The Travels of Marco Polo - Summary on a Map
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- čas přidán 15. 05. 2024
- In this second video about great explorers, let's retrace the Travels of Marco Polo across Asia, accompanied by his father and his uncle.
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Support the channel on Patreon: / geohistory
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English translation & voiceover: Matthew Bates www.epicvoiceover.com/
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Original French version: • Le voyage de Marco Pol...
Russian version: • Путешествия Марко Поло...
Arabic version: • رحلات ماركو پولو
Spanish version: • Los viajes de Marco Po...
Portuguese version (Brazil): Coming soon
Japanese version: • マルコ・ポーロの旅
German version: • Die Reisen von Marco P...
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Music: Violet Vape - Cheel (CZcams Library)
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Software: Adobe After Effects
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Chapters
00:00 Context
00:41 The travel of Niccolo et Maffeo Polo (the father and the uncle of Marco Polo)
02:10 Departure from Venice and the meeting with the pope
03:10 Travel to China
05:03 Marco Polo in China
07:35 Back to Europe
08:50 “The travels of Marco Polo”
09:38 End of his life and consequences of his book
#geohistory #history #marcopolo #explorer #china #asia
I understand that there were probably a billion things that could get you killed back then, but spending almost your entire life discovering new lands and worlds and then telling the story to the people in your homeland sounds like a wonderful and meaningful life.
Yes absolutely. And that’s why I to this day we all know his name.
Seth McFarland: "A million ways to die in the East"
Probably safer then than it is now
It's my dream life. If I was born hundreds of years ago, I almost certainly would have been an adventurer.
@@tigervalley62 you can do it now .you come to China now.
Imagine being 15 and never meeting your father until he finally comes back after he finishes a massive expedition. To tell you about how he's entrusted by a leader of the Mongols to bring the pope to him. Then when you're 17 your father wishes to begin another adventure and invites you along. Ultimately traveling across the world for 24 years.
Is this not the most amazing set up to an adventure story ever??
No idea why there are not more grand epic movies based on this
@@Soundmaster91 there was a netflix series about Marco Polo that ran for 2 seasons, but netflix cancelled it because it cost them too much money to make
@@thejustlawofshamash yeah I want the adventure film not a documentary no wonder those fail.
@@Soundmaster91 marco polo is not a documentary, its adventure drama. I haven't seen it but the reception wasn't good
@@MANJIshishishi possibly the best series Netflix ever produced and the fukers cancelled it
This guy managed to travel through the hearth lands of China and manages to die at the age of 69 What a legend
I think he also started at 1269 as well.
the legend introduced 69 to China
He died at 69? Nice.
Nice
Came here to say exactly that lmao. What a streak of successes this guy's life was!!
A man born in the 1200s, before modern transportation, got to see more of the world than most people today!
@Floron a life spent very well
@Floron he left at 17 and came back at 41, then died at 69 years old. He enjoyed a very good life
I see what your saying but lets be honest, nowadays we can just see everything with the internet youkno
@@Jordidwaard there is a difference between experiencing something for yourself and seeing something online
@@Jordidwaard seeing things on internet and actually physically experiencing them are two 100% completely different things. Go travel my friend
It would actually make some sense for him to not mention the great wall of china for the same reason it's actually not visible from space - while incredibly long, it's also relatively thin and unremarkable in many parts from up close. It also lost some of its defense function at that time by Khan conquering and unifying that area.
And if I'm not mistaken tea was somewhat known about in Europe at that time? Might be why he never felt the need to mention it.
not to mention that the great wall was likely an unremarkable ancient ruin during their visit, as the "great" wall was built 2 centuries later during Ming dynasty
@@fangslash that's almost certainly the reason, yeah
Actually, they did not know of tea until the 16th century when a portugeese explorer bringed it from the east indies.
Tea wasn't really a thing until the east indies company. And we would have seen it or heard about it. If you look at the Muslim guy who left north west Africa and went to China after a few trips to mecca. But he was a scholar and noted everything.
