The result of the publication of this book was a rapid increase in commerce between the Italian city states and China. This expansion of enterprise soon spread to the rest of Europe as well. The result for Italy was the creation of wealth and leisure that made possible the Renaissance.
For the rest of Europe as well it meant the slow death of the medieval period and the coming of the age of exploration and enterprise. It was, after all, a passage to India and China by sea that Columbus sought in 1492. The Travels of Marco Polo is among the books that helped shape the world we now live in.
The great Chinese civilization of that period, the Ydan dynasty, formed by Kublai Khan in 1271 is credited with sending many of China's innovations to the Western world via Marco Polo. Its cuisine, silk, spices, gun powder, rockets and other weapons of war are among the most famous.
But perhaps the innovation most constructive and destructive throughout western history, depending on whose hands it was in, was the use of paper money as a substitute for what had been used as real money in other civilizations-gold and silver. Gold and silver are still acknowledged as real money in every civilized nation as well as recognized commodities of real value in primitive societies. Paper money was introduced as a new idea to western civilization by Marco Polo in a chapter of his Travels entitled: "How the Great Khan Causes the Bark of Trees, Made into Something Like Paper, to Pass for Money All Over His Country". After reading the chapter title like that, Polo's readers probably thought the Great Khan to be the Great Con.
Marco Polo writes as follows:
"Now that I have told you in detail of the splendor of this city of the emperor's, I shall proceed to tell you of the mint which he has in the same city, in the which he has his money coined and struck, as I shall relate to you. And in doing so I shall make manifest to you how it is that the great Lord may well be able to accomplish even much more than I have told you, or am going to tell you in this book. For, tell it how I might, you never would be satisfied that I was keeping within truth and reason!
Exploration is an activity that is held in high esteem because of the mental challenge that comes with willingly surrendering the safety of certainty to venture into unknown land. This act is seen as reflecting the utmost courage. Although this may be true, it is important to realize that more often than not, explorers had certain expectations regarding the places they were traveling to. This fact was strongly reflected in the nature of their accounts. In Marco Polo’s case, his father and uncle had observed “many things worth of admiration… in the progress of their journey,” which took place several years before Marco Polo set off from Venice . Marco Polo surely heard about the great things they had come across. He came in knowing that, despite the risks of such long travel, the things that he would see would be unlike anything that he had ever met before. Perhaps, this was Polo’s motivation. It is never explicitly stated, but it may be that Polo was driven by curiosity. He merely wanted to learn more about the great culture he had heard about.
By the late 14th century, the Italian city-states had amassed a large treasury from taxes and tariffs. People began to swarm to the cities to work as laborers and artisans, creating urban societies. The merchants of t...
Many children, including myself, have once played the game Marco Polo. Although, I have always been curious, who exactly is Marco Polo? My fascination of Marco Polo warped into a fixation of his travels. Marco Polo was born in Venice in the year 1254. His father, Nicolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, were merchants who had seats in the great nobleman council of Venice (Polo IV). According to his records, he had traveled thousands of miles with his father and uncle.
People are famous for many reasons. Today, it can be started just by sharing one picture and having it spread like wildfire. Back then, it was about traveling and the adventure. Man has been traveling since the dawn of time mainly for getting food and other resources. Meanwhile, they are recording the experiences one encounters along the way. A prime example of this would be a man by the name of Marco Polo. Marco, often mistaken for being the first European to make it to China, was the first person to leave a book based on his experiences. Without him, he would not have inspired people like Christopher Columbus. Although it has been said that Marco Polo reached China, this has been a subject of debate of whether or not this is true. Historians have argued whether or not he ever made it to China for many years. As new evidence emerges, it can be proven that Marco Polo has reached China.
In this paper I'm focusing mainly on Renaissance art work, since that was the assignment, but I feel it's important to also mention the other important parts of the Renaissance, architecture, science, politics and religion.
Florence, Italy was a city just like any other during the Renaissance. It was city of 50,000 people, less than there were in Paris and Venice but more than most other European cities. The busiest parts of the city were the Ponte Vecchio, a place lined with markets and houses, the neighborhood of the Orsanmichele and Mercato Vecchio, or the Old Market. Florence was a place of beauty and leisure. A Venetian visitor once said, “There is in my opinion no region more sweeter than that wherein Florence is a placed for Florence is situated in a plain surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains…And the hills are fertile cultivated, pleasant…” (Unger, pg. 1). Florence was a very prosperous city; it made fortunes off of wool and banking trades. A certain Florentine family contributed to the vast wealth as well. The Medici family was no doubt the foundation of prosperity for Florence.
