When it comes to talking about the brave Venetian merchant from the Polo family, they remember, first of all, his visit to China, which revealed the most valuable information about distant countries, which turned the consciousness of Europeans upside down and dispelled thousands of absurd tales and legends. But all this looks simple only to someone who has never delved into the life history of this difficult person.

Riddle one - origin

Only at first glance everything is clear here. Genus - a famous merchant family of Venice, a wealthy and very respected family. The Polos traded in spices and jewelry. With such specialization, it is impossible not to get rich and become influential. Spices had just appeared in Europe and were valued much more than gold. But who were the merchants of the House of Polo by origin?

There are three main versions:

The "Venetian" version - they are Venetians, that is, Italians. As proof, the fact is cited that only the “indigenous” residents of Venice could go on such a long journey and recruit a reliable team. Foreigners in the 13th-14th centuries caused prejudice and mistrust, even in such an “advanced” trading city as Venice. In addition, the “natives” would not allow such a strong competitor from outsiders to flourish. The version is quite solid, but not flawless. Among the rich Venetian families there are people from different countries, although not very often.
Version "Croatian" - family - Slavs, Croats. As evidence, the fact is cited that for a long time merchants of this kind signed themselves as “Polo di Dalmatia (Croatia).” And also had family home on the island of Korcula, which belonged to the same Dalmatia. Dubious version. Venetian merchants had houses all over the world. In Novgorod, for example, or in Kyiv or Crimea, as well as in India and Persia. There were noble merchants. And so as not to get confused, they were given nicknames “Indian”, “Russian”, etc. Which meant, first of all, the range of trading interests of a particular family. But the version about Polo’s “Croatian” origin also has a right to life.
The "Polish" version - they are Poles! The thing is that Polo is not a surname, but a nickname, which is written with a small letter (as on the title page of the first edition of Marco’s famous book). And "polo" means Pole. The version is so-so. Actually, why not? It's just too far-fetched.

Childhood

The mother died during childbirth. Father Nicolo Polo was on the road at that time - he went to the Crimea on trade business, and from there he went all the way to China (Yes, it was Marco’s father who visited the Celestial Empire before his son!). So on September 15, 1254, the baby was received by the aunt of the future traveler.
Relatives did not particularly care about Marco, since it was unknown whether his father would return from the trip. In a rich family, even a poor relative got quite a fat piece. But no one was involved in the education of young Polo. From an early age, he helped as best he could in simple trade operations, but his role was limited to the well-known formula “bring it, give it.” Not a single document has survived that would confirm that great traveler Marco Polo could write and read. Such paradoxes occurred quite often in the Middle Ages.

Brief youth

Papa Nicolo returned to Venice only in 1269, when he was already 15 years old. By the standards of the 13th century, he was an adult, his father’s main assistant and a ready groom. In fact, the teenager’s life changed - he immediately became a profitable groom and heir to a huge fortune (Nicolo Polo brought not only impressions and souvenirs from distant countries). But the elder Polo had no time at all to raise his son, albeit belatedly. All his thoughts were connected with fulfilling the instructions of the ruler of China, Kublai Khan (founder of the Yu-an dynasty). It was about an audience with the Pope to ask for his blessing to convert China to Christianity. At least this is how this mission looks like as presented by Marco in his book. We will return to this later.

The mission turned out to be practically impossible. The thing is that Pope Clement had already died, and the cardinals still could not choose a new Pope. A year passed, followed by another, but the matter did not move. A candidate for the position of “apostle” was never found, and when it was found, it turned out that the candidate for “apostle” himself was this moment actively cuts off the heads of the Saracens in Palestine. Nicolo and his brother Maffeo did not have this information, and time passed and someone else could gain the trust of the Chinese ruler. This means that you can say goodbye to trade privileges, super profits and most favored nation treatment in the Celestial Empire forever. The brothers got ready to set off.

Since it is impossible to receive blessings from the Roman “apostle” himself, then you can bring incense and fragrant oil from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. So the brothers decide and assemble an expedition to Palestine and further to China. The question immediately arose: what to do with my son? Leave all trade affairs in Venice to him? Too young, and not married - what if he spends all his profits on girls? His relatives flatly refused to keep an eye on him: he had already grown up, there was no need to look after him, he had his own head. There was no time to look for a bride. The decision came naturally - to entrust the trade to relatives, under a strict agreement, of course, and to take Marco with him, young and strong guy It will come in handy on such an expedition. So they decided. A new life has begun.

The journey of Marco Polo - the main mystery

What did Marco Polo discover? and what was his journey like? Apart from a book written under the dictation of Marco Polo, nothing is known about this expedition. The Polos left in 1271 and returned in 1295. That's all. Where were you? What did you see? What they were doing? The merchants avoided answering simple questions. True, they returned simply “monstrously” rich. They became perhaps the wealthiest in Venice. For now that’s all about this, let’s just pay attention to the map and route of Marco Polo’s journey.

War and captivity

Returning to their hometown, the Polos went to fight Venice's eternal rival, Genoa. The war was serious, they fought for their place in the sun, for their piece of the world pie. In this fight, all means were good. After one of the battles, Marco from the Polo clan is captured by the Genoese. In a prison cell (why kill such a prisoner? You can get a good jackpot for him! And in general, this whole war was mainly fought with money received as numerous ransoms of wealthy prisoners) Marco Polo meets with a fellow countryman named Rustichello, who was from Pisa is the second enemy of Genoa.

