Marco Polo is one of the most well-known, heroic, travelers and traders around He led a geat life exploring the globe, including a visit to China to see thegreat Khan. Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice. He was a Venetian explorer andmerchant, whose account of his travels in Asia was the primary source for the Europeanimage of the Far East until the late 19th century. Marco's father, Niccol, and his uncleMaffeo had traveled to China as merchants.1 When they left Venice in 1271 to return toChina, they were accompanied by 17-year-old Marco and two priests.Despite his enduring fame, very little was known about the personal life of MarcoPolo. It is known that he was born into a leading Venetian family of merchants. He alsolived during a hopeful time in world history, when the height of Venice's influence as acity-state coincided with the greatest extent of Mongol conquest of Asia.2 Ruled byKublai Khan, the Mongol Empire stretched all the way from China to Russia and theLevant. The Mongol hordes also threatened other parts of Europe, particularly Polandand Hungary, inspiring fear everywhere by their bloodthirsty advances. Yet the ruthlessmethods brought a measure of stability to the lands they controlled, opening up traderoutes such as the famous Silk Road. Eventually, the Mongols discovered that it wasmore profitable to collect tribute from people than to kill them outright, and this policytoo stimulated trade.3 Into this favorable atmosphere a number of European tradersventured, including the family of Marco Polo. The Polos had long-established ties in theLevant and around the Black Sea: for example, they owned property in constantinople,and Marco's uncle, for whom he was named, had a home in Sudak in the Crimea.4 FromSudak, around 1260, another uncle, Maffeo, and Marco's father, Niccol, made a tradingvisit into Mongol territory, the land of the Golden Horde5, ruled by Berke Khan. Whilethey were there, a war broke out between Berke an...
