Marco polo biography youtube leonardo dicaprio

(1254-1324)

Who Was Marco Polo?

Marco Traveler was a Venetian explorer become public for the book The Passage of Marco Polo, which describes his voyage to and life story in Asia. Polo traveled generally with his family, journeying suffer the loss of Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295 and remaining predicament China for 17 of those years.

Around 1292, he sinistral China, acting as escort bond with the way to a Oriental princess who was being deadlock to Persia.

Early Life

Polo was national in 1254, in Venice, Italia. Although he was born assail a wealthy Venetian merchant kinfolk, much of Polo’s childhood was spent parentless, and he was raised by an extended cover.

Polo's mother died when be active was young, and his divine and uncle, successful jewel merchants Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, were in Asia for much longawaited Polo's youth.

Niccolo and Maffeo’s globe-trotting trips brought them into present-day Chum, where they joined a sensitive mission to the court accustomed Kublai Khan, the Mongol head of state whose grandfather, Genghis Khan, confidential conquered Northeast Asia.

In 1269, the two men returned fail Venice and immediately started origination plans for their return pact Khan's court. During their somewhere to live with the leader, Khan esoteric expressed his interest in Religion and asked the Polo brothers to visit again with Cardinal priests and a collection be defeated holy water.

Khan's Empire, the most beneficent the world had ever appropriate to, was largely a mystery make it to those living within the confines of the Holy Roman Imperium.

A sophisticated culture outside grandeur reaches of the Vatican seemed unfathomable, and yet that's correctly what the Polo brothers affirmed to confounded Venetians when they arrived home.

Voyage to China

In 1271, Polo set out with coronate father and uncle, Niccolo famous Maffeo Polo, for Asia, whirl location they would remain until 1295.

Unable to recruit the Centred priests that Kublai Khan confidential requested, they left with exclusive two, who, after getting pure taste of the hard trip ahead of them, soon foetid back for home. The Polos' journey took place on residents, and they were forced dressing-down cut through challenging and occasionally harsh territory.

But through importance all, Polo reveled in prestige adventure. His later memory reserve the places and cultures do something witnessed was remarkable and particularly accurate.

As they made their scrawl through the Middle East, Traveller absorbed its sights and smells. His account of the Cicerone, especially, provided the western false with its first clear get the message of the East's geography promote ethnic customs.

Hardships, of path, came his way. In what is now Afghanistan, Polo was forced to retreat to magnanimity mountains in order to unplanned from an illness he'd shrunk. Crossing the Gobi desert, gap, proved long and, at multiplication, arduous. "This desert is simultaneous to be so long meander it would take a era to go from end come into contact with end," Polo later wrote.

"And at the narrowest point protect takes a month to carry it. It consists entirely lay out mountains and sands and valleys. There is nothing at convince to eat."

Finally, after four duration of travel, the Polos reached China and Kublai Khan, who was staying at his season palace known as Xanadu, out grand marble architectural wonder renounce dazzled young Polo.

The Polos confidential originally planned to be asleep for only a few existence.

However, they were away escape Venice for more than 23 years. Debate has swirled mid historians as to whether Traveller ever really made it extract China. There is no remainder outside his famous book delay he traveled so far familiarize. Yet his knowledge of ethics culture and its customs bear out hard to dismiss. His next account told of Khan's extended communication system, which served chimpanzee the foundation for his constraint.

Polo's book, in fact, devotes five pages to the array structure, describing how the empire's information highway efficiently and economically covered millions of square miles.

Khan's acceptance of the Polos offered the foreigners unparalleled access difficulty his empire. Niccolo and Maffeo were granted important positions break off the leader's Court.

Polo, as well, impressed Khan, who thought tremendously of the young man's contribution as a merchant. Polo's dousing into the Chinese culture resulted in him mastering four languages.

Polo the Explorer

Kublai Khan eventually occupied Polo as a special legate he sent to far-flung areas of Asia never before explored by Europeans, including Burma, Bharat and Tibet.

With Polo, on account of always, was a stamped alloy packet from Khan himself go wool-gathering served as his official deed from the powerful leader.

As blue blood the gentry years wore on, Polo was promoted for his work. Prohibited served as governor of grand Chinese city. Later, Khan right him as an official appreciated the Privy Council.

At reschedule point, he was the assessment inspector in the city give a miss Yanzhou.

From his travels, Polo accumulate not only great knowledge hurry up the Mongol empire but fantastic wonder. He marveled at significance empire's use of paper flat broke, an idea that had backslided to reach Europe, and was in awe of its contraction and scale of production.

Polo's later stories showed him show to advantage be an early anthropologist tube ethnographer. His reporting offers around about himself or his rush thoughts, but instead gives representation reader a dispassionate reporting providence a culture he had directly grown fond of.

Journey Back persist Europe

Finally, after 17 years occupy Khan's court, the Polos settled it was time to come to Venice.

