During the 13th Century, in an age when the Earth was presumed to be flat, few people in Europe traveled far from their place of birth. They relied on merchants, who traveled to distant places, for both precious goods and information about distant lands. In a time of uncertainty about the world around them, they were fortunate that a brave, young adventurer would be born In their generation. As a young man, he embraced the dangers of his perilous journey, and he returned home triumphantly from his travels longing to share his knowledge and remarkable tales with the world. Born in 1254, in Venice, Italy, Marco Polo grew up in the middle of a bustling port city. Some of the daily sites that he would have experienced were merchant ships of various sizes in the port, vendors, merchants, and customers crowding the market square where they would exchange goods,money, and stories. While studying hard in the areas of business, taxes, conversion …show more content…
When he finally reaches home, he settled back into the life of a merchant. Soon after, Venice found itself at war with the neighboring city of Genoa. Marco was enlisted to fight on one of the Venetian ships. After being dominated in a navel battle, many of the Venetian soldiers were taken prisoner, including Marco. He spent ten months in a Genoa jail. Luckily, he was a wonderful storyteller, and he was able to pass the time delighting the other prisoners with tales of his travels. One of Marco 's listeners was an imaginative adventure writer by the name of Rustichello. He offered to help Marco turn his stories into a book, eventually titled, The Travels of Marco Polo. When a peace treaty was finally signed between Venice and Genoa, Marco was freed. He returned to Venice with the book that would allow him to share his marvelous experiences with