If I were the first westerner to say Japan. Id have noted their language, their appreciation for the small things and their ferocious life of war and death. Of their clothes, weapons and armor. Of their currency and the name of every coin. I'd talk about lords the shogun and the emperor
Honestly I'd say Polo likely did travel to the East and probably to many of the places he notes. However, he very likely embellished his tale and his importance. Some of his descriptions are things one couldn't just make up, but many are also just wrong. He seems to have told tales he heard as first hand accounts. Like a braggart who spends a semester in Europe in a student exchange that talks about 'seeing' a bunch of stuff around Europe but never actually traveled much outside the area he stayed in except for a couple weekend trips.
There's a chance he never actually spoke with Kublai Khan but probably visited court. Who knows maybe the Great Khan did ask him some questions or he was a curiosity the Khan spent a moment with but I find it pretty unlikely he was taken in and give trusted administration roles. That's just not the way Mongolian or Chinese culture worked on a personal or professional level. China had a whole bureaucratic class the Mongols kept in place and I seriously doubt Marco would have been that highly literate in Chinese much less had the necessary connections. Remember that written Chinese isn't like written Western languages and takes years to master even for native speakers. Remember he was almost instantly given highly important tasks according to him. And even if he was just a boy genus there's so much politics and back biting with in Imperial Chinese bureaucratic structures for a total outsider, a barbarian from a lesser people (which what he'd be seen as) from outside the Middle Kingdom no less, with no powerful patron to flourish. So, you have to believe the Khan was so taken with him at first glance he was like a 'son' to him right off the bat.
I've heard about Polo, but not in this detail. These videos keep my historical knowledge strong.
@RJ I have Netflix and didn't know that show existed. Thanks for the recommendation. 👍 I'll check it out.
We studied in class 4
It is a great serie. 100% recommended.
11min is in detail? ahhaahhahaha
@@federox86 Yes. It is. Some people do a great job in short time frames.
“However, in the 2010s the Chinese scholar Peng Hai identified Marco Polo with a certain "Boluo", a courtier of the emperor, who is mentioned in the Yuanshi ("History of Yuan") since he was arrested in 1274 by an imperial dignitary named Saman. The accusation was that Boluo had walked on the same side of the road as a female courtesan, in contravention of the order for men and women to walk on opposite sides of the road inside the city.[116] According to the "Yuanshi" records, Boluo was released at the request of the emperor himself, and was then transferred to the region of Ningxia, in the northeast of present-day China, in the spring of 1275. The date could correspond to the first mission of which Marco Polo speaks.[117]
If this identification is correct, there is a record about Marco Polo in Chinese sources.”
Poor guy, was arrested for inadvertently chasing skirt 😂
That is funny how something like this can be changed into a glorious story
@@someonerandom704 Isn't 'Polo" the modern pronunciation for us as well? How do you know what marco Polo's actual name was 700 years ago? It has been modernized
@@pyropulseIXXI Not at all. We have preserved original books about him dating back 500 or more years ago. All of them use the name Marco Polo. Such as "Marco Polo da Genie lia de le meraugliole cole del Mondo", from 1496.
@@pyropulseIXXIthere's a difference between a phonetic writing such as latin, and a non-phonetic one such as Chinese. We know how "polo" was pronounced because... well... it was written as Polo.
I know my comment probably not gonna noticed, but i love geo history because it makes my day far less boring and hope you all have a great day
Thank you !
I agree and learning history is one of my favourite things to do
You were noticed
@@miguelashcatiom2435 i usually get unnoticed
Good news for u. Ur the top comment
It’s crazy to think that Marco Polo’s life mission from the age of 15 was to meet the Mongol ruler who a) had never met and b) didn’t even know Marco existed. And by the time Marco Polo finally arrived the Mongols had probably long forgot that they had even requested for Christian scholars. A simple task made by Genghis Khan to some merchants took literally decades to complete.
Yes but it did not work like that..they were many messangers..so like in few months some would go some would arrive ..some would not arrive at all ...they were trade roots so people who went there would also bring "news"
I been in some old Roman graveyard in South Turkey...there was grave off some old Roman merchant from i thing 2 century. And on his gravestone was written that during his life he went to Rome from his hometown in south Turkey 37 times..that was like amazing for me to see that in that times he manages to went to Rome 37 times and back and is quite a distance ,you need to cover lot off land and lot off sea
Grandson of Genghis Khan*
Dude fuckin died at 69, what a legend.
