Marco Polo was born in 1254 to a wealthy Venetian merchant family in Venice, Italy. His mother died when he was very young and his father, Niccolo Polo, and uncle, Maffeo Polo, were successful jewel merchants. As a result, they spent much of their time traveling throughout Asia for most of Marco’s childhood. Consequentially, Polo had no parents for much of his youth and was raised by his extended family. While they were traveling in Asia, Marco’s father and uncle traveled to China, here they met the Emperor Kublai Khan, who is the grandson of the great conqueror Genghis Khan. Kublai Khan took a liking to the Polos and before they left to return to Venice, he asked them to bring one hundred priests and holy water on their next journey
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In Italy, the most important element of being a woman was to become married around sixteen years old and produce as many children as possible. Around this time in history, babies tended not to live for a very long time, so it was a priority to have a large amount of children in order to ensure that there would be an heir to the family fortune (ArtTrav 3). However, Polo discovered that Chinese women were treated far more superior than the women of other societies. Women are highly respected in Chinese society and they had many freedoms that women of other regions did not have. “… in such a number that I dare not say what it is. They are not found only in the vicinity of the market places… but all over the city” (Polo 3). Chinese women were able to roam the city whenever they wanted, by contrast, most women of other communities were expected to stay home to take care of the household and raise their children. The description of the actions of Chinese women in “The Travels of Marco Polo,” fascinated people across Europe because women were not meant to be out in public often. Chinese women were free to roam the city as they pleased, which was shocking to other societies. In the quote above, Polo recounted that there were so many women in the markets that he could not force himself to say the true number, as it was unfit to see this many women around compared to what he was used to seeing in Italian streets. This highlights the difference between the two cultures and shows how Italian and Europeans were shocked to learn about the freedoms that women had in
In Italy, the most important element of being a woman was to become married around sixteen years old and produce as many children as possible. Around this time in history, babies tended not to live for a very long time, so it was a priority to have a large amount of children in order to ensure that there would be an heir to the family fortune (ArtTrav 3). However, Polo discovered that Chinese women were treated far more superior than the women of other societies. Women are highly respected in Chinese society and they had many freedoms that women of other regions did not have. “… in such a number that I dare not say what it is. They are not found only in the vicinity of the market places… but all over the city” (Polo 3). Chinese women were able to roam the city whenever they wanted, by contrast, most women of other communities were expected to stay home to take care of the household and raise their children. The description of the actions of Chinese women in “The Travels of Marco Polo,” fascinated people across Europe because women were not meant to be out in public often. Chinese women were free to roam the city as they pleased, which was shocking to other societies. In the quote above, Polo recounted that there were so many women in the markets that he could not force himself to say the true number, as it was unfit to see this many women around compared to what he was used to seeing in Italian streets. This highlights the difference between the two cultures and shows how Italian and Europeans were shocked to learn about the freedoms that women had in