Rustichello is a mysterious figure. Having left behind several brilliant literary works, he left practically no information about himself. The meeting with Marco was a gift for the writer of chivalric novels. Both prisoners had enough time. Polo talked about his travels and life in China, Rustichello took notes. But here we must not forget that Marco, like any Venetian, loved to brag, and the writer, like any writer, loved to make things up. As a result of this collaboration between the two prisoners, a manuscript entitled “The Book of the Diversity of the World” was born. She will still make a splash in Europe!

Return

After his release from prison, he triumphantly returns to Venice. He is a war hero, a wealthy merchant and an influential citizen. The book, written in prison, caused a lot of noise, but somewhat damaged its commercial reputation. Few believed in the journey. Many believed that everything in it was fiction. Too unprecedented things were described. Polo's reputation as an "eccentric writer" stuck to him. But this did not stop the traveler from getting married successfully. At the time of the wedding, Marco was 45 years old, an old man by the standards of the time, but his enormous wealth always made a bachelor attractive, regardless of age. The bride was found quickly. Young, from a rich family. She will give Marco three daughters.

Old age and death are two mysteries at once

This period of the great traveler’s life is most convenient for study. Many documents have been preserved that characterize Marco Polo as a person. Alas, nothing particularly interesting. These are mainly court petitions and court decisions related to financial disputes with relatives. With age, Polo became obscenely stingy. His fortune was enormous, but everything was small. Increasing wealth became an obsession.

Shortly before his death, Marco sets free his slave, the baptized Tatar Pietro. Moreover, he gives the former slave a round sum, which allowed Pietro to return home and become the most successful merchant of Crimea. Why did the stingy Polo make such an exception for the Tatar slave? There are again several versions:

The “romantic” version - this noble deed was payment for many years of impeccable service and accompanying the Polo family on a long journey to China and back. For loyalty to the family and sharing with it all the troubles and hardships that overtook the Polo family during their travels.
The “cynical” version - Pietro really accompanied the Polo family on the trip. He saw everything, heard everything and knew perfectly well how this voyage of 17 years went. A free and generous gift - payment for silence and refusal to expose all the “fantasies” of the book, written from the words of Marco.

Marco Polo died in 1324, having lived 69 years and 4 months. As befits a Venetian, the traveler left a detailed will and provided a comfortable life not only for his three daughters, but also for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; fortunately, his huge fortune was enough for everyone.

What did Rustichello tell his cellmate in prison? A book about the diversity of the world is the main mystery of Mark Polo. Researchers love the book dictated by Marco Polo. This story about the journey of one family inspired later authors to create more than two thousand different studies, analyzes and monographs. Everyone tries to find something previously unnoticed in an essay. But the main question has not yet been finally resolved: was Marco Polo really in China or did he make it all up?

In fact, the book describes not only China. Marco talks about what he saw in the Pamirs, in the Gobi Desert, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, on the island of Ceylon and Madagascar, Java and Sumatra, even the Japanese island is mentioned in the book. But China and all the stories about it were of most interest to the traveler’s contemporaries, and his descendants too.

Europe of the 13th-14th centuries lived with fabulous ideas about distant countries. Stories about fairy-tale monsters and humanoid monsters were considered completely reliable and truthful. There is nothing like this in the book of the Venetian traveler Marco Polo. But the miracles he talks about made no less an impression: printing paper money, cities with a million people (in Europe at that time, a city with a population of 30 thousand was considered an unimaginable metropolis), special Chinese cuisine, relations between officials and the ruler, intrigues of the Chinese imperial court and much more.

What arguments are given by those who consider Marco Polo’s book not to be memoirs of a journey, but collected together stories of experienced merchants that the Venetian “overheard” while staying no further than the Crimean Peninsula:

Polo never mentions the Great Wall of China;
Only once and casually does he talk about porcelain;
Not once does the book talk about the tea ceremony or tea itself;
There is not a single mention of the unusual for any European tradition of “binding women’s legs”;
Printed books and hieroglyphs are never mentioned;
The names of many cities and provinces are inaccurate.

The version is quite plausible. For residents of Europe, Crimea is already a long way off, but there were plenty of Persian merchants here. Every Venetian knew three or four languages. In Crimea, it was possible to learn not one, but several languages in six months or a year. So he sat quietly in Marco Polo’s shop, listened to stories about distant countries from visiting merchants, and memorized them greedily. Over two decades, such stories have accumulated in abundance, so a rich merchant remembered them in prison and dictated them to Rustichello.

