Marco Polo 's Travels Over The Maritime Route

Marco Polo was a renowned explorer in the medieval era and he wrote the work in which most of our past understanding of the regions is remembered today. He was born in 1252 in Venice and later deceased in Venice at the age of 70 in 1352. The reason he so is so famous and remembered today is because he reached the farthest on his 24 year journey down the silk road reaching extents of China and Mongolian empire. To begin with Marco Polo was born into a wealthy family who was known for their travels and spread of merchantability already and a young Marco Polo would begin his journey as early as 14-16 Years old. Though his date of birth is unknown and the exact location his family was a big name in the Venice community making it only seem fitting. This paper is going to correlate to the book found in the franciscan library at Saint Bonaventure, “Did Marco Polo Really Go to China” by Dr. Wood; she does a scholarly review questioning whether or not Mr. Polo really carried out the things he said to have done and has he actually visited the regions in which he said he's went too. Before we begin though we cannot fully disprove the veracity of the journey in which Mr. polo took because other explorers have also left out important historical happenings when discovering new regions and cultures. Born in 1254 in Venetian Republic, Marco Polo headed to Asia with his merchant father (weapons trader supposedly as we will later touch on) . He would spend the next 24 years exploring

In Documents 2 and 4, traveling to unfamiliar areas shows its importance. Although Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo were not traveling for the same

He traveled along the Silk Road which led him to China. The Mongol ruler, Khubilai Khan, then took Polo into his court. Khubilai assigned one last task to Marco Polo before he could be free from his services at court, Marco was to escort a princess safely to her potential husband the Persian ruler Arghun. With the task at hand, they had to travel from Zaitun to Sumatra to Persia. When they arrived in Persia, they found out that Arghun was dead; so the princess was now appointed to marry Arghun’s son. Marco continued on his travels which led him to Greece, Constantinople, and Venice. Soon after arriving back in Venice, he was captured by the Genoans. During his imprisonment, Marco Polo met Rustichello and together they wrote “The Travels of Marco

The author also mentions that China-based their economy on the exchange of silver. Another important thing in this chapter was the role of the Chinese voyages in the history of China and the entire world. The voyages that were created around the 1400s were used for three reasons,

During the 15th and 16th century, exploration became the new norm of society. Each individual country had their own motives, reasons and goals regarding voyages across land and sea. For instance, Christopher Columbus, in the name of Spain, voyaged out to find an alternative route to Asia. The Portuguese, tried to increase their knowledge about trading. Moreover, while some traveled to increase their powers, Zheng He, of China, traveled to discover raw resources and generate more capital into China’s economy. If we compare the maritime policies of the kingdom of Spain and Portugal on the one hand and the Ming Empire on the other the differences in motives clearly outweigh the similarities between these two societies. For example, the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal traveled to spread Christianity, to gain land, to rule over new subjects and to spread their power throughout the different continents, while as the Ming Dynasty was only interested in capital and new/raw resources.

If there was ever an important period historians, and people could put a finger on, this would be it. This is the important period where the world’s countries, kingdoms, and dynasties established trade routes. This is the period where countries were made and countries were destroyed because of the importance of trade and the importance of building a fundamental, religious, and economical way of life. This paper will discuss the goals and functions of trades, and traders, and a historical analysis of world trade. This paper will also get into world trade patterns, of The Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, The Indian Ocean, The Silk routes, China and The South China Sea, Europe and The Mediterranean, and The Atlantic Exploration.

Christian recognizes that the Silk Roads are ingrained into historiography of China, the Mediterranean world, inner and central Asia, and also play a vital role as “links between different regions of the Afro-Eurasian landmass.” As mentioned previously, this article observes that historiography focuses on the trade between trans-civilizational societies and credits them as important to expansion and success of empires and trans-civilizational regions. In later centuries, the historiography describes the flux and flow of the Silk Roads’ flourishing. Through the use of sources, Christian describes these successes to have been at peak from 100 CE to the first, second and third centuries.

1. Marco Polo- A Venetian merchant and adventurer who traveled from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295. He traveled from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295 and remained in China for 17 years until he left to guide a Mongol princess to Persia. These travels are recorded in Il Milione, known in English as The Travels of Marco Polo that has influenced later merchants and travelers.

Marco Polo's Travels formulated in Europe of the fourteenth and fifteenth century a new perception of the Eastern world, a world just as advanced and sophisticated as that of the West. Yet, another two centuries were needed for a significant change to take place; this was Christopher Columbus' voyage. For Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo's travelogue was a valuable and solid resource that contained the necessary details of the East. The geographical descriptions in his writing generated a basis for Columbus' scientific calculations for his expedition and the explicit depictions of the luxury of Cipangu and Cathay, flawed though they were, created a strong motivation for Columbus. In the 12th of May 1492, Christopher Columbus, accompanied

Source: Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant who may have worked for the Yuan dynasty, the Mongol rulers of China, late 13th century. This excerpt is a description of Hangzhou, a southern city that was part of the Yuan empire.

a) Marco Polo (Italian adventurer) returned to Europe in 1295, telling of his journey in China. His book with descriptions of goods made him an indirect discoverer of the New World.

During the Crusades, Europeans brought luxury good from Italian merchants, who got them from Arab traders; Europeans taste for luxury items greatly increased. During the 13th and 14th explorers like Marco Polo claimed that Asia had the luxury goods the Europeans desired. This began the race towards finding a trade route to Asia. Christopher Columbus and many other explorer seek funds from Kings,Queens, and wealthy businessman to fund their explorations. After gaining funds from the King and Queen of Spain .Columbus set sail off on August 3, 1492 from Spain to investigate this a all-water route to Asia. This letter written by Columbus foreshadows the clash of two completely different cultures.

I believe that Marco Polo did go to China because of all the evidence I have heard and seen. Marco Polo was born in the 1200s. He was born into a family tradesmen and his education was like a merchant’s. Around the age of 15, his father left on a journey for 9 years and during those years his mom dies. When he was 20 years old, he started his journey.

Many children, including myself, have once played the game Marco Polo. Although, I have always been curious, who exactly is Marco Polo? My fascination of Marco Polo warped into a fixation of his travels. Marco Polo was born in Venice in the year 1254. His father, Nicolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, were merchants who had seats in the great nobleman council of Venice (Polo IV). According to his records, he had traveled thousands of miles with his father and uncle.

“I have not told half of what I saw” were the final words of the great Venetian explorer Marco Polo; however, in recent times, Marco Polo’s exploits have been doubted more and more. (Pedriali, 161) Most often cited as evidence that Marco Polo’s travels may not have been as truthful as reported is the 1998 book Did Marco Polo go to china? by Dr. Frances Wood. Through new research done by Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel of University of Tübingen in Germany, it has been shown that Marco Polo was mostly truthful in his memoirs, but it has also proven that some things were exaggerated thanks to his ghostwriter Rustichello da Pisa, Marco Polo himself, or later copyists.