What hardships did Marco Polo face?
The places that Marco Polo went were unknown places so he had to risk his life to sleep and adventure that land not knowing what dangerous animals he could find. Marco Polo was away from his family and Italy for 24 years! When Marco Polo told his trips/ adventures people mostly laughed because they didn't believe anything .
Why did Marco Polo want to travel to Asia?
To obtain riches from China and Asia. To establish communication and commerce with the cultures of the for East. Marco wanted to travel with his father and his uncle. Marco Polo returned to China with his father because they had orders that the emperor gave. Click to see full answer Simply so, why did Marco Polo travel to Asia?
What did Marco Polo do for a living?
Fast Facts: Marco Polo
- Known For: Exploration of the Far East and writing about his travels
- Born: c. ...
- Parents: Niccolò Polo, Nicole Anna Defuseh
- Died: January 8, 1324 in Venice
- Education: Unknown
- Published Works: The Travels of Marco Polo
- Spouse: Donata Badoer
- Children: Bellela Polo, Fantina Polo, Moretta Polo
- Notable Quote: “I have not told the half of what I saw.”
What was Marco Polo afraid of?
The country was cruel to strangers and did not spare them. Marco Polo went to this unfriendly country. Upon arrival, he enters the palace of the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan’s. He was afraid of the hostile Mongolian people and not knowing of their language. Marco was born an explorer and knew how to negotiate with different people.
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What was Marco Polo’s family like?
The Polos were likely shrewd, alert, and courageous; they traded with the Middle East and acquired considerable wealth and prestige. Marco Polo’s f...
What did Marco Polo do?
Marco Polo was 17 or 18 when he began his journey from Venice to the farthest reaches of the Mongol empire. Living among the emperor’s dominions, w...
Why was Marco Polo so influential?
Marco Polo’s account in Il milione opened new vistas to the European mind, and, as Western horizons expanded, Polo’s legacy grew as well. The wealt...
What were Marco Polo’s other accomplishments in Asia?
Kublai Khan sent Marco Polo on fact-finding missions to distant parts of the empire, including visits to Yunnan (and possibly Myanmar [Burma]) and...
What happened to Marco Polo in 1295?
Marco Polo returned to Venice in 1295 with his fortune converted into gemstones. At this time, Venice was at war with the Republic of Genoa. Polo armed a galley equipped with a trebuchet to join the war. He was probably caught by Genoans in a skirmish in 1296, off the Anatolian coast between Adana and the Gulf of Alexandretta (and not during the battle of Curzola (September 1298), off the Dalmatian coast, a claim which is due to a later tradition (16th century) recorded by Giovanni Battista Ramusio ).
Who was Marco Polo?
Italian explorer and merchant noted for travel to central and eastern Asia. Marco Polo. Polo wearing a Tartar outfit, print from the 18th century. Born. September 15, 1254. Venice, Republic of Venice. Died. January 8, 1324 (aged 69) Venice, Republic of Venice.
What is the book of Marco Polo called?
In fact, the Italian title of his book was Il libro di Marco Polo detto il Milione, which means "The Book of Marco Polo, nicknamed ' Milione' ".
Where did Marco Polo learn to trade?
Born in Venice, Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along the Silk Road until they reached Cathay (China). They were received by the royal court of Kublai Khan, who was impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility. Marco was appointed to serve as Khan's foreign emissary, and he was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout the empire and Southeast Asia, such as in present-day Burma, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. As part of this appointment, Marco also travelled extensively inside China, living in the emperor's lands for 17 years and seeing many things that had previously been unknown to Europeans. Around 1291, the Polos also offered to accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin to Persia; they arrived around 1293. After leaving the princess, they travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, returning home after 24 years. At this time, Venice was at war with Genoa; Marco was captured and imprisoned by the Genoans after joining the war effort and dictated his stories to Rustichello da Pisa, a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married, and had three children. He died in 1324 and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice .
How many daughters did Marco Polo have?
They had three daughters, Fantina (married Marco Bragadin), Bellela (married Bertuccio Querini), and Moreta. Pietro d'Abano, philosopher, doctor and astrologer. Pietro d'Abano philosopher, doctor and astrologer based in Padua, reports having spoken with Marco Polo about what he had observed in the vault of the sky during his travels.
