The Travels of Marco Polo

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The Travels of Marco Polo

• Global I Honors Spiconardi

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A Spiconardi Rant

• Marco..Polo! MarcoPolo!
• I HATE THIS STUPID GAME! IT IS THE SECOND
  STUPIDEST GAME OF ALL-TIME!
• Whats the first stupidest game of all-time you
  ask

Polo!
Marco!
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A Spiconardi Rant
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The Travels of Marco Polo

• At 17-years-old, Marco travels with his father
  Niccolò and uncle Maffeo to Mongolia
• Stayed in Persia for a while before finally
  making it to Kublai Khan in China
• Of all the races in this world, it is the
  Persians whose women are the most handsome.

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The Travels of Marco Polo

• Once in China, Kublai Khan takes a liking to
  Marco
• Impressed by his grasp of numerous languages
• Liked to hear Marcos stories
• Used to get drunk on koumiss together
• Kublai Khan sent Marco on diplomatic missions
• Marco was appointed governor of the large trading
  city of Yangzhou

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Upon his return to Europe, Marco, his father,
  uncle tell tales of their journeys to the East
• Unfortunately, Marco is imprisoned after a battle
  between Venice and Genoa (common in Italy)
• While in prison
• Marco dictates his stories to a fellow prisoner
• Book is written in Old French and titled, Le
  divisament dou monde
• Translated into other languages
• Books almost as popular as the Bible in Europe

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• His book increases European interest in the East
• Inspires Columbus he had an annotated copy of
  Polos book with him on his voyage to the New
  World
• Exposes Europe to unknown areas and facts about
  China and the East, and goods/products/ideas

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Not new to many Europeans, but new to Marco used
  for heating baths

• Coal

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Gunpowder was used for fireworks and later guns

• Gunpowder

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Precursor to Italian pasta

• Noodles

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Used a relay system. Messenger would ride a
  letter to a post, where a fresh horse and
  messenger would carry the letter to the next post

• Postal System

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Europeans found this idea so absurd they thought
  Marco Polo was lying

• Paper Money

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Legacy of Marco Polo

• Quotes

• "One of these nuts is a meal for a man, both meat
  and drink

I have only told the half of what I saw.
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Controversy

• Did Marco Polo make it to Kublai Khan the
  Mongols?
• Many historians say no because
• Marco Polo does not mention the following in his
  books
• The Great Wall of China
• The beverage tea
• Foot binding
• No Chinese records of Marco Polo

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At the end of the day

• What is the most important idea to take away from
  this lesson? Why is Marco Polo important
  (regardless if he actually made it to China or
  not)?
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