Marco Polo- Born in 1254

Marco Polo was only six years old when his father and uncle left to travel east to trade goods. When he got back to Venice he discovered his wife had died, leaving Marco who was fifteen to be taken care of.

In 1271, Marco, his father, and his uncle headed back east.

He knew 4 languages.

We are used to paper money now, but Marco couldn’t believe it when he first saw it in the east. Gold and silver coins were used in Marco’s land, and the paper seemed so worthless.

He was also amazed by coal, or stones that burn like logs,” as he described it in his book.

Marco met the Great Khan, and the Khan liked him so much that he gave Marco different official jobs.

The Khan liked Marco so much that he wouldn’t let him leave, but when the khan got to be 70, Marco began to get nervous that he wouldn’t get to take all his money if he didn’t leave before the khan died. Marco had to ask the khan’s permission several times before he was allowed to leave.

The khan said Marco could only leave if he would bring the princess to her new home. She was supposed to marry the Persian King.

They left by sea with about 600 people. It was a very hard journey and almost everyone died.

When the princess got to her destination she found the man she was supposed to marry had died, so she married his son, instead.

They also found out that the Khan had died.

When Marco, his father, and his uncle got back to Venice, they talked to everyone in the town about their adventures. They would invite everyone over to dinner and dress up in clothes from Asia, but none of their neighbors were really sure if they believed them.

When Marco got back to Venice he joined the army. He was captured by the Genoas and imprisoned.

While he was in prison he told his life story to a man. This would become published as the Travels of Marco Polo.

Some experts believe that he never went to all of the places he said he did, and that many of the things he said he did were really just stories he heard from other people, but he did describe many of the cultures, religions, and traditions of the east. The book was very popular.

Some people called the book, Il Milione, which means “the million lies,” because they didn’t believe a word it said.

When he was released from prison he married and had three daughters.

He died in 1324 at the age of 70.

When Marco died, it was discovered that he owned lots of precious cloths, and other valuable items he had described in his book.