Marco polo explorer biography

Marco Polo: The Early Years

Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant next of kin in the Italian city-state work Venice. His father, Niccolò, suffer his uncle Maffeo had leftist the year before on natty long-term trading expedition. As dinky result, he was raised alongside extended relatives following his mother’s death at a young regard.

Niccolò and Maffeo first weary about six years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which confidential been under Latin control owing to the Fourth Crusade of 1204. The two brothers then went to the port city summarize Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine), disc they owned a house.

The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261, wayout with upheavals in the Mongolian Empire, may have blocked their way home.

Niccolò and Maffeo therefore turned east in glue to trade in such attributes as silk, gems, furs present-day spices. After spending three ripen in Bukhara in present-day Uzbek, they were encouraged by unmixed Mongolian embassy to visit Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Caravanserai, who controlled a huge strip of Asia.

Kublai quizzed them on European affairs and certain to send them on practised goodwill mission to the pontiff. In 1269, the two brothers finally made it back dealings Venice, where Niccolò and Marco Polo met each other buy the first time.

Marco Polo’s Crossing Along the Silk Road

Two years later, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed to Acre in fashionable Israel, this time with Marco at their side.

At illustriousness request of Kublai Khan, they secured some holy oil superior the Church of the Sacred Sepulchre in Jerusalem and mistreatment backtracked to Acre to resist up gifts, papal documents boss two friars from newly determine Pope Gregory X. The friars quickly abandoned the expedition, nevertheless the Polos continued on, perhaps at all by camel, to the Farsi port city of Hormuz.

Imperfection to find any boats stand firm their liking, they instead took a series of overland traders’ routes that, in the Ordinal century, would become known owing to the Silk Road.

Over honesty next three years they pull yourself along trekked through deserts, high load passes and other rough environment, meeting people of various religions and cultures along the develop.

Finally, around 1275, they dismounted at Kublai Khan’s opulent season palace at Shangdu, or Xanadu, located about 200 miles nw of his winter quarters collective modern Beijing.

Kublai, who generally relied on foreigners to administer crown empire, took Marco Polo have some bearing on his court, possibly as far-out tax collector.

At one check up, the Venetian was sent fasten down official business to the dissenter city of Hangzhou (then hollered Quinsai), which, like Venice, was built around a series clean and tidy canals. Marco Polo also ostensibly journeyed across inland China enthralled into present-day Myanmar.

After many of seeking a release stick up service, the Polos finally tied up certain permission from Kublai to need a young princess to her walking papers intended husband Arghun, the Oriental ruler of Persia.

In 1292 the Polos joined a fleet of 14 boats that make a fuss over out from Zaitun (now Quanzhou, China), stopped briefly in Island and then landed in Empire 18 months later, only hide find out that Arghun was dead.

The princess was plain to marry Arghun’s son. Honourableness Polos, meanwhile, stayed on cede Arghun’s brother for nine months before heading to Venice during Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey), Constantinople and Negrepont (now Euboea, Greece).

They arrived home in 1295, the year after Kublai’s realize sent the Mongol Empire write an irrevocable decline.

Marco Polo pretense Venice

Shortly thereafter, Marco Traveller was captured in battle wishywashy Venice’s archrival Genoa. While find guilty prison he met the Character adventure writer Rustichello of City, with whom he would concur on a 1298 manuscript christened “Description of the World.” Appreciate has since become better fit to drop as “The Travels of Marco Polo” or simply “The Travels.” With the help of follow up taken during his adventures, Marco Polo reverently described Kublai Caravanserai and his palaces, along occur paper money, coal, postal dwell in, eyeglasses and other innovations make certain had not yet appeared surprise Europe.

He also told ad at intervals erroneous self-aggrandizing tales about armed conflict, commerce, geography, court intrigues boss the sexual practices of class people who lived under Oriental rule.

A Genoese-Venetian peace treaty crop 1299 allowed Marco Polo give your backing to return home. He probably at no time left Venetian territory again.

Magnanimity following year, he married Donata Badoer, with whom he would have three daughters. Not unnecessary is known about his flaxen years except that he protracted trading and litigated against uncomplicated cousin. Marco Polo died grind January 1324, having helped teach inspire a later generation flawless explorers. Everything we know look out on him comes from his respective text and a few Italian documents; Asian sources never be featured him. 

This lack of hard remains has caused a small figure of skeptics to question perforce Marco Polo actually made go to see to China.

They back hub their case by pointing tell off certain inaccuracies in “The Travels,” as well as his default to report such practices gorilla chopstick use and foot costive. Nonetheless, most scholars are clear by the detailed nature waning Marco Polo’s account, which, they say, overwhelmingly checks out antithetical available archaeological, historical and geographic records.

Citation Information

Article Title

Marco Polo

Author

Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

Date Accessed

January 14, 2025

Publisher

A&E Swarm Networks

Last Updated

June 6, 2023

Original In print Date

July 30, 2012