They were strong in the Italian cities they did more trading, people were more wealthy and people had more education. during this time people started to really open up their minds and see what others had in mind. To see the real beauty in art to look into other cultures and religions. Exploring the seas and sailing to other continents became very popular during this era. Sailers had more instruments, maps, and the ships were built so that their ships could last longer on their long journeys. Portugues navigators started to explore which they brought gold and ivory home. Then later they discovered that sailing around the southern tip of Africa would bring them to India and Asia. Those places had offered spices, nice clothing, and silk. Explores had brought those things home and sold them to richer European families.
Primary Source Analysis 2 / Chapter 7: Travelers’ Tales and Observations (Sources 7.1 / 7.2)
Through historical and economic data this research paper will express how Florence flourished from a mercantile economy in the Renaissance.
The Renaissance, which began in Italy in the 1300s, was one of the largest periods of growth and development in Western Europe. Navigation was no longer limited to traveling about by land. Large fleets of ships were constructed, and great navigational schools, the best founded by Prince Henry the Navigator in Portugal, were founded. People were no longer tied to the lands they lived on, as they were in medieval times. They were freer to learn new skills and travel. These enabled people to go further than they had before. Fleets of ships were sent to the Eastern world to bring back treasures and valuable spices. Routes to Asia were traveled beginning in the early Renaissance.
Around the time of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Europe was a place in need of inspiration. Marco Polo, a merchant, and still a simple man, was this source of inspiration. He was an ordinary boy during his childhood, living a similar life to the other boys his age. Although his intentions might not have been as significant as his impact, he was very influential. Marco Polo served as an influence to many later explorers. Whether it was through his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, which focused mainly on descriptions of spices and commercial goods and many other interesting trade items he encountered in his travels, he sparked an interest and desire of not only Europe, but later explorers as well . Marco Polo was viewed to have had definite charm and also having much capability. He has also proven that he was a tough man. This is evident because of the many voyages he survived, which included occurrences of bandit ambushes, disease, and not to mention the fatigue of the travel. There have been many who believe that Marco Polo was not intellectually equipped, meaning that he was not a very educated man, as no European probably was at the time . But as always, there is of course some speculation on the many aspects of the life of Marco Polo. Many people have their own beliefs of whom the real Marco Polo was and what he accomplished. There will be mention on some of the alleged negative, yet also positive aspects of his life. Despite all the accusations or assumptions of Marco Polo, history was affected as a result of his existence. He still remains an important figure in history.
This helped the trade become more accessible and easier to distribute from cities to cities. This is what helped spike its political and economic changes in the society during the Renaissance. The trade was brining is so much wealth for the merchants that the cities began to grew, and then they began to start taxing the people which brought it more wealth. It is also been said that Italy was divided into smaller cities at that time then eventually spread to the other cities when they became wealthy and began to gain more
Some of the main economic powers of the renaissance were Italian city states. The first, Milan, was in northern Italy. Milan, the center of trade and money with a large tax, was ruled by Visconti and was later taken over by Sforza. Next was Venice, which was the link of Asia and the western world. Venice was a republic with a doge, or an elected leader, and was ruled by merchants and aristocrats. Lastly, was Florence which became the cul...
The Renaissance was a time when people began to think and see things differently. It was a time for new innovations. People wanted to study the past and learn more about culture. People began to see important in human emotion, and they began to see that there was much more rather than just religion. Europe was facing many problems like the Black Death. But the problems caused a shift in the world view of people in 14th century Italy. During the early 1400’s, Europe witnessed a major rebirth of fine art painting, sculpture, drawing and architecture. Early Renaissance art had its birth of creativity and development in Florence, Italy, which eventually spread to Western Europe. Italy contained the status of being the richest trading nation with both Europe and the Orient, Italy was fortunate to be left with a huge repository of classical ruins and artifacts. In almost every town and city, examples of Roman architecture and sculpture, including copies of sculptures from Ancient Greece, had been familiar for centuries. The decline of Constantinople and the capital of the Byzantine Empire caused many Greek scholars to go to Italy, bringing knowl...
Marco Polo, is probably the most famous Westerner who ever traveled on the Silk Road. He excelled all the other travelers in his determination, his writing, and his influence. His journey through Asia lasted 24 years with the help of his father, Niccolò and Maffeo. He became a confidant of Kublai Khan, and traveled the whole of China and returned to tell the tale, which became the greatest travelogue. Marco Polo was a great explorer, who wrote a book written about his travels which gave Europeans some of their earliest information about China and inspired many explorers including Christopher Columbus.