Most researchers still believed Marco Polo. What are their arguments:

During Polo’s stay in China, the “Great Wall” was the name given to earthen fortifications, which simply could not impress a European, accustomed to the high and powerful walls of city fortifications;
Porcelain was also known to Marco; it is obvious that his father brought several outlandish vases, and during his long stay in the Middle Kingdom one could get used to this type of dishes;
Tea was no longer a curiosity for the wealthy Polo family. By that time, Arab merchants had established supplies of this “miracle” to Venice. As for the ceremony, according to Marco Polo, their family lived mainly at court, and at that time he was “Mongolian” and tea drinking looked completely different, for the same reason the Venetians knew nothing about the Chinese tradition of binding feet women;
Printed books, like any others, were not of interest to Marco. He couldn't read. So these intricate icons, which are called hieroglyphs, were of little concern to the young merchant;
As for the inaccurate names, we should not forget that Rustichello wrote them all down “by ear,” and he had never heard them before, so “he wrote it as he heard it.”

All researchers agree on one thing: in the part of the book where Polo talks about his relationship with the ruler of the Celestial Empire, the Venetian boasted quite famously. It’s hard to believe that the ruler of a multimillion-dollar empire was delighted with the abilities and sharp mind of a twenty-year-old European. And Marco’s appointment as governor of one of the provinces is completely reminiscent of Khlestakov’s stories in the famous Russian play. Knowing that the veracity of this information, as well as everyone else, is almost impossible to verify, Polo decided to slightly embellish the reality. Almost all travelers did this. This tradition lived on for several more centuries until the Age of Great Discoveries ended.

Despite all the mysteries and inaccuracies, the memoirs became the first literary description of the countries Central Asia and China in Western Europe. For a long time his work was the only authoritative source of knowledge about distant countries. It is known that during his search for India, Rustichello carefully studied the work; perhaps, if not for these memories of Marco Polo, America would have remained “closed” to the rest of the world for a long time.

Educational video about Marco Polo

The most famous European traveler who visited the East. Born into the family of a wealthy Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo.

Born into the family of a wealthy Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo. In those days, Venice was the center of trade between East and West. Venetian merchants often made trips to Constantinople and Crimea, where they had transshipment bases. During the Roman Empire, contacts with India and China were quite common, but the Muslim invasion in the 7th century. blocked the routes to Asia for Europeans. This situation existed until the Mongols created a pan-Asian empire, conquering the Baghdad Caliphate in 1258. In 1260, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, Marco's father and uncle, who had become rich thanks to the renewal of ancient trade relations, went to Beijing (Khanbalay, or Tatu), which Kublai Khan, the grandson of the founder of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan, made the capital of his vast possessions. After a nine-year absence, both merchants returned to Venice. Kublai made them promise to return to China and bring several monks with him, since he was going to introduce Christianity to China. In 1271 the brothers set off on a long journey to the east, taking with them two monks, who, however, turned back halfway.

Research of the Far East.

On their second trip to China, Niccolò and Maffeo took Marco with them. The expedition reached Beijing in 1275 by land route and was warmly received by Kublai. Marco was a diligent young man and had a talent for languages. While his father and uncle were engaged in trade, he studied the Mongolian language. Khubilai, who usually brought talented foreigners to his court, hired Marco into the civil service. Soon Marco became a member of the privy council, and the emperor gave him several secret assignments. One of them was to compile a report on the situation in Yunnan and Burma after the conquest of the latter by the Mongols in 1287, the other was to purchase a Buddha tooth from Ceylon, which in Asia was considered the most effective means restoration of potency. Marco subsequently became prefect of Yangzhou, an important city on the Grand Canal.

Marco Polo made a brilliant career, during 15 years of service he studied China perfectly, and also collected a lot of information about India and Japan. Around 1290, he asked to be allowed to go home, but Kublai refused. Marco managed to get out of China only in 1292, when his candidacy was considered the most suitable to accompany the Mongol princess Kokachin to Persia, where she was to marry the local viceroy Arghun, Kublai's grandnephew. Having reached Persia, Marco received news that Kublai Kublai had died. This freed him from the obligation to return to China, and he went to Venice, where he arrived in 1295.

The Republic of Venice was at that time at war with the Republic of Genoa. On next year After returning to Venice, Marco found himself aboard a Venetian merchant ship that was captured by the Genoese in the eastern Mediterranean. From 1296 to 1299 he was kept in prison in Genoa, where he dictated the famous Book of Marco Polo to a certain Rustichello of Pisa. The book contains descriptions not only of China and mainland Asia, but also of the vast world of islands - from Japan to Zanzibar.

Marco was released from prison in 1299. He lived in Venice until his death in 1324. In the eyes of his fellow citizens, he remained an eccentric, his stories were not believed, and their author was given the nickname Marco Millione. The ashes of Marco Polo rest in the Church of San Lorenzo, but the exact burial place is not known.

120 manuscripts of the Book of Marco Polo survive. They all differ in detail. In 1938 A. Moule published the full version of the Book. Moule carefully examined and compared a large number of manuscripts, including one discovered in 1932 by the orientalist P.D. Barth in the library at cathedral in Toledo. This manuscript, known as Zelada, contains many new episodes. Consequently, Moule's edition is most faithful to the original author's text of the Book of Marco Polo, although the numerous commentaries in Yule and Cordier's 1903 edition are also important.

Marco Polo was born into the family of a Venetian merchant, Nicolo Polo, whose family was involved in the jewelry and spice trade. Since there are no surviving birth certificates for Marco Polo, the traditional version of his birth in Venice was challenged in the 19th century by Croatian researchers who argue that the first evidence of the Polo family in Venice dates back to the second half of the 13th century, where they are referred to as Poli di Dalmazia , while up until 1430 the Polo family owned a house in Korcula, now in Croatia. Most researchers adhere to the traditional version of Polo's birth, believing that the family settled in Venice before the birth of Marco Polo.