What an amazing life. Travelling Asia and parts of the Middle East only to to later help write a book about those adventures, becoming famous and remembered in history as a great explorer and adventurer.
not only that, but travelling those areas with barely an idea what to expect. Imagine seeing en elephant before you've even heard it exists; or seeing an ancient Chinese or Persian city before it was filled with Coca Coca ads.
@@ric112 Europeans knew about elephants since the Greek colonies in Africa. Now, rhinos were a complete different creature (hence it being called a unicorn)
What an adventurous and wonderful life back then… so many great ppl and travels in his life
great people..............
wonderful life, until about 1347
What a slow pace of life. They casually go on a 24 year journey from Europe to Asia and back, leaving their family to just assume they died. I know they were taking their time but nowadays Venice and China are just hours away.
Until the Black Death hits and wipes out over 50 million people.
tbf, most people were farmers who were starving but if you were the lucky 1% you got too explore. its crazy to think that atm, exploring isnt really a proffession anymore. once we mapped all the continents there really wasnt much left to do
Wow this video puts in perspective the influence Marco Polo had on european conquest in further centuries as I previously had not known Marco polo to be very important
Marco Polo was the inspiration of Christopher Columbus
@@sanexpreso2944 And the Vinland saga?
@@dime9398 Yes, so there would have been at least a century more time for the information about the far western land to reach southern European ears.
@@dime9398 But by 1492, Vikings were not as feared because they were already become Catholics. "Did you know Christopher Columbus stayed in Iceland for an entire winter? In 1477, he sailed to Iceland and stayed at the farm called Ingjaldshóll (Ingjaldshvóll). He undoubtedly learned about" "Vikings sailing to the New World, and about the travels of Leifur Eiríksson"
Bagan today has 2200 pagodas with just bare bricks. I would love to have seen the old Bagan that had 10,000 pagodas covered with gold and white colors.
Its still an insanely impressive city that would be a world renowned landmark if it were in another country
Gautama was a fraud and Hindu heretic who contradicted himself with his message to desire non-desire. Notice he never died of hunger because he was always too attached to his flesh's desire for survival. He valued his 1 human life over the microbves his acidic gut burned to death. No compassion for ugly microbes.
@@scintillam_dei completely unnecessary and immature to insult a religion. And also totally unrelated to the subject of the video.
@@ovief Me: Facts.
You: Feelings.
You also: Lie that what I said is "totally unrelated." Everyone can see that "Buddhism" was mentioned here.
You also: Immature for lying and pretending your feelings are more important than facts.
@@scintillam_dei bro what you said was also feelings and also completely irrelevant considering no one knew of microbiomes
What an adventure that had to be and what courage you would have needed to do it. Big cudos to him and his desire to explore!
They must have been taking their sweet time. Marco's relatives are gone for the first 15 years of his life, and then he goes on a 24 year expedition from Europe to Asia and back. How exciting it must have been to be a vagabond or explorer back then.
Dude, it would SUCK. Imagine - no good bed, no bathroom, no hot water, no toothbrush,mirror or toothpaste, no fast food or access to good food, no hotels, no women company, no good mode of transport, no internet, no cell phones, no TV, no Tylenol, no good hiking boots, no cars, no thermal clothes, no tents, no bicycles, no glasses, no bandaids, no cool drinks or portable freezer, no good beer or wine, no binoculars, no good backpacks, no store to buy fresh undies, no umbrella, no sunglasses, no dramamine/benadryl for ship travel, no lighting at night etc. There is NO way it must have been good to be a vagabond or explorer. It was shit and we're so far advanced and so much superior today that it's really amazing they did it despite the craziness it was.
@@fr9714 I hope that is sarcasm, cause bruh pretty much no one had access to that in the 1200 AD.
@@fr9714 lmao why did u write such a long list, I agree with most of them but:
"No good mode of transport" - Horse, boat
"No women company" - Lmao I don't even get women company now, and I bet women existed in the year 1200 in the cities that he visited
"No good food" - Good food is subjective, humans are adaptive, they wouldn't have noticed how bad the food was because it was all they knew.
"No bathroom" - The world is your oyster ;)
"No good beer or wine" - There was definitely both of these alcoholic drinks and refer back to my reasoning for good food. If it gets u drunk, it's good.
