A Venetian abroad: even after 700 years, Marco Polo seems modern
The explorer opened medieval minds and contributed to a new era in European thought and development
Why Marco Polo matters
This week marked the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant and explorer who spent many years travelling in Asia in the 13th century.
Polo left Venice as a teenager with his father and uncle in 1271 and did not return to Europe until 1295. In those 24 years in distant lands, the Polo family collected a wealth of information and personal experiences. They followed the Silk Road trade network and travelled extensively through Persia, the Mongol Empire, China during the period of the Yuan Dynasty, and even to India, Southeast Asia and Japan.
Marco Polo’s book about those journeys, Il Milione, published around 1300, provided readers with insight into the Eastern world, which was mysterious and little-known to Europeans at that time. His adventures left an indelible impression.
Here’s a brief summary of his key contributions:
He increased geographical knowledge of vast areas of the world, providing Europeans with an understanding of cultural and economic opportunities in these previously unknown territories.
The information shared about the trade routes in Asia, especially of the Silk Road network that connected the Far East to the Middle East, motivated Europeans to establish direct links to Asia.
Polo’s descriptions and experiences became a driving force behind the later Age of Exploration, inspiring other explorers like Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) and Christopher Columbus (1451-1506).
The cultural exchanges provided through the many languages, technologies and customs he encountered became an influence on European art and thought in the period that gave rise to the Renaissance.
Polo also left a remarkable legacy in diplomatic and commercial relations. During his stay in Asia, Marco served as an envoy to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler in China. His service to the court helped develop relations between the Mongol Empire and many other countries, including those in Southeast Asia.
Another important contribution was in the literary sphere. Il Milione, translated in English as the Travels of Marco Polo, became a kind of bestseller of its time. It was widely read and translated and is seen as a seminal example of travel literature.
For many Europeans, the world of the late Middle Ages was somewhat isolated and decentralized, while in the Islamic world and in Asia we know now that trade networks and exchanges were vibrant and thriving, with notable advancements in many fields of human knowledge, from science to the arts. In a tangible way, Marco Polo’s travels drew back the curtain and showed the way to new opportunities and relationships between peoples in a globally interconnected system.
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Distances between settlements in Asia were vast, often requiring long desert crossings and high mountain climbs that tested the hardiest of travellers. For a sense of what that kind of journey was like, let’s ride with his caravan for a moment. Here’s an excerpt from his book, describing moments of mental deception brought on by fatigue:
"When a man is riding through this desert by night and for some reason - falling asleep or anything else - he gets separated from his companions and wants to rejoin them, he hears spirit voices talking to him as if they were his companions, sometimes even calling him by name. Often these voices lure him away from the path and he never finds it again, and many travelers have become lost and died because of this. Sometimes in the night travelers hear a noise like the clatter of a great company of riders away from the road; if they believe that these are some of their own company and head for the noise, they find themselves in deep trouble when daylight comes and they realize their mistake. There were some who, in crossing the desert, have seen a host of men coming towards them and, suspecting that they were robbers, returning, they have gone hopelessly astray....Even by daylight men hear these spirit voices, and often you fancy you are listening to the strains of many instruments, especially drums, and the clash of arms. For this reason bands of travelers make a point of keeping very close together. Before they go to sleep they set up a sign pointing in the direction in which they have to travel, and round the necks of all their beasts they fasten little bells, so that by listening to the sound they may prevent them from straying off the path."
-Travels.
Source: https://robscholtemuseum.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Marco-Polo-and-His-Travels.pdf
Other background material:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marco-Polo
Reflections on different kinds of exploration
Wilbur Wright, who developed the world’s first successful airplane with his brother, on predicting the future:
"I confess that, in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that men would not fly for 50 years. Two years later, we were making flights. This demonstration of my inability as a prophet gave me such a shock that I have ever since refrained from all prediction."
From a speech at the Aero-Club de France (1908).
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Mitch Albom on finding purpose:
“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
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Anne Lamott on not losing hope:
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.”
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Ansel Adams on experiences:
"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration."
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David Attenborough on evolution:
“There are four million different kinds of plants and animals in the world. That’s four million solutions to the problem of staying alive.”
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Carl Sagan on exploration:
"Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars."
I’m curious about a lot of things. If you’d like to see a sampling of the topics I’ve highlighted in my newsletter, you can find previous posts on the Zanepost web page, linked here. You can also check out the Notes page (the section is found on the menu bar, along with thematic tabs). Notes opens a door to the vibrant Substack community, where you’ll find some amazing writers and topics.
My sketch this week
A helicopter ambulance flying overhead near the Vancouver airport.
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Thanks for reading Zanepost. If you know anyone who might be interested in this newsletter, please share it. This is a space for anyone who has eclectic interests, is curious about the world and interested in making it a better place.
Warm regards,
Renato Zane.