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Background to the Writing of Marco Polo's Travels
Around 1287 Marco Polo was still serving at the Yuan court, his 17 years in the East drawing to a close, gathering material for the Travels (Il Milio…
Timeline
- 1287Dadu · Yuan DaduMarco Polo served under Kublai Khan as envoy and local official, traveling through northern China, Jiangnan, and the southwest, accumulating firsthand observations on the Yuan empire's administration, products, and customs that formed the core of the Travels.
- 1287–1295Venice–Yuan empire trade route · Maritime Spice RouteFrom the late 1280s to the early 1290s, Venetian and Genoese merchants and envoys of the Mongol khanates interacted frequently; after Polo left China by sea and returned to Europe, his accounts circulated orally in the Italian city-states, providing social anticipation and material for the 1298 prison dictation of Il Milione.
Sources
- The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian — Henry Yule (ed.) (1871)
- Marco Polo and the Discovery of the World — John Larner (1999)