@@fr9714 think about the fact that our ancestors were hunter gatherers. We were made to live in groups and in nature. We evolved that way. Of course conveniences like medicine and plumbing are undoubtedly greater, but whether stuff like internet is necessary or even good for mental health is arguable. It's just nice to imagine. Life was harder then but that's all they knew so they don't feel the loss of no toothpaste and stuff. And plus they had tents and ways of preserving food back then, our ancestors aren't that dumb.
@@loganfytchy-powow4580 yup, in medieval times people drank more beer and wine than water because it was safer to drink in general lol!
Taking adventures in those days were extremely challenging indeed.
Travelling with a khan's paiza could be safer than driving through some of the same regions today.
Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta and Zheng He, they are the greatest explorers before the age of exploration occurred
Not explorer but wanderer would be suitable
Alexander the Great explored a lot too. His men were the first Europeans to sail in the Indian Ocean, not the Portuguese. Even Romans were tehre before the Portuguese. The Portuguese are overrated. :-) Like the British. See my channel for more proof. I plan on videos proving the Spanish discovered Hawaii, not the Brutish. Also, the British Empire wasn't the biggest. They lie.
@@scintillam_dei no it was, it held 25% of Earths land area, the largest maritime empire in history.
Also nobody “discovered” Hawaii except the Polynesians
@@pocketmarcy6990 Hypocrites counting oceans of sand but not oceans. Spain at its zenith ruled most oceans in the universe. The Brits couldn't monopolize even 1. :-) See a map of French islands in every ocean. That proves Iberia ruled more waves. And Spaniards were the first to discover Hawaii, not the overrated British racist genocidal maniacs. Type in "Spanish Discovery of Hawaii 1555" in the search bar to see the proof. There are millions of Mayans, Nahuas, Quechuas and other Native Americans today 'cause Spain didn't genocide them. Pity the British took Tasmania, as that means no Tasmanians exist anymore.
@@scintillam_dei Ever heard of “Britannia rules the waves” buddy? They most certainly did rule the oceans if we’re counting them for some reason, you’re overestimating the power of the Spanish empire by a long shot. It used the slave trade and most certainly did genocide the natives (why do you think there aren’t any natives on Hispaniola or Cuba?) Spain was not a perfect empire, neither was Britain mind you, but respectively you’re wrong and probably a Hispano-Catholic nationalist based on your channel
This content is so interesting and nicely presented that it's simply amazingly enjoyable to watch. Thank you.
History is better than fantasy works like Lord of the Rings. All fantasy is based on history.
This is such a great channel. Merging history and geography. Keep making content, and we’ll keep consuming.
The guy traveled for 24 years and only dictated his experience afterward. I would imagine there are a lots of faulty memories.
Marco Polo is a great mystery to today's Chinese. Many believe he made up his adventures by fusing stories he heard in Mideast where a lot of businessmen did travel to China. But his book has undoubtedly connected two cultures together.
chinese people just learn and study lies after lies : they don't even have youtube or any third party source
@@gabri-immortale You made four grammar mistakes in this short sentence. I know you cannot do math, now you cannot manage your native language lol :)?
@@pittoak i'm learning Engrish from animu
@@pittoak japan > china . Even better with the ww2 skin!
@@gabri-immortale Come back when you finish Grade five English Language Art (ELA) course. You need earn at least C-
I really love the black fog, really gives some perspective
Yes but it's been a thing for ages in other media like video games.
@@scintillam_dei well this isn’t a video game is it? Who cares if it’s used in other things it still makes it better knowing where exactly he went and explored
@@Adzo78 Yes, it's good. I love it too. I'm just clarifying it isn't new in case someone thought that they were the originators.
@@scintillam_dei I don't think a single person thought this CZcams channel invented blurring stuff out
@@shanefitzpatrick8377 Fog isn't blur. And if someone praises Michael Jackson saying "His moonwalk is amazing! He's great for doing it!" makes it seem as if they believe he was the first.
He is known in Mongolia and has a state of him in the center of Ulaanbaatar.
Love the channel
I'm doing videos of my scenario for my gigantic realistic map of Eurasia for Age of Empries 2 on
EUROPE and INDIA VERSUS THE MONGOL EMPIRE
I already did one of the Spanish Empire VS the Mongol across the Pacific Ocean.
I plan to learn Mongol.
Lived an Adventurous life and died at 69, dudes a legend.🙌
Wow! I’m amazed just like every video. You are my inspiration. Keep doing what you guys are doing!