What is the nickname of Marco Polo?
Nickname Milione. Corte Seconda del Milion is still named after the nickname of Polo, Il Milione. Marco Polo is most often mentioned in the archives of the Republic of Venice as Marco Paulo de confinio Sancti Iohannis Grisostomi, which means Marco Polo of the contrada of St John Chrysostom Church .
How many copies of Marco Polo's book are there?
A total of about 150 copies in various languages are known to exist. Before the availability of printing press, errors were frequently made during copying and translating, so there are many differences between the various copies.
How long did Marco Polo stay abroad?
Marco Polo remained abroad for 24 years. Though not the first European to explore China—his father and uncle, among others, had already been there—he became famous for his travels thanks to a popular book he co-authored while languishing in a Genoese prison.
What did Marco Polo describe in his travels?
With the help of notes taken during his adventures, Marco Polo reverently described Kublai Khan and his palaces, along with paper money, coal, postal service, eyeglasses and other innovations that had not yet appeared in Europe.
What was Marco Polo's first journey?
Marco Polo: The Early Years. Marco Polo’s Travels Along the Silk Road. Marco Polo in Venice. Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road.
Where was Marco Polo born?
Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. His father, Niccolò, and his uncle Maffeo had left the year before on a long-term trading expedition. As a result, he was raised by extended relatives following his mother’s death at a young age. Niccolò and Maffeo first spent about six years in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which had been under Latin control since the Fourth Crusade of 1204. The two brothers then went to the port city of Soldaia (now Sudak, Ukraine), where they owned a house.
Where did the Polos go in the 19th century?
The friars quickly abandoned the expedition, but the Polos continued on, possibly by camel, to the Persian port city of Hormuz. Failing to find any boats to their liking, they instead took a series of overland traders’ routes that, in the 19th century, would become known as the Silk Road.
Where did the Polos go to?
The Polos, meanwhile, stayed on with Arghun’s brother for nine months before heading to Venice via Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey), Constantinople and Negrepont (now Euboea, Greece). They arrived home in 1295, the year after Kublai’s death sent the Mongol Empire into an irrevocable decline.
Who took Marco Polo into his court?
Kublai, who generally relied on foreigners to administer his empire, took Marco Polo into his court, possibly as a tax collector. At one point, the Venetian was sent on official business to the port city of Hangzhou (then called Quinsai), which, like Venice, was built around a series of canals. Marco Polo also purportedly journeyed across inland China and into present-day Myanmar.
How many years did Marco Polo live abroad?
Marco Polo spent 24 years abroad, 17 of them in China.
How long were the Polos away from Venice?
The Polos had originally planned to be gone for only a few years. However, they were away from Venice for more than 23 years. Debate has swirled among historians as to whether Polo ever really made it to China. There is no evidence outside his famous book that he traveled so far east. Yet his knowledge of the culture and its customs are hard to dismiss. His later account told of Khan's extensive communication system, which served as the foundation for his rule. Polo's book, in fact, devotes five pages to the elaborate structure, describing how the empire's information highway efficiently and economically covered millions of square miles.
What did Khan's acceptance of the Polos offer the foreigners?
Khan's acceptance of the Polos offered the foreigners unparalleled access to his empire. Niccolo and Maffeo were granted important positions in the leader's Court. Polo, too, impressed Khan, who thought highly of the young man's abilities as a merchant.
Why did Polo have to retreat to the mountains?
Hardships, of course, came his way. In what is now Afghanistan, Polo was forced to retreat to the mountains in order to recoup from an illness he'd contracted. Crossing the Gobi desert, meanwhile, proved long and, at times, arduous.
What did Polo do in the Middle East?
As they made their way through the Middle East, Polo absorbed its sights and smells. His account of the Orient, especially, provided the western world with its first clear picture of the East's geography and ethnic customs. Hardships, of course, came his way.
What did Khan ask the Polo brothers to do?
During their stay with the leader, Khan had expressed his interest in Christianity and asked the Polo brothers to visit again with 100 priests and a collection of holy water. Khan's Empire, the largest the world had ever seen, was largely a mystery to those living within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire.
