Learn the saint's real heritage and other information about the man we celebrate every year on March Marco Polo did not bring pasta back to Venice from China It is one of the most famous legends out there about the adventurer, but truth be told, pasta had made its way into the cuisine of Italy prior to Polo's birth. He was influential in Christopher Columbus' decision to strike out for unknown territory Columbus is said to have been inspired by Polo's adventures and took a copy of The Travels of Marco Polo on his Westward sail two centuries after Polo's journey to China.
He has a species of sheep named after him Many of us have spent a summer's afternoon in a swimming pool playing the tag game of Marco Polo, but did you know that the Venetian merchant also has a species of sheep named after him? Polo knew four languages In addition to his native tongue, Polo wrote that he knew four languages. Polo served as a special envoy for Khan He provided the leader with useful reports from the various trips he took on his behalf all around Asia.
Khan refused to let Polo leave his service The Polos finally grew homesick, but Khan valued their services so much, he refused to let them go.
Polo was married and had a family Not a lot is known about Marco Polo after his return to Venice in Some people believe he never made it down the Silk Road There are those who believe that Polo never took the journey down the Silk Road to China and in fact, made it no further than the Black Sea.
By Caroline Redmond. By Paulette Cohn. In the News. By Sara Kettler. By John Calhoun. Marco later wrote that the members of his company were among the only survivors of a deadly sea voyage that claimed hundreds of lives.
As the travelers passed through the kingdom of Trebizond, in modern-day Turkey, the local government robbed them of some 4, Byzantine gold coins. Despite this significant loss, the Polos retained enough of their cargo to arrive home in as wealthy men.
According to one account, the Venetians concealed most of their gems by sewing the precious stones into the linings of their coats. Readers had some reason to be skeptical: Polo and his ghostwriter, Rustichello, were prone to exaggeration and flights of fancy. For instance, the famous traveler often fictitiously inserted himself into battle scenes and court intrigues. While most modern historians still believe the bulk of his book to be factual, others have dismissed it as an outright fabrication and claim that Polo never even made it to China.
For his part, Marco never admitted to a single lie. Tribal groups had soon reclaimed land along the once-prosperous trading route known as the Silk Road , effectively cutting off a vital artery connecting East and West. With the land route to China growing increasingly dangerous, few travelers dared set out on wide-ranging journeys for several years.
In fact, Polo reportedly never left Venetian territory for the last two decades of his life. He served as governor of a Chinese city. Later, Khan appointed him as an official of the Privy Council. At one point, he was the tax inspector in the city of Yanzhou. From his travels, Polo amassed not only great knowledge about the Mongol empire but incredible wonder.
He marveled at the empire's use of paper money, an idea that had failed to reach Europe, and was in awe of its economy and scale of production. Polo's later stories showed him to be an early anthropologist and ethnographer. His reporting offers little about himself or his own thoughts, but instead gives the reader a dispassionate reporting about a culture he had clearly grown fond of.
Finally, after 17 years in Khan's court, the Polos decided it was time to return to Venice. Their decision was not one that pleased Khan, who'd grown to depend on the men. In the end, he acquiesced to their request with one condition: They escort a Mongol princess to Persia, where she was to marry a Persian prince.
Traveling by sea, the Polos left with a caravan of several hundred passengers and sailors. The journey proved harrowing, and many perished as a result of storms and disease. By the time the group reached Persia's Port of Hormuz, just 18 people, including the princess and the Polos, were still alive.
Later, in Turkey, Genoese officials appropriated three-quarters of the family's wealth. After two years of travel, the Polos reached Venice. They'd been gone for more than two decades, and their return to their native land undoubtedly had its difficulties.
Their faces looked unfamiliar to their family and they struggled to speak their native tongue. Just a few years after returning to Venice from China, Polo commanded a ship in a war against the rival city of Genoa. He was eventually captured and sentenced to a Genoese prison, where he met a fellow prisoner and writer named Rustichello.
As the two men became friends, Polo told Rustichello about his time in Asia, what he'd seen, where he'd traveled and what he'd accomplished. The book made Polo a celebrity. It was printed in French, Italian and Latin, becoming the most popular read in Europe.
After twice being turned back by ice, Hudson embarked on a third voyage—this time on behalf of the Dutch East India Company—in The Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon in on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East. After sailing down the western coast of Africa and rounding the Cape of Good Hope, his expedition made numerous stops in Africa The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium and involves a wide array of European powers and uniquely American characters.
The 16th-century Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto c. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland. Marco Polo. Hernando de Soto. Leif Eriksson.
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