Historical Saturday's#6 Marco Polo

HISTORICAL SATURDAY’S#6- MARCO POLO

Welcome back fellow viewers to another Historical Saturday article. Personally, its been a while since we had this and I’m sure some of us feel that this is getting a bit stale, so I shall be doing post something special in a week or two.

Well, on to the topic, today we are going to touch on one of the most influential travellers that inspired many other explorers. His name is Marco Polo. Marco Polo was famous for travelling to Mongolia, China, alongside his books and reputation with the Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan.

Early Life

Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice, Italy along with a wealthy merchant family. He lived with his father, Niccolo, and his uncle Maffeo, both who were successful jewel merchants. His mother died when he was young, therefore his extended family raised him up

Reason being to why the brothers, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo only came back after a long time was because they had left for a long-term trading expedition. They encountered a few problems on the way back, such as the Fourth Crusade, The Byzantine conquest of Constantinople and the Mongolian Empire.

During these encounters they were greeted by the Mongolian embassy to meet Kublai Khan. They met Kublai Khan and he questioned them on European affairs. He told the both of them to go back to tell the Pope to bring Christianity to Mongolia. They arrived back in Venice in 1269 and it was the first time Marco Polo met his father.

Marco Polo’s trip to China

In 1271, two years after the brothers came back, they along with Marco decided to go back to Mongolia. They got hold of what they could to fulfill Kublai’s request, such as Holy Oil, gifts, documents and two clergy from a church before returning to him.

The two clergy soon abandoned their expedition to Kublai Khan, but the Polos continued.  They travelled on camel till they reached a Persian port city of Hormuz. They searched for a suitable ship, but there were none to suit their liking. The Polos gave up on the search and took several trade routes that were known to be the Silk Road.

It took the Polos an additional three years to reach Mongolia, after having to pass a perilous journey. Kublai took Marco Polo into his court as a tax collector, a governor and an inspector. Marco Polo was basically his right hand man, and he travelled around Asia alongside learning the languages.

Marco Polo spent 24 years in the continent of Asia and working for the Mongolian Empire. The Polo’s decided to go back to Venice, but Marco was captured during a battle on the way back home. He was captured by the Genoese army in 1298, but released in 1299.

Legacy

Altogether, they travelled the Asia continent for thousands of miles and passed through China, India and Japan. Marco documented all of his explorations and wrote many documents and books about it. All of which would become a big part in the inspiration of explorers, such as Christopher Columbus.

Marco Polo died in the year 1324 in Venice, he was succeeded by his wife and three daughters, but he left many documents and books that would inspire many explorers.