Storytelling time with Marco Polo

It is no secret that voyages are great sources for storytelling. Think about your last venture. However small it was, I am sure retelling what happened was almost irrestistible. We shouldn‘t be surprised that throughout history some of the most famous storytellers were also great explorers. I could reach back to many figures in many traditions today, yet one figure stands quite tall in the Western imagination: Marco Polo. His story is so famous that I could skip all other introductions but I will at least point out a few lesser-known elements. First, Marco Polo himself didn‘t write about his famous voyages. Yes, he ravished many with his tales but that was more in speech than writing. 1298‘s “The Travels of Marco Polo“ would actually be written in large part by his cellmate in Genoa - Rustichello da Pisa. Second, Marco isn‘t even the star of his own voyages. Rather they were the work of his father and uncle Niccolo and Mateo. THEY dealt dealt with emmisaries. THEY conversed with the great Khan (in the “Tartar‘s tongue“). Add to that that they did the same voyage as Marco… twice. Bringing Marco on their second voyage. Two decennial voyages. Staggering achievement. In any case, let me highlight some fun stories “according to the description of Messer Marco Polo, a wise and noble citizen of Venice, as he saw them with his own eyes.“

Our first stop comes at precisely this first voyage of the Polos - their first encounter with the great Cublay Khan. The khan called for them, they had travelled about a year to reach his court. The khan was curious. Very curious. He asked the brothers a lot about princes, emperors, and their retinues. Then they talked about the Pope and its religion. The Khan seemed satisfied and wrote a letter to be given to the Pope directly. Within it, he showed his interest in becoming a Christian. Possibly the highest acquisition for any church at that time - Mongol Khans were BIG game. But, of course, he apposed conditions. First, he wanted a hundred Christians to come to his court, ready to prove that Christianity was best. Then, he wanted sacred oil from the Sepulchre at Jerusalem. They would bring back the oil, but utterly fail to bring back men.

We come to Marco‘s account of the different regions he encountered on his journey to the Khan‘s court. The first I want to point out is Armenia. Why? Well, because Marco seemed adamant on believing that the Ark of Noah itself was still intact and resting on top of a mountain there. He supposedly could not go see it because it is “on the summit of which snow is so constant that no one can ascend ; for the snow never melts“. Not too far from Armenia, in Georginia, St Leonard‘s Convent has a lake that only has fish for the period of Lent (40-day fasting before finishing with Easter).

Here are two stories from Baudas. First, from its capture by the Khans. The brother of Cublay Khan would have called before him the Calif of the city and asked in surprise why he would accumulate so much treasure in his city if he knew that the Khans were coming. The Calif would have kept silence and the Khan would exclaim in rage that “if he liked his treasure that much he would give him to eat“. And so the Calif would be imprisoned with only gold as food. The second story is a bit more hopeful. Maybe? There was a Calif at Baudas who bore a great hatred to Christians, got hold of that passage in our Gospel which says, that if a Christian had faith as a grain of mustard seed, and should bid a mountain be removed, it would be removed. The Calif therefore called together all the Christians in his territories and asked them if the Gospel was truth. " Well," said the Calif," since you say that it is the truth, I will give you a choice. Among such a number of you there must needs surely be this small amount of faith ; so you must either move that mountain there or you shall die an ill death.“ He gave them 10 days. They started praying. One bishop had a vision of god telling him that a one-eyed Cobbler should pray with them. After this vision repeated a few times, they called the Cobbler. The Christians would have gone praying in front of the mountain. Then, the Cobbler would have given a speech in front of the cross and the mountain rose and moved. As simple as that.

I should also point out that Marco tells of the bodies of the three Magi being kept in Saba (Persia) and still whole “hair and beard remaining“.

Our next story is about the origin of the Assassins in Muhelet (an inspiration for Assassin‘s Creed). An “Old Man“ (supposedly called Aloadin) built a garden as an exact image of how Paradise was described in the words of Mahomet. Access to the garden was strictly prohibited, yet the man would introduce youths to it. Not shaddy at all. To keep the entrance a secret, he would drug them and lead them in while they slept. The Old man would leave them to enjoy it, serving their every need with his mistresses. Then, he would drug them again and lead them to his castle. When they woke, he would explain that they were in paradise and they could go back there… if they killed for him. And so the assassins were born. Fortunately, Marco adds that the Old Man was put to justice in the end - tracked, captured and put to death for his sins.

I skip forward to the Desert of Lop within which lies spirits, acting much in the same way as sirens from Greek mythology. They can even mimic the voices of people you know from Marco‘s description. I also find his description of salamanders very interesting. Indeed, Marco states that salamanders are not animals, but rather napkins made from something extracted from the Earth. The only special property Marco gives to them is to be can be effectively cleaned by fire.

This is where I need to talk about Prester John, a figure that Marco mentions. Frankly, this could be its own post, let‘s see what I can do in a few words.

Prester John is a fictious figure. An idea that a Christian lord of enormous wealth and power ruled over a vast kingdom in the Far East. It is theorized that the idea came about 1165 when an extravagant letter from “Prester John“ was addressed to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick and Pope Alexander III (among others). The letter is full of ravishing tales, yet, from it, the idea of Prester John fostered in Europe. It did help matters that the East itself supplied much misinformation on him. In a word: the demand produced a supply. Just think about it. You have strangers from a faraway land and they demand of you news on a “Prester John“ with much reverence in their eyes. Of course you‘re gonna either say that you know him/defeated him, etc. And so the story built itself. Marco tells the “ultimate“ defeat of Prester John by the Mongols (as told by them) and reserves a few chapters to it. The story itself is interesting, even more so when you try to discern what inspired it and what just came out of the head of Marco‘s interlocutors. The idea of a Prester John would die down in the 15th century, but that is after Marco‘s time.

At this point, Pisa focuses his gaze less on regions encountered by Marco and more on his description of the country of the Khan. That should be his own matter, and so it will. I hope that you don‘t take some of these stories too much at face value. I am sure that Marco truthfully reported what he heard and what he believed seeing. Besides, Marco‘s geographical and cultural accuracy is very hard to match for his time. I mean, just take a look at something of John Mandeville‘s hand. I would see such stories more as proof of Marco‘s great power as a storyteller than anything else. So let‘s enjoy them as such.

Either way, have a nice day and see you next week.