Marco Polo

34 Pages·2013·7.568 MB·English

by  Jim Ollhoff

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Marco
Polo
by Jim Ollhoff
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052013
092013
Editor: John Hamilton
Graphic Design: Sue Hamilton
Cover Design: Neil Klinepier
Cover Photo: Alamy
Interior Photos & Illustrations: Alamy-pgs 16 & 26; Getty-pgs 5, 10-11, 12-13, 15, 21, 27 & 29;
Glow Images-pgs 7, 14 & 32; Granger Collection-pgs 17 & 18; iStockphoto-compass illustration;
Thinkstock-pgs 4, 6, 19, 22 & 24-25 & grunge map background illustration.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013931674
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ollhoff, Jim.
Marco Polo / Jim Ollhoff.
p. cm. -- (Great explorers)
ISBN 978-1-61783-968-9
1. Polo, Marco, 1254-1323?--Travel--Juvenile literature. 2. Voyages and travels--Juvenile literature.
3. Explorers--Italy--Biography--Juvenile literature. 3. China--Description and travel--Juvenile
literature. I. Title.
915.04/2--dc23
[B] 2013931674
Contents
Europe in the Time of Marco Polo .....................................................................4
Birth and Early Years ..............................................................................................8
The Journey Begins ..............................................................................................12
Marco Polo in China ...........................................................................................14
Return to Europe .................................................................................................16
The Travels of Marco Polo
....................................................................................18
The Final Years ......................................................................................................20
Did Marco Polo Really Go To China? ............................................................22
Marco Polo’s Legacy ............................................................................................26
Timeline .................................................................................................................28
Glossary ..................................................................................................................30
Index .......................................................................................................................32
Europe in
the Time of
Marco Polo
M
arco Polo was a merchant from the Republic of
Venice, in the northeastern part of present-day
Italy. He lived in the 1200s. As a young man, he traveled
to China and spent about 18 years there. He witnessed
beautiful cities and great technological and social
achievements. He described a culture equal to—or even
more advanced than—Europe. His writings created a
Below: European curiosity in Europe about Asia and the lands to the east.
Crusaders load Thirteenth-century Europe during the time of Marco
ships, preparing Polo went through many changes. People considered
to depart for the themselves as members of a nation, instead of parts of
Middle East. a tribe. They saw themselves as “German” or “French.”
Knights in armor
were losing
their power, as
gunpowder and
more advanced
weapons were
introduced into
warfare.
4
Above:An illustration of Venice around the time that Marco Polo lived.
The Catholic Church collected men who would fight to regain control
of Middle Eastern cities, such as Jerusalem, from occupying Muslims. These
wars were called the Crusades. Many of the soldiers were treasure hunters
who hoped their journeys would make them rich. In a series of bitter wars,
Christian soldiers tried to regain control of their Holy Land. While the
Crusades were a failure, the soldiers came home with fantastic stories of
foreign lands. They brought back unusual spices and clothes made of silk.
5
Europeans thought they were the most advanced
people on Earth. They believed they were more
culturally progressive and had better technology than
anyone else. Most people hadn’t heard of China or
other parts of Asia. Europeans believed that if there
were people in the East, they were probably just
savages who lived in caves.
The Silk Road was a collection of trade routes
Above: During throughout Asia. It was called the “Silk” Road because
the 1200s, silk it was known for the expensive cloth that Chinese
was a rare and merchants often sold. Some Europeans had traveled
expensive cloth the Silk Road and brought back stories. However,
from China. the dangerous routes often went through large, dry
Merchants deserts, and were full of bandits, wild animals, and
traveled far other hazards.
distances and There were no maps of the world beyond Europe.
faced great Some mapmakers guessed that the Garden of Eden lay to
dangers to get the east. Except for these flights of fancy, few Europeans
the beautiful knew, or cared, what lay beyond their borders. Marco
fabric. Polo’s adventures helped change that attitude.
6
Many years after his
exploration of Asia,
Marco Polo said, “I did
not write half of what I
saw, for I knew I would
not be believed.”
77
Birth
and
Early Years
M
Below: Niccolo any historians estimate that Marco Polo was
and Maffeo Polo, born September 15, 1254, in the Italian Republic
Marco’s father of Venice. His father was Niccolo Polo, and his uncle
and uncle, present was Maffeo Polo. They were both merchants, and spent
a letter to Pope much of their time in Persia and beyond. They traded
Gregory X from mostly in jewels. In 1260, Marco Polo’s father and uncle
Kublai Khan, left on a trading journey to Crimea, on the north side of
leader of the the Black Sea. Six-year-old Marco was left in the care of
Mongol Empire. his mother.
8