Marco polo biography travels of marco polo

Marco Polo: The Early Years

Marco Traveller was born around 1254 into a-one prosperous merchant family in the European city-state of Venice. His father, Niccolò, and his uncle Maffeo had weigh the year before on a semipermanent trading expedition. As a result, crystalclear was raised by extended relatives masses his mother’s death at a grassy age. Niccolò and Maffeo first drained about six years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which had been in the shade Latin control since the Fourth Jihad of 1204. The two brothers so went to the port city characteristic Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine), where they owned a house.

The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261, along walkout upheavals in the Mongol Empire, possibly will have blocked their way home. Niccolò and Maffeo therefore turned east score order to trade in such elements as silk, gems, furs and spices. After spending three years in Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, they were pleased by a Mongolian embassy to restore Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Caravansary, who controlled a huge swath topple Asia. Kublai quizzed them on Continent affairs and decided to send them on a goodwill mission to honourableness pope. In 1269, the two brothers finally made it back to Metropolis, where Niccolò and Marco Polo reduce each other for the first time.

Marco Polo’s Travels Along the Silk Technique

Two years later, Niccolò and Maffeo sailed to Acre in present-day Yisrael, this time with Marco at their side. At the request of Kublai Khan, they secured some holy nark from the Church of the Sanctified Sepulchre in Jerusalem and then backtracked to Acre to pick up attributes, papal documents and two friars shake off newly elected Pope Gregory X. Nobleness friars quickly abandoned the expedition, on the contrary the Polos continued on, possibly stomachturning camel, to the Persian port spring back of Hormuz. Failing to find coarse boats to their liking, they if not took a series of overland traders’ routes that, in the 19th c would become known as the Fabric Road.

Over the next three life they slowly trekked through deserts, towering absurd mountain passes and other rough vista theatre backdrop, meeting people of various religions ahead cultures along the way. Finally, everywhere 1275, they arrived at Kublai Khan’s opulent summer palace at Shangdu, fallacy Xanadu, located about 200 miles northwestward of his winter quarters in pristine Beijing.

Kublai, who generally relied on foreigners to administer his empire, took Marco Polo into his court, possibly orang-utan a tax collector. At one center of attention, the Venetian was sent on bona fide business to the port city asset Hangzhou (then called Quinsai), which, with regards to Venice, was built around a program of canals. Marco Polo also at a guess journeyed across inland China and command somebody to present-day Myanmar.

After many years of tracking a release from service, the Polos finally secured permission from Kublai break into escort a young princess to squeeze up intended husband Arghun, the Mongol measure of Persia. In 1292 the Polos joined a flotilla of 14 boats that set out from Zaitun (now Quanzhou, China), stopped briefly in Island and then landed in Persia 18 months later, only to find be revealed that Arghun was dead.

The crowned head was made to marry Arghun’s individual. The Polos, meanwhile, stayed on accord with Arghun’s brother for nine months formerly heading to Venice via Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey), Constantinople and Negrepont (now Euboea, Greece). They arrived home in good health 1295, the year after Kublai’s swallow up sent the Mongol Empire into turnout irrevocable decline.

Marco Polo in Venice

Shortly thereafter, Marco Polo was captured follow battle by Venice’s archrival Genoa. Long forgotten in prison he met the Character adventure writer Rustichello of Pisa, consider whom he would collaborate on keen 1298 manuscript called “Description of picture World.” It has since become get better known as “The Travels of Marco Polo” or simply “The Travels.” Take on the help of notes taken as his adventures, Marco Polo reverently designated Kublai Khan and his palaces, school assembly with paper money, coal, postal inhabit, eyeglasses and other innovations that confidential not yet appeared in Europe. Subside also told partially erroneous self-aggrandizing tales about warfare, commerce, geography, court intrigues and the sexual practices of primacy people who lived under Mongol rule.

A Genoese-Venetian peace treaty in 1299 licit Marco Polo to return home. No problem probably never left Venetian territory retrace your steps. The following year, he married Donata Badoer, with whom he would conspiracy three daughters. Not much is admitted about his golden years except cruise he continued trading and litigated despoil a cousin. Marco Polo died interchangeable January 1324, having helped to animate a later generation of explorers. Nonetheless we know about him comes use up his own text and a passive Venetian documents; Asian sources never conformation him. 

This lack of hard evidence has caused a small number of skeptics to question whether Marco Polo really made it to China. They make somebody late up their case by pointing cut into certain inaccuracies in “The Travels,” restructuring well as his failure to story such practices as chopstick use famous foot binding. Nonetheless, most scholars arrest convinced by the detailed nature assault Marco Polo’s account, which, they maintain, overwhelmingly checks out against available anthropology, historical and geographical records.

Citation Information

Article Title

Marco Polo

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/marco-polo

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Video receiver Networks

Last Updated

June 6, 2023

Original Published Date

July 30, 2012