In case you haven’t read about it yet in some blogs, I am back in Marco Polo The Musical. Feels great to be back but this time I would be playing a different role. For the meantime, let’s discuss our hero from Venice.

As much as his Book of Travels a.k.a. The Travels of Marco Polo is highly disputed, there is no denying how it served as the biggest inspiration behind navigation-dependent exploration to new lands to conquer. It’s all about conquest anyway, a concept that may have dawned upon Marco Polo himself but didn’t do since he’s a merchant, not a conquistador. What other interesting things could be discovered about him?

– Marco Polo reached the empire of Kublai Khan

Note that I mentioned “the empire of Kublai Khan” instead of China. Why? While the skepticism surrounding on his mention of reaching Cathay (modern-day China) is understandable, the emperor he met is Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. One of their realms is located in China. So you can see the confusion there. The place where the Khans lived wasn’t called Mongolia yet. Today, Marco Polo’s monument is found in Ulaanbatar, capital of Mongolia. It’s the best acknowledgment from the descendants of the Khan that Marco Polo settled there.

 

– Marco Polo became a successful merchant despite learning very little Latin

Being from Venice, Latin ended up as one of the major languages of business used. But since much of his life as an explorer is spent in the empire of Khan, not learning the language did not serve as a handicap to the other trade-related skills that he learned back in his home city. Appraising is the most interesting merchant skill he learned though. It meant learning how to impose an estimated price on an item based on assessments made here. Nowadays, most professionals that has this skill work in commercial and investment banks.

– Marco Polo’s intention behind the book is for traders to have a handbook

By orally narrating his travels to Rustichello da Pisa, an opportunity opened up to share his knowledge to everyone that dreams of becoming a merchant. This is also the reason why the original book was published not in Italian but in Langues d’oil which literally means “oil languages”. It’s the other major language used in business in Europe at that time. Traders and merchants will eventually discover Cathay and its neighboring countries eventually. So Marco Polo took it upon himself to teach the next generation of traders and merchants the basics.

– Marco Polo’s book inspired the development of European cartography

Cartography is the art of designing maps, not the art of drawing sketches of wanted persons suspected of violating the law. So just in case you still hear the term “cartographic sketch” on the local news, check if what they are referring to is the sketch of a map or a person’s sketch. It took almost forever for it to develop. Expeditions only resumed en masse a century later.

– Marco Polo got imprisoned years after returning to Venice

Not much is mentioned as to the extent of his military training received in Cathay if ever there was any. The only recorded weapon he owned in Venice was the armed trebuchet. Venice was as war with the Republic of Genoa then hence the need for self-defense. He got captured in Genoa in a skirmish in 1296. It was in jail where he met Rustichello da Pisa. That’s when the handbook became a concept.

Until now several factors regarding Marco Polo’s life are still up for debate. The speculations ended up serving as creative fodder for some writers to come up with interesting productions related to his travels. No wonder why a possible love story ended up inspiring theater director Roger Chua to compose and write “Marco Polo The Musical”. You can like their official Facebook page in as much as I would like you too to like my official Facebook page, Kuya Manzano Fan Club. Follow me on Twitter while you’re at it @kuyamanzano. See you around.