What years did Marco Polo live? - AskingLot.comMarco Polo: Facts, Biography & Travels
Marco Polo is believed to have traveled across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire.He traveled overland along the Silk Road at the age of 17 with his father and uncle.Marco Polo was dispatched to help administer the realm by the powerful Mongol ruler.Marco Polo lived abroad for 24 years.He became famous for his travels because of a book he co-authored while in a Genoese prison.
Marco Polo was born into a prosperous merchant family in Venice.Niccol and his uncle Maffeo left the year before for a long-term trading expedition.He was raised by extended relatives after his mother died.The first six years of Niccol and Maffeo's lives were spent in Constantinople, which had been under Latin control since the Fourth Crusade of 1204.The two brothers owned a house in the port city of Soldaia.
Did you know?Christopher Columbus is said to have sailed to the New World with a copy of Marco Polo's "Travels".Columbus thought he would reach Asia and not know about the collapse of the Mongol Empire, so he marked the book with notes.
The Byzantine re-conquest of Constantinople in 1261 may have prevented them from returning home.Niccol and Maffeo decided to trade in things like silk, gems, furs and spices.They were encouraged by a Mongolian embassy to visit the grandson of Genghis Khan, who ruled a huge swath of Asia.They were sent on a goodwill mission to the pope after being questioned about European affairs.The first time Niccol and Marco Polo met each other was in Venice in 1269.
Two years later, Niccol and Maffeo sailed to Acre with Marco at their side.After securing some holy oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, they went back to Acre to pick up gifts, papal documents and two friars from Pope Gregory X.The friars abandoned the expedition and the Polos continued on to Hormuz.They didn't find any boats to their liking, so they took a series of overland traders' routes that would become known as the Silk Road.They trekked through deserts, high mountain passes and other rough terrain over the next three years, meeting people of various religions and cultures along the way.The summer palace at Xanadu was located about 200 miles northwest of his winter quarters in Beijing.
Marco Polo may have been a tax collector when he was taken into the court of Kublai.The Venetian was sent on official business to the port city of Quinsai, which was built around a series of canals.Marco Polo is said to have traveled across inland China and into present-day Myanmar.
After many years of trying, the Polos were finally given permission to escort a young princess to her husband.The Polos were part of a flotilla of 14 boats that left from Zaitun in China and stopped in Sumatra before landing in Persia 18 months later.The princess was made to marry a man.The Polos went to Venice via Constantinople, Negrepont, and Trebizond after staying on with their brother for nine months.The year after the death of Kublai, they arrived home.
Marco Polo was captured by Genoa.While in prison, he met the Arthurian adventure writer Rustichello of Pisa, who he would collaborate on a 1298 manuscript called "Description of the World."He told stories about warfare, commerce, geography, court intrigues, and the sexual practices of people who lived under the rule of the Mongols.
Marco Polo was allowed to return to his home in 1299.He probably never returned to Venetian territory again.He married Donata Badoer and had three daughters.He continued trading and litigating against his cousin during his golden years.Marco Polo inspired a later generation of explorers.Asian sources never mentioned him, because everything we know about him comes from his own text and Venetian documents.There is no hard evidence that Marco Polo made it to China.He failed to report practices such as foot binding and chopstick use in his book, as well as certain inaccuracies.Most scholars are convinced by the detailed nature of Marco Polo's account, which checks out against available archaeological, historical and geographical records.
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