Early life

Marco polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic and he was born Nobel family in 1254, in Venice, Italy whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which describes his travels and also influenced later adventurers and merchants, moreover, it introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle. Travelled through Asia and apparently met Kublai Khan, meanwhile, Marco Polo's mother died, and he was raised by an aunt and uncle. Polo was well educated, and learned merchant subjects including foreign currency, appraising, and the handling of cargo ships,[9] although he learned little or no Latin In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, returning after 24 years to find Venice at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisoned, and dictated his stories to a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married and had three daughters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo

http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/who-was-marco-polo.htm

www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml

Travels

Marco polo was seventeen years old when he first travels to china in 1271 with his father and uncle over the Silk Road which is an overland route to china. The Silk Road was a series of trade routes that allowed merchants to transport goods such as silk and precious gems from Central Asia to Europe. Avoiding traveling the same route the Polo’s did 10 years ago; they made a wide swing to the north, first arriving to the southern Caucasus and the kingdom of Georgia. Then they journeyed along the regions parallel to the western shores of the Caspian Sea, reaching Tabriz and made their way south to Hormuz on the Persian Gulf. They intended to take sea route to the Chinese port. From Hormuz, however, finding the ships "wretched affairs....only stitched together with twine made from the husk of the Indian nut", they decided to go overland to Cathay and continued eastwards. From Homurz to Kerman, passing Herat, Balkh, they arrived Badakhshan, where Marco Polo convalesced from an illness and stayed there for a year. On the move again, they found themselves on "the highest place in the world, the Pamir", with its name appeared in the history for the first time. . After Marco Polo come from China he took part in the naval battle of Curzola/ Korcula between Genoa and Venice in 1298. He traversing thousands of miles, on horseback mostly, through uncharted deserts, over steep mountain passes, exposed to extreme weathers, to wild animals and very uncivilized tribesmen, Marco's book has become the most influential travelogue on the Silk Road ever written in a European language, and it paved the way for t he arrivals of thousands of Westerners in the centuries to come.

http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml

www.abcteach.com/free/r/rc_biography_marcopolo_upperelem.pdf

www.middle-ages.org.uk/marco-polo.htm

Death

In 1323, Polo was confined to bed, due to illness. On January 8, 1324, despite physicians' efforts to treat him, Polo was on his deathbed. To write and certify the will, his family requested Giovanni Giustiniani, a priest of San Procolo. His wife, Donata, and his three daughters were appointed by him as co-executrices. The church was entitled by law to a portion of his estate; he approved of this and ordered that a further sum be paid to the convent of San Lorenzo, the place where he wished to be buried. He also set free a "Tartar slave" who may have accompanied him from Asia. He divided up the rest of his assets, including several properties, between individuals, religious institutions, and every guild and fraternity to which he belonged. He also wrote-off multiple debts including 300 lire that his sister-in-law owed him, and others for the convent of San Giovanni, San Paolo of the Order of Preachers, and a cleric named Friar Benvenuto. He ordered 220 soldi be paid to Giovanni Giustiniani for his work as a notary and his prayers. The will, which was not signed by Polo, but was validated by then relevant "signum manus" rule, by which the testator only had to touch the document to make it abide to the rule of law,[19] was dated January 9, 1324. Due to the Venetian law stating that the day ends at sunset, the exact date of Marco Polo's death cannot be determined, but it was between the sunsets of January 8 and 9, 1324.

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