So very solid. Kudos, and you make the necessary point that some of the things he may not have seen and there is still uncertainty as to his role in certain regions.
Amazing channel provoking curiosity and interest in history in young and old. Well done guys
What an amazing video you have a very unique voice that makes everything sound calmly dramatic and I love it!
I'm pretty sure the voice is AI-generated (and very convincingly at that), if that's of any interest to you :)
This is awesome stuff. Love these videos, love that you keep going farther back in time. It only makes sense that you will in the gap between 1300-1500 now, maybe with Zheng He;)? I’d love to see your take on the 1350-1450 encounters.
You posted it! Let’s go brother 💪💪💪💪
That was so interesting! Really hyped to see what's next.
This is an absolutely awesome video. Thank you for condensing the information
I'm still trying to understand how this all came to be a game that children play in a swimming pool, but ...
Seriously, this was very informative. Thanks!👍
the swimming pool game came first
This is gonna be awesome! I hope you do ibn battuta next.
This channel is very informative, educative around the world. Easily we understand everything that explains about civilization.
Spending your whole life like this should be truly amazing. Such a meaningful life...
Then I look at most people now, including myself, spending more than half of our life by going to work 9-6 to be able to provide basic needs for ourselves.
I am grateful for everything though, knowing that I still have a chance to learn from books and channels like these.
Imagine how many people had great adventures like this but didn't write a book about it.
I kinda wish I was born in a time like that. Imagine being able to travel the world on a diplomatic mission and getting to cross and see all those places. I want to be able to do that someday. To see everything or see as much as possible before I finally die at an old age. Imagine being able to say you saw so much during your life.
Well what's holding you back? The modern times is the best time to do it in?
fascinating (subbed as well) Really enjoyed following along with google maps and seeing what towns from the journey are still there. Fun
Commenting to show support to an amazing channel
Nice detailed video about his travels.
Great video mate. This lad lived a helluva life, fair play to him
I was just studying this topic and the information helped me a lot.
I friggin' love these.
It would be great to see a similar video about diplomatic mission sent by Pope Innocent IV to Khan in 1245. The mission was led by two monks: Giovanni Da Pian Del Carpine and Benedictus Polonus. After a long journey they reached Karakorum and met with Khan. It was before Marco Polo.Their journey is confirmed as true and is well documented but this is a little-known story.
"And dies in 1324, at the age of 69"
*Nice*
Last two videos are bangers, we need more
The fact that they did all this stuff 800 years ago is amazing.
Hello GeoHistory! Another great video. Continuing in the series of explorers, could we maybe learn about James Cook? Or about the early settlements of the Pacific from the very first people until the last discoveries in the 1800's? I find the pacific and Oceania fascinating and would love to learn more!
Once again a masterpiece
Amazing video man, thanks a lot!!
What a simple and eloquent portrayal of Marco Polo's life.
Sometimes I wonder how it feels discovering new places, things, animals, and society without having any knowledge or pictures to be seen. That excitement of exploring new things from the past is probably the closest thing reality has from fantasies.
I think that you are underrated. You deserve more subscribers!
Needs to throw in cats for a million more views.
Just knowing so much detail about an individual person who lived 800 years ago is pretty remarkable.
My home city Ljubljana is just 180 km from Venice and I am a descendant of Marco Polo. Marco is my great great great... grand father.
Heard of the name because of uncharted 2. But never rely bothered researching about his name and his journeys. Thanks for the video
You guys should do the history of canals next. Because I can tell there's a lot of history about why each canal is made.
This is a must-watch for History students. Thanks.
I’m dressing up as Marco Polo as well as doing a presentation on him for a project at my school, this really helped me get information for my presentation. Thank you for making this!
Proof that history can surpass fiction. I recommend everyone to keep a journal/diary. Not only to record relevant events from a personal/individual perspective, also to look back to know how you felt/thought and to relearn what we might've lost along the way.
Marco Polo was an absolute legend. And he died at age 69. Nice.
This was awesome!
I hoped you would release something about him! Thank you!
I have read the journal of Marco Polo - fascinating for sure - I also enjoyed the Netflix series called Marco Polo - very well done
It's crazy that there aren't any spectacular movies about Marco Polo and his travels. I would imagine they'd resemble LotR and Stardust
there's a netflix show that got cancelled after a few seasons
@@jonnykb1155 i really like that tv show. Too bad there wasnt more.
