True History - Veritas Card # 19 (Orange Card) - Marco Polo

Marco Polo - 1254 - 1324

     The man we are studying today came from Venice, Italy. When he was about seventeen, he began a long and extensive trip to a far away place, with his father and uncle.
    There was a vast amount of land that had been conquered by the Mongols. It extended from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern part of Europe. There once was a man named Genghis Khan, who ruled that kingdom. He had a grandson named Kublai Khan, who had inherited that land. Peking, China was where the capital was.
    It was a long way away from Venice to China, but Marco Polo found a way to get there. Back then they traveled on the silk road. It was a caravan route that was named because of the silk trade in China. In their traveling, Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle passed through many different countries. They made their way through the Holy Land, then onto Persia. After that they passed through Tartary and made their way to China. What a long trip! When they met Kublai Khan, he was fascinated with them, because they were white men. Marco's father was a Venetian (from Venice) merchant, so that was an asset to what they were trying to accomplish. After Marco, his father and his uncle were invited to the palace, they were given prominent places in the Chinese court.
    The men went back to Italy about twenty years later (Marco must have been around thirty-seven by now). They came back with fascinating stories about their adventure which many found hard to believe.
   Marco wrote a book telling of his adventures to China, called, The Travels of Marco Polo. People were continually drawn to the idea of going to a place where spices were made available, so many thought hard about making a way that would not take so long to get to the Far East where spices would be abundant. Years later, a man named Christopher Columbus believed he could find a way to get the spices. His determination led to his discovery of new land in North America. He was probably most influenced by the writings of Marco Polo. I wonder what Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus would think now, if they could see all the discoveries and advances we have made in our methods of traveling to get from one place to another more quickly. It is sure easier today to get to China or India than it was back then. And for that, we should be thankful.