The Travels of Marco Polo Volume I Part 32

[12] The Legal Year at Venice began on the 1st of March. And 1324 was 7th of the Indiction. Hence the date is, according to the modern Calendar, 1324.

[13] Marsden says of Moreta and Fantina, the only daughters named by Ramusio, that these may be thought rather familiar terms of endearment than baptismal names. This is a mistake however. _Fantina_ is from one of the parochial saints of Venice, S. Fantino, and the male name was borne by sundry Venetians, among others by a son of Henry Dandolo's.

Moreta is perhaps a variation of Maroca, which seems to have been a family name among the Polos. We find also the male name of Bellela, written _Bellello, Bellero, Belletto_.

[14] The _Decima_ went to the Bishop of Castello (eventually converted into Patriarch of Venice) to divide between himself, the Clergy, the Church, and the Poor. It became a source of much bad feeling, which came to a head after the plague of 1348, when some families had to pay the tenth three times within a very short s.p.a.ce. The existing Bishop agreed to a composition, but his successor Paolo Foscari (1367) claimed that on the death of every citizen an exact inventory should be made, and a full t.i.the levied. The Signory fought hard with the Bishop, but he fled to the Papal Court and refused all concession.

After his death in 1376 a composition was made for 5500 ducats yearly.

(_Romanin_, II. 406; III. 161, 165.)

[15] There is a difficulty about estimating the value of these sums from the variety of Venice pounds or _lire_. Thus the _Lira dei piccoli_ was reckoned 3 to the ducat or zecchin, the _Lira ai grossi_ 2 to the ducat, but the _Lira_ dei _grossi_ or _Lira d'imprestidi_ was equal to 10 ducats, or (allowing for higher value of silver then) about 3_l._ 15_s._; a little more than the equivalent of the then Pound sterling.

This last money is _specified_ in some of the bequests, as in the 20 soldi (or 1 lira) to St. Lorenzo, and in the annuity of 8 lire to Polo's wife; but it seems doubtful what money is meant when _libra_ only or _libra denariorum venetorum_ is used. And this doubt is not new. Gallicciolli relates that in 1232 Giacomo Menotto left to the Church of S. Ca.s.siano as an annuity _libras denariorum venetorum quatuor_. Till 1427 the church received the income as of _lire dei piccoli_, but on bringing a suit on the subject it was adjudged that _lire ai grossi_ were to be understood. (_Delle Mem. Venet. Ant._ II.

18.) This story, however, cuts both ways, and does not decide our doubt.

[16] The form of the name _Ysabeta_ aptly ill.u.s.trates the transition that seems so strange from _Elizabeth_ into the _Isabel_ that the Spaniards made of it.

[17] I.e. the extent of what was properly called the Dogado, all along the Lagoons from Grado on the extreme east to Capo d'Argine (Cavarzere at the mouth of the Adige) on the extreme west.

[18] The word rendered _Guilds_ is "_Scholarum_." The crafts at Venice were united in corporations called _Fraglie_ or _Scholae_, each of which had its statutes, its head called the _Gastald_, and its place of meeting under the patronage of some saint. These acted as societies of mutual aid, gave dowries to poor girls, caused ma.s.ses to be celebrated for deceased members, joined in public religious processions, etc., nor could any craft be exercised except by members of such a guild. (_Romanin_, I. 390.)

[19] A few years after Ser Marco's death (1328) we find the Great Council granting to this Peter the rights of a natural Venetian, as having been a long time at Venice, and well-conducted. (See App. C, _Calendar of Doc.u.ments_, No. 13.) This might give some additional colour to M.

Pauthier's supposition that this Peter the Tartar was a faithful servant who had accompanied Messer Marco from the East 30 years before. But yet the supposition is probably unfounded. Slavery and slave-trade were very prevalent at Venice in the Middle Ages, and V.

Lazari, a writer who examined a great many records connected therewith, found that by far the greater number of slaves were described as _Tartars_. There does not seem to be any clear information as to how they were imported, but probably from the factories on the Black Sea, especially Tana after its establishment.

A tax of 5 ducats per head was set on the export of slaves in 1379, and as the revenue so received under the Doge Tommaso Mocenigo (1414-1423) amounted (so says Lazari) to 50,000 ducats, the startling conclusion is that 10,000 slaves yearly were exported! This it is difficult to accept. The slaves were chiefly employed in domestic service, and the records indicate the women to have been about twice as numerous as the men. The highest price recorded is 87 ducats paid for a Russian girl sold in 1429. All the higher prices are for young women; a significant circ.u.mstance. With the existence of this system we may safely connect the extraordinary frequence of mention of illegitimate children in Venetian wills and genealogies. (See _Lazari, Del Traffico degli Schiavi in Venezia_, etc., in _Miscellanea di Storia Italiana_, I. 463 seqq.) In 1308 the Khan Toktai of Kipchak (see Polo, II. 496), hearing that the Genoese and other Franks were in the habit of carrying off Tartar children to sell, sent a force against Caffa, which was occupied without resistance, the people taking refuge in their s.h.i.+ps. The Khan also seized the Genoese property in Sarai. (_Heyd._ II. 27.)