In addition, there is a version about the origin of Marco Polo, based on the first edition of his book (1477 - Germany). Under the portrait there is an inscription: “Das ist der edel Ritter, Marcho polo von Venedig.” Which in translation means approximately the following: “This is the noble knight Marco the Pole von Venedig” (polo is written with a small letter - most likely indicates nationality, not surname).

The first voyage of Marco Polo's father and uncle

In 1260, Nicolo, Marco's father, together with his brother Maffeo, went to the Crimea (to Sudak), where their third brother, also named Marco, had his own trading house. They then followed the same route taken by Guillaume de Rubruck in 1253. After spending a year in Saray-Batu, the brothers moved on to Bukhara. Due to the danger of military operations led by Khan Berke (Batu's brother) in this region, the brothers were forced to postpone their return home. After staying in Bukhara for three years and unable to return home, they joined the Persian caravan, which sent Khan Hulagu to Khanbalik (modern Beijing) to his brother, the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan, who by that time had practically completed the defeat of the Chinese Song dynasty and soon became the sole ruler Mongol Empire and China.

In the winter of 1266, the brothers reached Beijing and were received by Kublai Kublai, who, according to the brothers, gave them a golden paiza for a free journey back and asked them to convey a message to the Pope asking him to send him oils from the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem and preachers of Christianity. The Mongolian ambassador went to the Vatican with his brothers, however, he fell ill on the way and fell behind. Arriving in Venice in 1269, the brothers discovered that Pope Clement IV had died and a new one had never been appointed. Wanting to quickly fulfill Kublai's instructions, they decided not to wait for the appointment of a new pope, and in 1271 they went to Jerusalem, taking Marco with them. Having already left Jerusalem, they returned to it again to meet with the newly elected Pope Gregory X. Gregory was favorable to the idea of evangelizing China and the hope of using Kublai Kublai as an ally in the fight against Islam.

The Journey of Marco Polo

Travels 1271-1295

Road to China

The new journey to China passed through Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, the Pamirs and Kashgaria.

Life in China

The first Chinese city to which the Polo family reached in 1275 was Shazhu (modern Dunhuang), a transit point on the Silk Road. That same year they reached Kublai Kublai's summer residence in Shangdu (in modern Gansu province of China). According to Polo, the khan was delighted with him, gave him various instructions, did not allow him to return to Venice, and even three years held him governor of the city of Yangzhou (Chapter CXLIV, Book 2). In addition, the Polo family (according to the book) participated in the development of the khan's army and taught him to use catapults in the siege of fortresses.

Descriptions of Polo's life in China are rarely followed chronological order, which poses a problem in determining the exact route of his travels. But its description is quite accurate geographically; it gives orientation by cardinal directions and distances in terms of travel days: To the south of Panshin, after one day's journey, is the large and noble city of Kaiu.. In addition, Polo describes the daily life of the Chinese, mentioning the use of paper money, typical crafts and culinary traditions of various areas.

Return to Venice

Marco Polo in China

Despite numerous requests from the Polo family, Khan did not want to let them go, but he married one of the Mongol princesses to the Persian Ilkhan Arghun. To organize her safe journey, he equipped a detachment of fourteen ships and allowed the Polo family to join as official representatives Khan, and sent a flotilla to Hormuz. During the voyage, the Polos visited Sumatra and Ceylon and returned to Venice in 2011 through Iran and the Black Sea.

Marco Polo about Russia

Christians of the Greek confession live here. There are many kings and its own language; the people are simple-minded and very beautiful; men and women are white and blond... Know, in truth, the most severe cold in the world is in Russia; it's hard to hide from him. The country is large, right up to the sea-ocean; and on this sea they have several islands, where gyrfalcons and pilgrim falcons live, all this is exported to different countries of the world. From Russia, I’ll tell you, the way to Norway is not long, and if it weren’t for the cold, it would be possible to get there quickly, but the great cold makes it difficult to go there. (Chapter CCXVIII, Book 4)

Life after returning

Very little is known about his life after returning from China. According to some reports, he took part in the war with Genoa. Near Polo he was captured by the Genoese and remained there until May 1299. His travel stories were recorded by another prisoner, Rustichello (Rusticiano), who also wrote chivalric romances. According to some sources, the text was dictated in the Venetian dialect, according to others it was recorded by in Old French with inserts in Italian. Due to the fact that the original manuscript has not survived, it is not possible to establish the truth.

After his release from Genoese captivity, he returned to Venice, got married and from this marriage he had three daughters (two were married to merchants from Dalmatia, which, according to some researchers, confirms the hypothesis of his Croatian origin, but the wife herself was from a famous Venetian family, which rather speaks to the established connections of the Polo family in Venice). He also had a house on the corner of Rio di San Giovanni Crisostomo and Rio di San Lio. There are documents showing that he was involved in two minor trials.

