A true story or a fairy-tail?

Version 1

By Roleine van de Vlasakker | Published 19 December 2011

Who haven’t heard of the great Marco Polo. He is one of the best-known explorers in the world. He travelled to China, India, Persia, Indonesia and many more countries in Asia and Africa.

During his trips he took notes about what he has experienced. One day, when he was captured by the Genoese, he wrote a biography with a fellow-prisoner. The book, Il Milione, was translated into many languages so that the European people could learn about the adventures of Marco Polo. Some may even believe that Columbus and other explorers were inspired by the book.

However, the question is; is this the true story of Marco Polo or is it just another fairy-tale like Cinderella and Snow-white?

The journey of Marco Polo

Family matters

Marco Polo wasn’t the first Polo who went on adventure to Asia. His father, Niccolò and his uncle, Maffeo Polo went there before. His father was a wealthy merchant who often went to distant lands for trading. In 1271, when Marco was seventeen, he accompanied his father and his uncle on a journey to Cathay, now known as China. They travelled three years to reach Cathay. When they arrived in Peking, they were welcomed by the emperor of Cathay, Kublai Khan. Khan was an old friend of his father and uncle. He gave the Polo’s important positions at the Chinese court.

Marco worked as an envoy, so he travelled a lot to distant parts of Asia and Africa.

After many years serving Kublai Khan, the three men desired to return to Venice, their hometown. However, Khan didn’t want them to go. Finally, in 1294, shortly before the death of Kublai, the Polo’s returned to Venice.

Il Milione

When Marco came home, Venice was at war with Genoa. These two cities were combating for the trade of the world. Marco fought with the Venetians. At the end they were defeated and captured by the Genoese. During his time in prison Marco wrote his famous biography with Rustichello, a fellow-prisoner. However, if we may believe Laurence Bergreen, an American historian and biographer, Marco Polo and his book should have been forgotten by history. There were other merchants and missionaries, who wrote about their journeys to exotic lands, on the market. Nevertheless Polo had two advantages; “he took great notes and had a terrific ghost-writer”. Without his ghost-writer, Rustichello, the book wouldn’t even have existed. He forced Polo to sit down and tell his “overflowing reminisces”. According to Bergreen, Il Milione was nothing short but a blockbuster; it spilled over with sex, violence, suspense, exotic lands, strange people and bizarre practices.

So, should we believe what’s written in Il Milione, a world wide known book written by one of the most famous explorers? Or is it just an....??

However, I guess that without the book we would never have heard of the great Marco Polo.