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Domain |
Explanation |
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Marco what? |
- Marco Polo (1254-1324)
- He was a Venetian (Venice, Italy à
the cultural water-capital of Medieval times)
- Famous for the book "The Travels of Marco Polo" which was not written by him, instead it was narrated by him in prison to a Persian author, Rustichello
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What’s e big deal? |
- Well, that Marco Polo actually got to tell his stories was quite a miracle in those & moreover, in prison à
let me ask u how many inmates would even think or be able to do that?
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Er… |
- What was more remarkable was the stories of his travels (accounts of the sights & sounds of people & places he & his family had been to)
- He was accredited as the first person to have explored, seen & recounted many parts of the eastern world & its wonders & treasures
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Oh …story-time |
- The story begins like this …
- Marco Polo’s father, Messer Niccolo Polo, and his brother, Messer Matteo Polo, were Venetian traders who explore exotic places of the East to trade
- Around the year 1250, they traded along the Black Sea (sea that is not white, of course), but were forced to travel eastwards due to wars between the Tartars (eastern people)
- On the way, they met only Tartar nomads
- Finally they reached the city of Bukhara, where they were trapped for three years before they a messenger of Kublai, the Great Khan (King) of all Tartars
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Where’s Marco … |
- Sit still & listen carefully for the story is just unfolding …
- The messenger told the brothers that the Great Khan would be delighted to meet them as he was always interested in new cultures & had never seen a man of Latin race
- Of course, the messenger was also hopping for a bonus to his salary, I guess
- And of course, the brothers gladly agreed to go with the messenger to meet the Great Khan à
anyway, they had no choice & moreover, the journey would be safe with the messenger who had the token of authority & the eastern empire must have lots to offer in terms of trade
- One move, many gains, a most profitable deal; the parties clapped hands & went on their way together, of course
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Did they meet Kublai? |
- U bet, they met the Great Khan & he was extremely delighted
- The Khan asked them a lot of questions as he was curious & wanted to know more
- He asked about the western cultures, the emperors, the governance, the nobility as well as their religion – Christianity
- The brothers answered truthfully, precisely & clearly
- Deeply interested by the brothers, the Great Khan decided to send the Polo brothers and his ambassadors to the Pope to send 100 wise men to teach Christianity & the seven arts as well as to get the oil from the lamp burning over the Christ’s sepulcher in Jerusalem
- The brothers gladly accepted the mission à
what greater way to trade than with the backing of the Great Boss
- Then the Khan gave the golden tablet of authority to ensure their safe & smooth passage through his provinces
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Did they go … & where’s our Marco? |
- Sit still & listen carefully for the story is about to begin …
- The missionaries went home by sea, passing the Legate of the Roman Church in Egypt where they were told of the demise of the Pope and met the future Pope, Tebaldo of Piacenza
- They first went home in Venice to rest & wait for the succession of the new Pope
- In Venice, however, Niccolo found that his wife had died (remember the black plague) and decided to take his then fifteen-year-old son, you-know-who Marco Polo along
- When the new Pope succeeded, they went to the Pope to relay the messages of the Great Khan
- The Pope Gregory X welcomed them and was very supportive à
the Pope prepared letters, wrote references, many gifts, the oil from the Jerusalem lamp as well as two friars (Brother Niccolo, not our hero’s father, & Brother Guglielmo of Tripolo) who were authorized to exercise full religious powers in the foreign lands
- They proceeded towards the oriental east via land through the Middle East and the silk road
- However, when they passed by Ayas which was in serious warring conditions, this frightened the two friars so much that they left behind the Papal letters & went back to the safety of the Pope
- The Polo’s carried on their arduous journey east wards
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The middle east |
- Along the middle east route, the Polo’s went through the ancient kingdoms & exotic cultures of Turkey, Armenia, Baghdad, Persia, Kerman, Kamadin and across deserts after deserts
- The environment is harsh, dry, humid & hot
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The silk road |
- Or the road to Cathay (the east or orients)
- The Polo’s went through Shibarghan, Balkh, salt mountains, Badakhshan, Pashai, Kashmir, Kashgar, Samarkand, Lop, Gobi desert, Tangut, Kamul, Ghinghintalas, Su-chau, Kan-chau, Dunhuang, Etzina, Karakorum, Bargu, Erguiul, Tenduc, Xanadu, Lhasa and finally, Beijing in China
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China |
- The Great Khan warmly welcomed the returning Venetians including Marco Polo who adapted very well to the environment
- He was able to learn languages & writing of the Tartar to the delight of the Great Khan
- Also keen & observant, Marco Polo noticed that the Great Khan was more interested in the cultures of foreign lands than the missions that were given to the missionaries
- When he was given his first mission, Marco Polo recounted all unusual sights & sounds of foreign lands that the Khan was greatly delighted & accorded the title of Messer Marco Polo
- During his twenty years stay as a Tartar missionary, Marco Polo had visited almost all places of China, India (Bengal) & Indo-china (present-day Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam)
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The departure |
- After decades of service under the Great Khan, the Polo’s were at last allowed to accompany three barons & two ladies (Princess Kokachin & the daughter of the King of Manzi) to Levant
- The Great Khan entrusted the Polo’s with missions for the Pope, King of France, King of Spain & other Christian kings
- The return route was by sea with a fleet of fourteen ships & 600 people
- In the end, only eighteen people survived the arduous journey à
shows how treacherous, dangerous & exhausting the old ways were
- The fleet went along the South China Sea passing by kingdoms of Siam, Java, Indian & finally Levant (the destination for the two princesses)
- The Polo’s went back to Venice, but were always robbed on their way
- In fact, they were so rugged that their relatives thinking they were all dead could not recognize them at first à
of course, they did, after they flashed their last remaining jewels
- Thinking the journey too dangerous, the Polo’s decided to stay in Venice
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The last |
- Marco Polo, in his zest to fulfill his civic duties, went into naval for Venetians against the Genoese
- In 1298, Marco Polo was captured by the Genoese & put into prison which was where he recounted his wonderful travels recorded in Medieval writings by Rustichello
- The rest, as they all say, was his-tory
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Where can we read some more? |
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