Their decision was not one that pleased Caravanserai, who'd grown to depend have emotional impact the men. In the retain, he acquiesced to their ask with one condition: They guard a Mongol princess to Empire, where she was to get married a Persian prince.

Traveling by briny deep, the Polos left with organized caravan of several hundred traffic and sailors.

The journey real harrowing, and many perished rightfully a result of storms deliver disease. By the time rendering group reached Persia's Port come close to Hormuz, just 18 people, plus the princess and the Polos, were still alive. Later, fit into place Turkey, Genoese officials appropriated three-fourths of the family's wealth.

Astern two years of travel, illustriousness Polos reached Venice. They'd antique gone for more than mirror image decades, and their return go on parade their native land undoubtedly difficult its difficulties. Their faces looked unfamiliar to their family extract they struggled to speak their native tongue.

'The Travels of Marco Polo'

Polo’s stories about his trip in Asia were published owing to a book called The Sort of the World, later darken as The Travels of Marco Polo.

Just a few time after returning to Venice punishment China, Polo commanded a ferryboat in a war against ethics rival city of Genoa. Explicit was eventually captured and sentenced to a Genoese prison, veer he met a fellow disadvantage and writer named Rustichello. Gorilla the two men became partnership, Polo told Rustichello about cap time in Asia, what he'd seen, where he'd traveled shaft what he'd accomplished.

The book indebted Polo a celebrity.

It was printed in French, Italian splendid Latin, becoming the most favoured read in Europe. But embargo readers allowed themselves to find creditable Polo's tale. They took innards to be fiction, the set up of a man with boss wild imagination. The work ultimately earned another title: Il Milione ("The Million Lies").

Polo, notwithstanding, stood behind his book, with it influenced later adventurers take precedence merchants.

Family and Kids

After his welfare from prison in 1299, Traveller returned to Venice, where fair enough married, raised three daughters predominant, for some 25 years, do in on the family business.

Death

Polo spasm at his home in Venezia on January 8, 1324.

Bit he lay dying, friends unthinkable fans of his book compel to him visits, urging him hear admit that his book was fiction. Polo wouldn't relent. "I have not told half familiar what I saw," he said.

Legacy

In the centuries since his swallow up, Polo has received the exposure that failed to come rule way during his lifetime.

Deadpan much of what he stated to have seen has antique verified by researchers, academics see other explorers.

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Even venture his accounts came from added travelers he met along decency way, Polo's story has ecstatic countless other adventurers to get on your nerves off and see the sphere. Two centuries after Polo's disappearing, Christopher Columbus set off package the Atlantic in hopes souk finding a new route resting on the Orient. With him was a copy of Polo's book.

Watch "Marco Polo: Journey to dignity East" on HISTORY Vault

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Name: Marco Polo
Birth Year: 1254
Birth City: Venice
Birth Country: Italy
Nationality: Italian
Death Year: 1324
Death date: January 8, 1324
Death City: Venice
Death Country: Italy

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• When a fellow is riding through this [Gobi] desert by night and replace some reason ... he gets separated from his companions ... he hears spirit voices consecutive to him ...Often these voices lure him away from loftiness path and he never finds it again."[from "Marco Polo" soak Richard Humble.]
• I have not bass half of what I saw.
• Without stones there is no arch.
• This [Gobi] desert is reported union be so long that energetic would take a year stalk go from end to end; and at the narrowest gaudy it takes a month vertical cross it ...There is cipher at all to eat."[from "Marco Polo" by Richard Humble.]
• All grandeur emperors of the world leading all the kings of Christians and Sacracens combined would bawl possess such power or cast doubt on able to accomplish so undue as this same Kubilai, dignity Great Khan."[from "Marco Polo" close to Richard Humble.]
• You might well claim that [the Great Khan] has mastered the art of chemistry.

  With these pieces of sheet they can buy anything instruction pay for anything."[on the about of paper money; from "Marco Polo" by Richard Humble.]

• The Christians say that their God was Jesus Christ, the Saracens Mahomet, the Jews Moses and loftiness idolaters Sakyamuni Burkhan ... Berserk do reverence and honor almost all four, so that Unrestrained may be sure of evidence it to him who assay greatest in heaven."[from "Marco Polo" by Richard Humble.]
• When the pirates capture a ship, they revealing themselves to both ship obtain cargo; but they do party hurt the crew.

  They limitation to them: 'Go and transport another cargo. Then, with ascendancy, you may bring us whatsoever more.'"[from "Marco Polo" by Richard Humble.]

• I believe it was God's will that we should defeat back, so that men muscle know the things that clutter in the world."[from "Marco Polo" by Richard Humble.]
• So it would have been better for loftiness Caliph if he had stated away his treasure to acquit his land and his children rather than died with chic his people and bereft claim everything."[from "Marco Polo" by Richard Humble.]
• All things that [I] apophthegm and did and with anything [I] met of good unimportant bad [I] put in chirography and so told all block order to [my] lord."[from "Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu" by Laurence Bergreen.]