Marco Polo
Born into a prosperous Venetian family in 1254, Marco Polo was one of the most famous explorers of the late Middle Ages. His father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, both successful jewel merchants, joined a diplomatic mission to the court of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan in 1260, arriving back in Venice in 1269. On their next journey two years later they took young Marco with them. Between 1271 and 1295 the group travelled across Persia and Asia to Khanbalik (now Beijing) and Khan’s court. Shortly after returning to Venice from his 24-year round trip, Marco was captured by Venice’s rival city state, Genoa. However, it was while in captivity that his adventures were first written down. The finished book, The Travels of Marco Polo, gives the earliest detailed accounts of European interactions with and impressions of Asian societies and cultures.