo on line and for free. Here is the link to Volume I, and here is the link to Volume II.

MARCO POLO'S REPUTATION
Often in history, with a man who lived that long ago you can basically pick whatever personality you favor and decide HE WAS IT. That's how everybody's done it in Marco Polo's case. Join the club. Some say he was a brilliant mind, a great writer and traveler. Others say he was dull, his stuff was totally made up, written by a co-convict and, to tell the truth, he was a rubber duck. So... take your pick.

MARCO POLO CONTROVERSY
People wonder how come Marco never mentioned anything about the use of tea in China. And what about the Great Wall?

MARCO POLO TRIVIA
If Marco Polo's writings don't mean anything to you, they sure animated Chris Columbus. Right up his alley.

MARCO POLO'S NAME TODAY
There was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, a battle between China and Japan on July 7, 1937. The Japanese won.

And here is the link to the Marco Polo Hotels. A million stars of course.