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polo, marco 1483
Nicollo and Maffeo were instructed to gather a letter to Persia by sea. Reluctantly, Khubilai agreed and allowed
from the pope, one hundred Christian scholars as well as the Polos to depart, asking that they deliver messages of
a flask of oil from the lamp from the Holy Sepulchre in friendship to the pope and the kings of Europe. Depart-
Jerusalem, and then to return to Kanbalu.When the Polo ing in 1292 from the port of Xiamen (Amoy), the Polos
brothers finally arrived back in Europe in 1269, however, traveled past the islands of Sumatra, Java, and along the
they discovered that Pope Clement IV had died the pre- coast of India before reaching Persia two years later.The
vious year and had yet to be replaced. Unable to secure following year, they finally arrived back in Venice after
the required papal letter or ecclesiastic scholars until a being away from home for almost twenty years.
new pope was named, Nicollo and Maffeo left Rome and In early 1298, just three years after his return to Venice,
returned to Venice, where they spent two years awaiting Marco Polo found himself serving as a “Gentleman-
the election of a new head of the Church. Unable to wait Commander” or advisor aboard a war galley in his city’s
any longer and fearing that Khubilai would be angered navy. At this time Venice was engaged in a war with its
by their lengthy delay, the Polos, this time accompanied rival Genoa over trading rights in the eastern Mediter-
by young Marco, set out on a return voyage to the court ranean. On 7 September 1298, Marco Polo was captured,
of the Mongol ruler. After a brief interruption following along with the entire Venetian fleet, by the Genoese
the eventual election of Pope Gregory X, the Polos, navy. He was then imprisoned in a Genoese jail where he
along with a flask of holy oil and a mere two Christian spent the next several months regaling his fellow pris-
missionaries left the safety of the Mediterranean world in oner, Rusticello, with his tales of adventure and the
1271 to begin their journey across central Asia. riches of the Khan’s empire. Within a year the war
Although the missionaries abandoned the party in between Venice and Genoa was concluded, and Marco
Armenia, the Polos did return to Khubilai’s summer Polo returned home a second time.
palace at Shandu after a difficult journey through Persia, Back in Venice, Marco married a woman named
Afghanistan,Turkistan, and eventuallyTibet and the west- Donata, with whom he would have three daughters: Fan-
ern reaches of China.The Khan was impressed by young tina, Bellala, and Moreta. Little else is known of his life
Marco and over the course of the next twenty years from this point onward, except that he continued to
appointed him to several official positions within his gov- engage in trade and that he presented a French noble-
ernment, including the post of governor of the city of man with a copy of his Travels in 1307. Marco’s fame as
Yangzhou between 1282 and 1285. While in China a traveler spread during his lifetime, although not many
Marco also visited the southern regions of Khubilai’s em- people believed his accounts of the riches of China, the
pire along the Burmese border and much of southern sophistication of Asian culture and technology, or the
China; he also had a lengthy stay in Hangzhou (Kinsai), size of the Khan’s empire. Most Europeans simply could
the former capital of the Southern Song dynasty. During not believe his tales of paper money, burning black rocks
their time in China, the Polos prospered, but by the late (coal), or cities with populations the size of Western
1280s, they were eager to return home and petitioned the nations. So incredible were the details in the Travels that
Khan for permission to leave. In the Travels Marco Marco Polo was often referred to as “Marco of the Mil-
claimed that Khubilai had become attached to hisVenet- lions,” in reference to the number of lies he must have
ian advisors and at first refused their request. At last an been telling.
opportunity arose that provided the Polos with a reason In a controversial book published in 1996, the histo-
to serve Khubilai one last time. The Khan of Persia had rian Frances Wood argues that Marco Polo was indeed
lost his wife and had requested that another princess from lying and that it is doubtful that he traveled anywhere
the same Mongol family be sent to marry him. Since the near China. Along with other critics of Polo’s account,
overland route was extremely dangerous, the Polos volun- Wood notes that Marco failed to mention the Great Wall,
teered to serve as ships pilots and to escort the princess tea drinking, the Chinese written script, or the bound feet