The Travels of Marco Polo and His Influence on the Western World

Marco Polo is considered by most to be the most important link between Europe and
China in the 13th century. His accounts of the Eastern world had an immense impact on
Western thinking and life in Europe.
Marco Polo was born in 1254 to a noble family in Venice, which was at that time an
independent city-state in northern Italy. Marco had a typical education of a young man of his
time1. At age 15, he had already studied many of the classical authors and understood the Bible
and theology of the Church. He also had a good knowledge of French and Italian language.
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