There is a very good Italian Rai TV series of 1983, starring Ken Marshall, with also Leonard Nimoy, musics of Ennio Morricone. czcams.com/video/ooav0I0sRo0/video.html
The entire history of Marco Polo is documented in a comic book story of Donald Duck and his relatives (in the context that they were producing a film funded by uncle Skroutz). I had read the comic book as a kid but I never guessed how accurate it was until I watched this video!
Keep up the great content
Wow finally new video!
What a crazy life that must have been.
marco polo is guy interesting man to learn about
Amazing channel 😊
Wow another vid recently wow and ilove ur content keep it up
This guy lived the most awesome life we could only dream of experiencing and turned it into a pool game
To whoever is reading this , I hope you succeed in life and stay safe!
:>
I love this voiceover
Absolutely incredible
There are many channels but this is magnificent ❤️👏 love from Pakistan 🇵🇰 🇵🇰🇵🇰❤️
Just to think that Marco Polo was humble enough to forgive his dad like that after having no parents for ten years
Awesome video. Subscribed!
Yangzhou, the city where he replaced the governor for 3 yrs, is my hometown!
This video is to be taken with a grain of salt, for example paved roads were built by romans all over Europe and they lasted so long that they connected Europe even during the medieval age, in the modern age only some roman streets remain.
Exactly, He was from Italy which meant that paved roads were everywhere.
really happy you guys uploaded, why not do next the travels of Viking, how they reached America first? Please?
The problem with that is that it would be very short. While it's a remarkable feat, the details are pretty simple and I doubt they'd make more than a four to five minutes video.
Then again, I might be wrong. In a way I hope that I am, because that would indeed be dope.
@@gabraeld Yeah, there is really less available knowledge too about it.
See my video "Did the Vikings REALLY discover América¿"
What a legend just a simple man making his way in the world and yet he has had a massive impact on the world
This narrator is the best for me on this channel. At least I understand his speech better, than other narrators.
Your videos are awesome. I really liked the ones about Russian history.
The book is really fantastic and I must say I enjoyed it. I read a really long time ago. But you have to put yourself in the mind of a person of the 13th century in Europe, who hears about a journey. Travelling was VERY uncommon for 99,99% of the people, even whithin the same region - and when possible, it was a pilgrimage to a fixed and well-known place, not too far from home and always Christian. Imagine hearing stuff about a place where only ONE person has gone to, literarlly just ONE. It's like going to another dimension, that's how uncanny it is.
When you read it, even if you are a geography and history nerd, It seems almost impossible to recognize any place, and the descriptions are in literally all cases totally exaggerated, if not completely made up. It's fascinating.
In the middle ages people travelled a lot actually. It was full of merchants and many people went on pilgrimage or studied in different cities at university. It was a moving society much more than people usually think
Love this chanel!!!
Another geo history video YESSSSS
Fantastic channel, fascinating video.
Re the Great Wall of China, weren't the greatest sections built (later) to keep out the Mongols, who ruled China in Polo's time? Perhaps they weren't minded to maintain it or show it off to visitors in that era..
I mean its a wall to keep Mongols out and the dynasty at the time was Mongol so..
The Great Wall we see now didn't exist back then. It was a rather mundane series of old, partial, walls partly in ruin. Any European city walls would have seemed more mpressive. Ibn Battuta talked about it, but he dind't personally see it, and, as he said, while in China, he never talked to someone that had personally seen it.
We need one of these for Ibn Battuta as well. Great job!
This channel is very interesting.
BEST CHANNEL EVER!
"the other parts of your body that do not lead you into carnal sin; whereas you use your members to commit sin and lechery, and so you cover them up and are ashamed of them. But we are no more ashamed of showing them than we are of showing our fingers, because we do not sin with them.”
― Marco Polo,
in other words, Dicks out for Harambe?
I still miss the old voice, but the animations are always on point
@@suchymk ???? Uncalled for
That was excellent. thanks.
Fascinating, thanks
Damn! Even the medieval guys traveled further than me.🤬
what a life this man had
I love this channel
Time was precise for Marco Polo. Time of openness in the Far East, with Asia under the rule of Mongols, facilitated the pass and possibility to walk through.