In 1324, already an ill man, Polo wrote his will, which mentioned the golden paiza received from Tatar Khan(he received it from his uncle Maffeo, who in turn bequeathed it to Marco in 1310). Also in 1324, Marco died and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo. In 1596, his house (where, according to legend, the things he brought from the Chinese campaign were kept) burned down. The church in which he was buried was demolished in the 19th century.

Researchers about the book

Il milione

Marco Polo's book is one of the most popular objects historical research. The bibliography, compiled in 1986, contains more than 2,300 scientific works only in European languages.

From the moment he returned to the city, stories from the trip were viewed with disbelief. Peter Jackson mentions as one of the reasons for mistrust reluctance to accept his description of a well-ordered and hospitable Mongol Empire, which contradicted the traditional Western view of barbarians. In turn, in 1995, Frances Wood, curator of the Chinese collection of the British Museum, published a popular book in which she questioned the very fact of Polo's travel to China, suggesting that the Venetian did not travel beyond Asia Minor and the Black Sea, but simply used the ones known to him. descriptions of the travels of Persian merchants.

Previous contacts with China

One of the myths surrounding this book is the idea of Polo as the first contact between Europe and China. Even without the suggestion of contact between the Roman Empire and the Han dynasty, the Mongol conquests of the 13th century eased the route between Europe and Asia (since it now passed through the territory of almost one state).

In Khubilai's archives from 1261 there is a reference to European merchants from Lands of the Midnight Sun, probably Scandinavian or Novgorod. On their first journey, Nicolo and Maffeo Polo followed the same route as Guillaume de Rubruck, indeed sent by Pope Innocent IV, reaching the then Mongol capital of Karakorum and returning in 1255. The description of his route was known in medieval Europe and could have been known to the Polo brothers on their first journey.

During Polo's stay in China, a native of Beijing, Rabban Sauma, came to Europe, and the missionary Giovanni Montecorvino, on the contrary, went to China. Published in 1997 by David Selbourne, the text of the Italian Jew Jacob of Ancona, who allegedly visited China in 1270-1271, shortly before Polo, is, according to most Hebraists and Sinologists, a hoax.

Unlike previous travelers, Marco Polo created a book that gained great popularity and throughout the Middle Ages competed in public success with the fantastic journey of John Mandeville (the prototype of which was Odorico Pordenone).

Book versions

Little is known about Marco Polo's literacy rate. Most likely he could keep commercial records, but it is unknown whether he could write text. The text of the book was dictated by him to Rustichello, probably in his native language, Venetian, or in Latin, but Rustichello could also write it in French, in which he wrote novels. The process of writing a book could significantly affect the reliability and completeness of its content: Marco excluded from his description those memories that were of no interest to him as a merchant (or were obvious to him), and Rustichello could omit or interpret at his own discretion memories that were not of interest to him. interest or already incomprehensible to him. It can also be assumed that Rustichello was related to only some of the four books, and Polo could have other “co-authors”.

Soon after its appearance, the book was translated into Venetian, Latin (different translations from the Venetian and French versions), and back into French from the Latin version. During the process of translation and rewriting, the books were changed, text fragments were added or deleted. The oldest surviving manuscript (Manuscript F) is significantly shorter than the others, but textual evidence suggests that the other surviving manuscripts are based on more complete original texts.

Fragments that raise doubts

Significant omissions

Francis Wood notes that neither hieroglyphs, printing, tea, porcelain, the practice of footbinding of women, nor the Great Wall of China are mentioned in Polo's book. The arguments put forward by proponents of travel authenticity are based on the specific process of the book's creation and Polo's purpose in conveying his memories.

Polo knew Persian (the language of international communication at that time), while living in China, he learned Mongolian (the language of the Chinese administration during this period), but did not need to learn Chinese. As a member of the Mongol administration, he lived at a distance from Chinese society (which, according to his testimony, had a negative attitude towards European barbarians), had little interaction with his everyday life, and did not have the opportunity to observe many of the traditions evident only in the household.

To a man who had not received a formal education and was a stranger to literature, local books represented “Chinese literacy,” but Polo describes in detail the production of paper money, which differs little from the printing of books.

Tea was by that time widely known in Persia, so it was of no interest to the author; similarly, it is not mentioned in Arabic and Persian descriptions of that time.

Porcelain was mentioned briefly in the book.

Regarding foot binding, one of the manuscripts (Z) mentions that Chinese women walk in very small steps, but this is not explained more fully.

Finally, Great Wall in the form in which we know it now, it was built during the Ming Dynasty. In the time of Marco Polo, these were mostly earthworks, which did not form a continuous wall, but were limited to the most militarily vulnerable areas. For the Venetian, fortifications of this kind may not have been of significant interest.

Inaccurate descriptions

Descriptions of Marco Polo are full of inaccuracies. This applies to the names of individual cities and provinces, their relative locations, as well as descriptions of objects in these cities. A famous example is the description of the bridge near Beijing (now named after Marco Polo), which actually has half as many arches as described in the book.

In Marco Polo's defense, it can be said that his description was from memory, he was familiar with Persian and used Persian names, which were often also inconsistent in their rendering of Chinese names. Some inaccuracies were introduced when translating or rewriting the book, so some surviving manuscripts are more accurate than others. In addition, in many cases Polo did use second-hand information (especially when describing historical or fantastic events that happened before his journey). Many other contemporary descriptions also suffer from this kind of inaccuracy, which cannot be blamed on the fact that their authors were not in that place at that time.

