Name_______________________
Date________________________
Marco Polo
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Background Information
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Marco Polo was born in Venice, Italy in 1254.
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He learned to read and write and had an education of many different skills:
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accounting
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foreign languages
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knowledge of the Christian Church
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The Polo Brothers
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Marco’s father, Niccolo and his uncle, Matteo were merchants who began their first journey east in 1260.
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They visited Constantinople and eventually made their way to the capital of Kublai Khan’s Mongol Empire, Kaifeng.
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In 1269, Kublai Khan sent the Polo brothers back to Europe with a request intended for the Pope
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Khan hoped that the Pope would send 100 missionaries back to China in hopes of converting certain parts of the country to Christianity.
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After arriving back in Venice, Niccolo discovered that his wife had died, leaving their 15 year old son, Marco in his care.
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In 1271, the two merchants, as well as Marco, began to travel eastward and in 1275 returned back to Kublai Khan
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Marco Serves in Khan’s Court
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Marco became a favorite of Khan’s and was appointed to high posts in his administration
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He served at the Khan’s court and was sent on a number of special missions in China, Burma, and India.
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Many places that Marco saw were not seen again by Europeans until the last century
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Marco worked for Kublai Khan for a total of seventeen years before returning to his homeland.
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Returning to Italy
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Upon his return to Italy in 1292, Marco Polo told of his findings.
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He brought back jade, porcelain, silk, ivory, and other riches of Asia.
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He also told about the Chinese use of coal, money, and compasses.
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Three years after returning to Venice, Marco joined the army to fight against the city-state of Genoa.
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He was captured in 1298 and spent two years in a Genoese prison
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In prison he met a man named Rustichello who was a writer of romances.
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Marco began to dictate the story of his travels to Rustichello. This story became known as The Travels of Marco Polo or The Description of the World
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The book- The Travels of Marco Polo
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The book became one of the most popular books in Europe. It was widely published, translated into many languages, and thousands of copies were printed.
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However, Marco’s book was received with astonishment and disbelief.
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Since his book exaggerates places and cultures, he became known as the “man of a million lies”
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When Marco Polo was near his death in 1324, a priest entered his room and asked him to admit his stories were false. Instead, Polo replied, “ I do not tell half of what I saw because no one would have believed me.”
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Marco Polo’s contributions
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Fiction or not, his Travels have captured readers throughout the centuries.
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Marco Polo made a huge impact on geographic exploration and was a major influence on Christopher Columbus.
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Polo’s descriptions of Asia made many Europeans curious and they began to demand goods from Asia, therefore, increasing trade between the two countries.
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