Marco Polo The Glories Of Kinsay Essay - 1813 Words

Primary documents are the most reliable way to truly comprehend what occurred during the period of time when the document was created. The stories about the great explorers from Europe are all based upon the hard evidence laid out in letters, oral histories, paintings, maps and treaties. Marco Polo: The Glories of Kinsay, part of the book detailing the adventures of Marco Polo, and the letter Columbus Reports on his First Voyage are two noteworthy representations of early exploration of the world from Europe and the cultural differences between the separate continents being explored. The oral history of Marco Polo’s travels in Asia focused mainly on the time he spent in the city of Kinsay while working under the Mongol Emperor at the time, Kublai Khan. The letter from Columbus to his monarchs in Spain was during the first voyage he made to the Caribbean, while continuously believing that he had arrived in Asia. Marco Polo, a merchant from Venice, returned to Europe after a twenty-five-year absence and had many wondrous stories to share about the new languages and cultures he had experienced while on his journey in Asia. He was captured and put in a Genoese jail cell, where he spoke a great deal about what had occurred during his voyage to a man who shared his cell named Rustichiello da Pisa. Rustichiello ended up producing a book called the Travels of Marco Polo in 1300, two years after being in the prison cell. This book, including the primary document about Kinsay,