Marco Polo: Description of Hangzhou

Audience

The Travels of Marco Polo was written for the Christian European medieval audience to learn of the glories of the great Kublai Khan and the wonders of Asia and China. The medieval Christian mind is fascinating to historians, who describe it as being wrapped around biblical influences, recurring stories of Alexander the Great and his exploits, stories of Saint Thomas the Apostle traveling to India, and the legend of Prester John. Even though there were various travel writers prior to Marco Polo, many of them were Islamic and writing with an emphasis on Muslim trade with Asia, and practically none of their books or tales were read by Europeans before Polo’s book found widespread popularity. Travel for the average medieval citizen was practically nonexistent, even though most had heard of “the Seres” (the Chinese) and silk garments.

Historians believe that Polo’s book, as dictated to Rustichello, was originally written in French intermingled with Italian and was then translated into various languages, including Tuscan, Venetian, German, Latin, Irish, and back into Venetian. Historians point out that the Latin versions are usually more scholarly, wherein copyists varied the manuscript to appeal to a more educated audience, while versions in other languages are more lively and copied with additions and deletions to appeal to less-educated audiences. Until the eleventh century, education in Europe was limited to monasteries and cathedral schools. The establishment of universities in major European cities during the eleventh century made education available to wider classes of Europeans, allowing for a wider reading audience for a book with a popular orientation such as Polo’s. Historians speculate that Rustichello’s literary expertise and flourishes made the book more approachable and appreciated by all audiences of the day.