Role at court

Kublai's honor to the young Polo and his appointment as governor of Yangzhou do not seem reliable, and the absence of Chinese or Mongolian official records of the presence of merchants in China for almost twenty years, according to Frances Wood, looks particularly suspicious. Most authors mention only a reference from 1271 in which Pagba Lama, a close adviser to Kublai Kublai, mentions a foreigner on friendly terms with the khan, but it does not indicate the name, nationality, or length of stay of this foreigner in China.

It is possible that Polo's role in China is greatly exaggerated in his book, but this error may be attributed to the author's boasting, scribal embellishment, or translator problems that may have resulted in the role of councilor being transformed into the post of governor. In addition, Marco Polo nowhere mentions what name he was called by in China. A common practice at the time was to use Chinese nicknames for foreigners, making it difficult to find mention of Polo's name in Chinese lists. Many Europeans who officially visited China during this period, such as de Rubruck, also received no mention in Chinese chronicles.

In the book, Polo shows awareness of relationships at the khan's court, information about which would not have been available without proximity to the court. Thus, in Chapter LXXXV (On the treacherous plan to revolt the city of Kambala), he, emphasizing his personal presence at the events, describes in detail the various abuses of Minister Ahmad and the circumstances of his murder, naming the name of the killer (Wanzhu), which exactly corresponds to Chinese sources. This episode is significant because the Chinese dynastic chronicle Yuan-shi mentions the name of Po-Lo as a person who was part of the commission investigating the murder and stood out for sincerely telling the emperor about the latter’s abuses

Return from China

The description of this journey is the most convincing evidence that the Polo family was indeed in China and was on fairly friendly relations with the Khan’s court. Polo in his book describes in detail the preparation of the trip, the route and the number of participants, which are confirmed by Chinese archival records. He also gives the names of three ambassadors, two of whom died on the road to Hormuz and their names were not known outside China.

Evaluation of the book by modern researchers

Most modern researchers reject Frances Wood's opinion about the complete fabrication of the entire trip, considering it an unsubstantiated attempt to make money on a sensation.

A more productive (and generally accepted) point of view is to look at this book as a source of merchant records about places to buy goods, routes for their movement and the circumstances of life in these countries. Even the second-hand information in this account (for example, about the trip to Russia) is quite accurate, and most of the information about the geography of China and other countries along the travel route is also quite consistent with modern knowledge of the history and geography of China. In turn, these notes of the merchant were supplemented with fragments about life in exotic countries that were interesting to the general public.

Literature

A book about the diversity of the world. Edition: Giovanni del Plano Carpini. History of the Mongals., Guillaume de Rubruk. Travels to Eastern countries., Book of Marco Polo. M. Thought. 1997, translation: I. M. Minaev
The Book of Marco Polo, trans. from Old French text, intro. Art. I. P. Magidovich, M., 1955 (literature available).
Same. Alma-Ata, 1990.
Hart G., The Venetian Marco Polo, trans. from English, M., 1956;
The book of sir Marco Polo, the Venetian..., 3 ed., v. 1-2, L., 1921.
Magidovich I. P., Magidovich V. I. Essays on the history of geographical discoveries. M., 1982. T. 1. P. 231-235.

Notes

Links

Polo, Marco in the library of Maxim Moshkov: A book about the diversity of the world. Translation by I. P. Minaev.
V. Dubovitsky Venetians. In the land of rubies, or what Marco Polo wrote about Badakhshan

A journey from Europe to China in the Middle Ages can probably be compared with a journey into space in the 20th century. Just as our compatriots knew by name all the once few cosmonauts, we can try to count on our fingers all the Europeans who visited the Far East. The era of the Great Geographical Discoveries was still very far away, but one of these discoveries was made already at the end of the 13th century. It cannot be said that before Marco Polo, Europe did not know about China. But it was the great Venetian who made this name widely known.

Marco Polo was born on one of the Dalmatian islands of Korcula in 1254. The islands then belonged to Venice, and the Polo family actively participated in the extensive trading activities of this republic. Father Marco Nicolo and uncle Matteo chose the eastern direction to develop their trade. They had connections with the Crimea and Asia Minor, and soon after Marco’s birth they decided on a long journey to China. Kublai Khan, who ruled there, made them promise to return to China and bring with him several Christian monks.

In 1269, the elder Polos returned to Venice, and three years later they went to China again, this time taking 17-year-old Marco with them. By sea, the merchants reached the southeastern shores of Asia Minor, from there they followed by land, probably from Akkon (Akka) through Erzurum, Tabriz and Kashan (Iran) to Hormuz (Hormuz) and from there through Herat, Balkh and Pamir to Kashgar and further to Cathay (China), to the city of Kambala (Beijing). In 1275, the Polos reached Khanbalik (Beijing), where Genghis Khan's son Kublai Khan (Kubla Khan) ruled.