Where did Niccolo and Maffeo travel?
Niccolo and Maffeo’s journeys brought them into present-day China, where they joined a diplomatic mission to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol leader whose grandfather, Genghis Khan, had conquered Northeast Asia. In 1269, the two men returned to Venice and immediately started making plans for their return to Khan's court. During their stay with the leader, Khan had expressed his interest in Christianity and asked the Polo brothers to visit again with 100 priests and a collection of holy water.
Who translated Marco Polo's story?
Marco Polo dictated his stories to his cellmate, Rustichello da Pisa, but the text was then translated by Dominican friars into Latin, paving the way to its becoming one of the world’s first bestsellers. Photograph: ENA
Who were the witnesses to Polo's will?
Among the witnesses named on the document, which was discovered by Marcello Bolognari, were Friars Benvenuto and Centorio, who were included in Polo’s will.
Where was Polo's parchment found?
Researchers from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice recently discovered a parchment in the city’s archives that testified to Polo’s close connection to the Dominican friars of the Santi Giovanni e Paolo convent, close to where he resided, in the years following his release from prison.
Who was the only person to accept money from the Venetian nobleman?
In the document, dated 1323, a year before he died, Marco Polo is listed as the only layperson among the witnesses of the order’s acceptance of money left to it by a Venetian nobleman, Giovanni dalle Boccole, in his will.
Did the friars help Polo?
The document also gives a new twist on the theory that the friars helped to revise Polo’s book. The draft that Polo and Rustichello da Pisa produced in the Genoese prison was written in Franco-Italian. When Polo returned to Venice, he made some adjustments. For the friars, Polo’s accounts were a precious source of information about travel and spiritual beliefs in the east. However, they did not understand Franco-Italian and so they translated the revised manuscript into Latin.
Overview
Life
Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic. His father, Niccolò Polo, had his household in Venice and left Marco's pregnant mother in order to travel to Asia with his brother Maffeo Polo. Their return to Italy in order to "go to Venice and visit their household" is described in The Travels of Marco Polo as follows: "...they departed from Acre and went to Negropont, and from Negropont they continued their voyage to Venice. On their arrival there, M…
The Travels of Marco Polo
An authoritative version of Marco Polo's book does not and cannot exist, for the early manuscripts differ significantly, and the reconstruction of the original text is a matter of textual criticism. A total of about 150 copies in various languages are known to exist. Before the availability of printing press, errors were frequently made during copying and translating, so there are many difference…
Scholarly analyses
Sceptics have long wondered whether Marco Polo wrote his book based on hearsay, with some pointing to omissions about noteworthy practices and structures of China as well as the lack of details on some places in his book. While Polo describes paper money and the burning of coal, he fails to mention the Great Wall of China, tea, Chinese characters, chopsticks, or footbinding. Hi…
Legacy
Other lesser-known European explorers had already travelled to China, such as Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, but Polo's book meant that his journey was the first to be widely known. Christopher Columbus was inspired enough by Polo's description of the Far East to want to visit those lands for himself; a copy of the book was among his belongings, with handwritten annotations. Bento de Góis, …
See also
• Chinese expeditions to the Sinhala Kingdom
• Chronology of European exploration of Asia
• John of Montecorvino, Catholic Italian missionary to China
• Rabban Bar Sauma, Uyghur Nestorian Christian monk from Zhongdu (Khanbaliq, modern Beijing) who led a Mongol diplomatic mission to medieval European monarchs and the pope, visiting Greece, Italy, and France
Bibliography
• Marco Polo, Marci Poli Veneti de Regionibus Orientalibus, Simon Grynaeus Johannes Huttichius, Novus Orbis Regionum ac Insularum Veteribus Incognitarum, Basel, 1532, pp. 350–418.
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Marco Polo" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Further reading
• Marco Polo (1918). Marsden, William (ed.). The Travels of Marco Polo. London: J.M. Dent & Sons. p. 461.
• Hart, H. Henry (1948). Marco Polo, Venetian Adventurer. Kessinger Publishing.
• Dalrymple, William (1989). In Xanadu.