Marco Polo is better known as a source of invaluable information on the wonders of the Orient in the 13th Century rather than as a writer.

Born in Venice in 1254, he joined his father and uncle at a very young age in their travels. These were expert merchants who had built up good contacts with the distant land of Catai and the court of Kublai, a descendent of Genghis Khan.
The voyage that took him to Cina allowed him to meet the Great Kublai Khan, who highly appreciated this young Venetian and invited him to stay in his court, acting as his ambassador. This gave Polo the chance to travel widely in the area and so really get to know various Far East lands and peoples and understand their customs.

After an absence of 25 years, he finally returned to Venice where he took an active part in the politics of the city. He was involved in the conflicts between the two Marine Republic of Venice and Genoa and was even taken prisoner by Genoa during the battle of Curzola.
He thus spent two years (1298 – 1299) in the dungeons of Genoa, where he shared a cell with Rustichello da Pisa, to whom he dictated his travel diary. Published in Old French, it soon became known by the title “Il Milione”.

Marco Polo died in Venice in 1324.

1100 - 1200 - - rev. 0.1.6