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. Marco’s early writings in his book, The Travels of Marco Polo, served as an influence to many later explorers. Though one could argue the content of his writings, and why he wrote about the things he did, the answer is simple: He was a merchant and he wrote about things that were appealing to a merchant. This seemed to have effect on many later explorers because of the descriptions that The Travels of Marco Polo contained from the observations of Marco Polo. The interest in his book grew more and more, and it was one of the earliest books ever printed in Europe. He listed many comments on goods such as spices, gold, paper money, and many more.
Christopher Columbus is a mythical hero or in other words, not a true hero. The story of Christopher Columbus is part of the many myths of Western civilization. Also the story of Christopher Columbus represents the power of those that are privileged and in most cases white European men that have written this mythical history. Zinn (2009 exposes the truth about Columbus through eyes of the people who were there when he had arrived which were the Native Indians (p.481). Columbus had kept a personal journal for his voyage to describe the people and the journey. What was evident throughout his journal was the Native Americans were very nice, gentle and kind hearted people (Zinn, 2009, 481). As Zinn suggests Columbus spoke of the Native Americans as” they are the best people in the world and
Christopher Columbus began many of his adventures with preexisting sources and models from well-known philosophers and explores, mixture of inventions, misrepresentations and concealment (Bodmer,10). Despite his knowledge of geography and cosmology, he used models that were complex and contradicting, providing factual and mythical reports of what he could expect to find on the islands he would soon explore. The most detailed information which was creditable based on objectivity and accurate accounts were described by Marco Polo. The book ‘Travels’, would become a resource used by Columbus to compare his discoveries, for here it would reveal actual and potential problems that were identified by Marco Polo (Bodmer, 13,14). According to Polo, land that was located beyond the reach of commercial expeditions would belong to the first man who could reach them, according to the rules of the imperialistic pattern of appropriation (Bodmer, 16). As Columbus’s imagines of finding lands rich ...
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, which started a huge push by European nations to gain power and wealth, mainly in the way of building Empires in the New World. This was called the Age of Exploration and lasted from the late 15th to the early 17th century. Spain, under King Ferdinand II of Aragon, was the first nation to do this. Juan Ponce de León was a conquistador and one of the earlier voyagers to the New World in the European Age of Exploration, he accomplished several notable things in his life, but overall and looking in hindsight he is seen as a failure when compared to other conquistadors.
Cultural diversity became a major effect of the actions of merchants. As merchants traveled further to distant lands, they tied themselves to the local culture by marrying women within the region. This led to many bicultural families being formed, allowing for cultures to spread and thrive in distant regions. Trade also allowed for different civilizations to gain a certain social appreciation for the cultures of other regions. As more travelers and merchants from Europe, such as Marco Polo, traveled along these trade routes, they returned to their respective societies with stories of the distant regions within Asia and their cultures. As the products of these travels were incorporated into different societies’ lives and recordings of travels became well-known, an appreciation for the Asian culture grew as more knowledge was gained. The recordings of travelers also increased the desire in many for access to the goods within the East, allowing for trade to flourish
For the purpose of better understanding, I start by providing some background information about each of the two men. Marco Polo was an Italian citizen born into a wealthy Venetian merchant family. His most significant travel experience came in 1271, when he set out with his father Nicolo and his uncle Maffeo on a journey to the court of the Mongol Emperor of China, Kubilai Khan. Polo returned only twenty four years later to his homeland of Venice. On the other hand, Ibn Battuta was a jurist from Morocco who left his native city- Tangier, in 1325, for a journey to the East that would cover a total of seventy-five thousand miles and keep him twenty nine years away from home. In this essay, I will be dealing primarily with the aforementioned ex...
To understand the prompt first you have to understand Cristoforo Colombo, known today as Christopher Columbus. You have to to understand the decisions and steps he took also why Spain chose him to represent them and the voyages he led.
Christopher Columbus is one of the top most well-known names in history. Columbus was an Italian explorer who in part went on several voyages across seas to discover some of the most prominent land not yet known to exist. Columbus went on four separate voyage each involving new found land. On Columbus’s last voyage he set out to discover a direct water route from Europe to Asia and after many attempts Columbus on his last voyage lead the permeant European discovery of the New World or better known as America.
His voyage was significant because he revealed various bodies of water that showed other explorers and individuals that the world was actually larger than it seemed. It gave countries access to valuable trade routes, bodies of water, and methods of navigation to travel throughout these passageways.
Christopher Columbus was one of the most legendary sailors and explorers of all time. Christopher Columbus , an italian explorer, was born in the year of 1451 in the Republic of Genoa. Christopher Columbus was a teenager when he first set sail the ocean in 1465. He became a sailor in 1476 and started to travel many places before going on his largest voyage in 1480. In 1492, Christopher Columbus exploration to the New World linked Europe and the Americas. His discoveries enlightened the globe and started a new age of exploration. His standards and morals changed the history of the whole globe. He was known for traveling for all types of reasons for many foreign monarchs. But why would a monarch from one country be interested in employing an explorer from a foreign country to complete such an important task?
Sensenig, Pearl L. "Marco Polo: An Inspiration to Christopher Columbus and The Age of Discovery". Sensen01.cwk@millersv.edu
Different explorers sought out to discover new things, but many didn’t achieve their ultimate goal. Some explorers even discovered things by chance. Henry Hudson was an English explorer who went on many voyages to get new information about North America and to find a passage way to Asia, which he never achieved. Jacques Cartier was a French explorer who is known for exploring the St. Lawrence River and Canada. Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish explorer and soldier discovered the Pacific Ocean and conquered Peru. Each explorer discussed, discovered new things which have an impact in modern
The problem with Marco Polo’s account is that there are one hundred and forty different versions. This means that it took over one hundred years for the account to become a part of Europe’s history. In addition, many people added on to Marco Polo’s account to influence views. Fo...
After receiving a job in a minor administrative position for the Mongol ruler, Marco Polo stayed in China for another seventeen years. Throughout this time he wildly traveled across the Chinese land and collected stories about his experiences in the foreign country. His book, The Travels of Marco Polo helped to shape Western European culture, though scholars question the legitimacy behind his stories since he left out many prominent features of the Chinese life.
...e the intellect of the times to figure out how to navigate in the oceans is just as important if not more than his discovery of a new continent. Some would argue this point but from my research, Amerigo Vespucci was truly the founder of modern navigation that brought civilization out of the dark ages to the modern era. He was truly a man of his times.
Discovering a route to India was an extremely momentous event, and made a big impact in the European trading system. Vasco da Gama’s life was full of hard work, discovery, and exploration. He was able to bring back much wealth for Portugal, and his successful voyages changed trade during his time and beyond.