It is not entirely clear how this happened, but the older Venetians and especially their young comrade were treated kindly by the khan. The Mongols created a slender culture in China state system, united various provinces, experienced officials, educated and energetic people were required. Marco was a diligent young man and had a talent for languages. While his father and uncle were engaged in trade, he studied the Mongolian language. Khubilai, who usually brought talented foreigners to his court, hired Marco into the civil service. Soon Marco became a member of the privy council, and the emperor gave him several assignments. One of them was to compile a report on the situation in Yunnan and Burma after the latter was conquered by the Mongols in 1287, the other was to purchase a Buddha tooth from Ceylon. Marco subsequently became prefect of Yangzhou.

The Polos stayed under Kublai for 17 years. Over the years of service, Marco studied China and collected a lot of information about India and Japan. In 1290, he asked to be allowed to go home, but Kublai refused. In 1292, Khubilai gave the Venetians his last important task - to escort the Mongol princess Kokachin to Persia, where she was to marry the local ruler Arghun, Khubilai's grandnephew. The junk with the Polo family on board departed from South China. From the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, the ships passed through the Strait of Malacca and made a three-month stop on the shores of the island of Sumatra. After stopping on the island of Ceylon and sailing along the western coast of India, the ships entered the Persian Gulf and dropped anchor in the city of Hormuz. During the voyage, Marco Polo managed to obtain some information about the African coast, Ethiopia, the islands of Madagascar, Zanzibar and Socotra. In Persia, the Polos received news of the death of the Chinese Khan, which relieved them of the obligation to return to China. Marco and his relatives reached Venice in 1295 without much incident.

Marco Polo quickly became famous among his fellow countrymen for his stories about distant and amazing countries. Many laughed at him, believing that paper money, tree-lined streets, and other miracles were nothing more than fiction. Either because of the word “million”, which the narrator often used when describing the wealth and population of China (the word meant “a thousand thousands”), or using the traditional nickname of the Polo family, Marco was nicknamed Mr. Million. In 1297, during a naval skirmish, Marco Polo was captured by the Genoese. In prison he met the Pisan writer Rusticiano. He wrote down his cellmate’s stories in a book, which he called “The Book of the Diversity of the World.” This book is also known under other names: “The Book of Marco Polo” and simply “Million”. It contained descriptions not only of China and the Asian mainland, but also of the vast world of islands, from Japan to Zanzibar. Despite the fact that the invention of printing was still very far away, the book gained popularity during the lifetime of its author. Marco himself, upon leaving prison, showed great enterprise in advertising his work. It was rewritten, translated, and the traveler gave copies to influential people in different countries.

“The Book of Marco Polo” contains extremely valuable information on the geography, ethnography, history of Armenia, Georgia, Iran, China, Mongolia, India and Indonesia. The mysterious country of Chipango (Japan) is also mentioned there. Much of what the Venetians ridiculed was pure truth, although Marco did not do without some fables and exaggerations. His information about distances was particularly inaccurate, which led some geographers to place China much further east than it should have. This is probably why Christopher Columbus was so confident in the success of his proposed voyage to Asia. After all, he also carefully read The Book of Marco Polo.

Marco Polo died in Venice in 1324. They say that he was a wealthy man, but this data is refuted by some historians who claim that the most famous “storyteller” of that time remained a poor man.

Is Marco Polo a real character or a secret travel hoax?

", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> Marco Polo is the first great traveler, whose name opens the list of great travelers of all times and peoples. Marco Polo was the first European at the end of the thirteenth century to make such a long and long journey to the East, spent a long time at the court of the Great Khan in Mongolia and China, visited Japan, Southeast Asia, and Persia. He published all his memories and impressions in written form under the title “Books about the diversity of the world.” This book was first circulated in lists, and then became one of the first most popular books in the history of printing.

It is known that the further a historical character is from us in time, the less there is about him reliable information. This directly relates to Marco Polo - a man whose exact date of birth is unknown and whose place of last refuge is also unknown. No portraits of him survived either. All that is known is what he told about himself.

A detailed biography of Marco Polo was written in the 16th century by John Baptist Ramusio (1485–1557). According to this biography, he was born in Venice around 1254.

How Marco Polo became a traveler

Marco Polo came from a family of Venetian merchants that traded with the East. In 1260, Nicolo, Marco's father, together with his brother Matteo, made another trip to Sudak (Crimea), where their third brother had his own trading house. Then they moved east with the goal of penetrating as far as possible and exploring as much as possible about the possibilities of trade with China and other countries of the East. We reached Bukhara, which is not surprising - after all, all merchants at all times went on long journeys and established connections with their trading partners. Having stayed in Bukhara for quite a long time, the brothers joined a trade caravan traveling from Persia to Khanbalik - the then name of modern Beijing.

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In the winter of 1266, the caravan reached Beijing and the brothers were received by the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan, who by that time had seized power over the Middle Kingdom. Khan personally received merchants from Europe, showed interest in establishing contacts and asked them to convey their message to the Pope with a request to send him oils from the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem. This version has not been confirmed in any way, but given that the Mongols were quite tolerant of any religion, it is quite likely.

The brothers returned to Venice in 1269. A couple of years later they headed East again for another commercial venture. In addition to its own commercial interests, the Polo delegation also served as a diplomatic mission to establish contacts between Venice and China. The brothers paved their way through Jerusalem, in which they had to stock up on life-giving oil from the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem for their Far Eastern benefactor. Nicolo took his son Marco, who was 17 years old at that time, on a hike. This is how Marco Polo became a traveler.

