What History Tells Us...

Marco Polo's life was exciting! But we only knows bits and pieces of his story-- just what he decided to tell us in this book:

He wrote it in prison, after he returned from his adventures, and it was based on his notes from his travels. It covers Marco's life from ages 17, when he left Venice with his father and uncle, until he was in his 40's. He was on the road for more than twenty years! With all that, we still don't know much about Marco's early life. (Well, until now-- which is why I'm so very excited to share the Marco Polo (Magician) books with you!)

Here are a few of the things we know about Marco Polo's life:

• He lived from 1254-1324.
• His mother died when he was young and he didn't meet his father until he was 15 (in 1268). (Imagine how awkward this first meeting mush have been!)
• He grew up in Venice and was raised by his aunt. Boys in Venice-- especially merchant's sons-- didn't spend a lot of time in formal school. Instead they spent lots of time trading, learning about the family business, and watching ships dock in Venice's harbor and unload cargos from all over the world. 
• Marco had a ring, which he loses sometime during his travels, and he writes in his famous book about how upset he is until he finds it. (I can only guess that this is his magic ring!)

As you can see, history really doesn't know that much about Marco's early life (good thing we have those five books from my grandmother's trunk!)  

More soon on 13th century Venice, the Adventurers' Guild, and much, much more. 

Happy travels!

-Jamie