Marco Polo in China

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most likely these were well-trodden caravan routes of that time. In 1275 they reached the residence of Kublai Khan. (Why did it take so long? Obviously, the Polo merchants traded along the way and stopped in different places.) If you believe the story of Marco Polo, the ruler of the Celestial Empire was fascinated by the young man, brought him closer to him, and entrusted him with certain matters and various important assignments of state importance.

To be honest, it’s hard to believe this, because the young man was only twenty years old. Although, on the other hand, he was, as it were, a member of the European embassy, an outsider, did not belong to any local clan - a rather convenient figure for carrying out the khan’s orders. A sort of Arab of Peter the Great. According to the memoirs of Marco, Hibulai even kept him as governor of the city of Yangzhou for three years. Here it is simply impossible to resist quoting our great classic:

Khlestakov:

… Once I even managed a department. And it’s strange: the director left, it’s unknown where he went. Well, naturally, rumors began: how, what, who should take the place? Many of the generals were hunters and took on, but it happened that they would approach - no, it was tricky. It seems easy to look at, but when you look at it, it’s just damn! After they see, there is nothing to do - come to me.

...What is the situation? - I'm asking. “Ivan Alexandrovich, go manage the department!” I admit, I was a little embarrassed, I came out in a dressing gown: I wanted to refuse, but I think: it will reach the sovereign, well, and the track record too... “If you please, gentlemen, I accept the position, I accept, I say, so be it, I say, I accept, only for me: no, no, no!.. I have a keen ear! I already..."

One way or another, the position of “a person close to the emperor” gave the Polo family the opportunity to visit many places in China with trade and other matters. In total they stayed there for 17 years. The Khan did not want to let them go, but then the opportunity came to marry the Khan’s daughter, and not to anyone, but to the Persian Shah, or Prince Arghun. It was unsafe to transport such a treasure by land, and the khan equipped a flotilla of 14 ships, which included the Polo family, apparently as special representatives.

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On the way to Hormuz, the ships visited Japan, many other points in Southeast Asia, and visited Sumatra and Ceylon. Already in Persia, the Polos received information about the death of the Great Khan. As they say, there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. The Polo family considered themselves free from obligations and moved back to their homeland. They returned to Venice in 1295.

If all this is true, then it becomes clear where Marco Polo got detailed descriptions of these territories far from China and

And then our adventurer is captured. In the ongoing war between Genoa and Venice in 1297, the warship, which he supposedly equipped at his own expense, along with the entire crew was captured by the Genoese, and Marco Polo himself was taken into a casemate.

Marco Polo. A book about the diversity of the world

And in a prison cell, a lucky chance brings him together with a man from Pisa named Rusticeanu, who made his living by writing novels about (or for) kings. And Marco Polo dictates to Rustici his memories of life in China and the East. The work was called “The Book about the Diversity of the World.”

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The fate of Marco Polo himself later turned out very well. He was, presumably, ransomed from captivity, and spent the rest of his life in Venice, in his house in ", BGCOLOR, "#ffffff", FONTCOLOR, "#333333", BORDERCOLOR, "Silver", WIDTH, "100%", FADEIN, 100, FADEOUT, 100)"> prosperity and prosperity. Moved to better world in 1324.

The fate of his creation turned out even better. Few books could have been so in demand for several centuries, both as reference material and as exciting educational reading. Many pioneers of the era of Great Geographical Discoveries, who were looking for the paths of “India,” relied on information from it. It was translated into many languages, published and reprinted as a book, and then became in demand as a historical value. What other work has been talked about, argued about and simply mentioned for 800 years!

Some covers of the "Book about the diversity of the world"

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N This is not the only thing that makes the book interesting. As a historical object, “The Book on the Diversity of the World” has aroused and continues to arouse keen interest among researchers. The fact is that there are a lot of inconsistencies and inexplicable moments in Marco Polo’s narrative. In 1995, Frances Wood, an employee of the Chinese department of the British Museum, published a book questioning the very fact of Marco Polo’s journey. It is very suspicious, she claims, that in the description of China of that time the author never mentioned the Great Wall of China, did not say anything about Chinese porcelain, did not describe not only the tea ceremony, but did not even mention tea at all.

There is also a version that Marco Polo himself did not go to any China, but compiled a kind of compilation of information about different countries and places in the East based on the stories of Persian, Bukhara and other merchants with whom the Polo trading house dealt. Well, even if this is so, Marco still did a huge job that no one had done before. As for the inaccuracies in the book, of which experts count quite a few, we must take into account that he dictated it from memory. He did not make any notes during his stay in the Middle Kingdom, because he had neither a pencil nor a notebook. Paper, which was already made in China back then, apparently was not yet as accessible and cheap as it is now.

What is Marco Polo's contribution to European civilization?

Marco Polo’s merit also lies in the fact that his work aroused great interest among Europeans in China, India and Southeast Asia, in the real, and not fabulous existence of which in medieval Europe, probably, not everyone even believed. This book not only aroused interest, but also pushed many to search for ways to the places described in it, and became a reference book for many pioneers. Suffice it to say that