[20] "_Stracium et omne capud ma.s.sariciorum_"; in Scotch phrase "_napery and plenis.h.i.+ng_." A Venetian statute of 1242 prescribes that a bequest of _ma.s.saritic.u.m_ shall be held to carry to the legatee all articles of common family use except those of gold and silver plate or jeweller's work. (See _Ducange, sub voce._) _Stracci_ is still used technically in Venice for "household linen."

[21] In the original _aureas libras quinque_. According to Marino Sanudo the Younger (_Vite dei Dogi_ in _Muratori_ xxii. 521) this should be pounds or _lire_ of _aureole_, the name of a silver coin struck by and named after the Doge _Aurio_ Mastropietro (1178-1192): "Ancora fu fatta una Moneta d'argento che si chiamava _Aureola_ per la casata del Doge; _e quella Moneta che i Notai de Venezia mettevano di pena sotto i loro instrumenti_." But this was a vulgar error. An example of the penalty of 5 pounds of gold is quoted from a decree of 960; and the penalty is sometimes expressed "_auri purissimi librae_ 5." A coin called the _lira d'oro_ or _redonda_ is alleged to have been in use before the ducat was introduced. (See _Gallicciolli_, II. 16.) But another authority seems to identify the _lira a oro_ with the _lira dei grossi_. (See _Zanetti, Nuova Racc. delle Monete &c. d'Italia_, 1775. I. 308)

[22] We give a photographic reduction of the original doc.u.ment. This, and the other two Polo Wills already quoted, had come into the possession of the n.o.ble Filippo Balbi, and were by him presented in our own time to the St. Mark's Library. They are all on parchment, in writing of that age, and have been officially examined and declared to be originals. They were first published by _Cicogna, Iscrizioni Veneziane_, III. 489-493. We give Marco's in the original language, line for line with the facsimile, in _Appendix C_.

There is no signature, as may be seen, except those of the Witnesses and the Notary. The sole presence of a Notary was held to make a deed valid, and from about the middle of the 13th century in Italy it is common to find no actual signature (even of witnesses) except that of the Notary. The peculiar flourish before the Notary's name is what is called the _Tabellionato_, a fanciful distinctive monogram which each Notary adopted. Marco's Will is unfortunately written in a very cramp hand with many contractions. The other two Wills (of Marco the Elder and Maffeo) are in beautiful and clear Gothic penmans.h.i.+p.

[23] We have noticed formerly (pp. 14-15, _note_) the recent discovery of a doc.u.ment bearing what was supposed to be the autograph signature of our Traveller. The doc.u.ment in question is the Minute of a Resolution of the Great Council, attested by the signatures of three members, of whom the last is MARCUS PAULLO. But the date alone, 11th March, 1324, is sufficient to raise the gravest doubts as to this signature being that of our Marco. And further examination, as I learn from a friend at Venice, has shown that the same name occurs in connection with a.n.a.logous entries on several subsequent occasions up to the middle of the century. I presume that this Marco Polo is the same that is noticed in our _Appendix B_, II. as a voter in the elections of the Doges Marino Faliero and Giovanni Gradenigo. I have not been able to ascertain his relation to either branch of the Polo family; but I suspect that he belonged to that of S. Geremia, of which there _was_ certainly a Marco about the middle of the century.

[24] "Under the _angiporta_ (of S. Lorenzo) [see plate] is buried that Marco Polo surnamed Milione, who wrote the Travels in the New World, and who was the first before Christopher Columbus to discover new countries. No faith was put in him because of the extravagant things that he recounted; but in the days of our Fathers Columbus augmented belief in him, by discovering that part of the world which eminent men had heretofore judged to be uninhabited." (_Venezia ... Descritta_, etc., f. 23 _v._) Marco Barbaro attests the same inscription in his Genealogies (copy in Museo Civico at Venice).

[25] _Cicogna_, II. 385.

[26] _Lazari_, x.x.xi.

[27] In the first edition I noticed briefly a statement that had reached me from China that, in the Temple at Canton vulgarly called "of the 500 G.o.ds," there is a foreign figure which from the name attached had been supposed to represent Marco Polo! From what I have heard from Mr.

Wylie, a very competent authority, this is nonsense. The temple contains 500 figures of _Arhans_ or Buddhist saints, and one of these attracts attention from having a hat like a sailor's straw hat. Mr.

Wylie had not remarked the name. [A model of this figure was exhibited at Venice at the international Geographical Congress, in 1881. I give a reproduction of this figure and of the Temple of 500 Genii (_Fa Lum Sze_) at Canton, from drawings by Felix Regamey made after photographs sent to me by my late friend, M. Camille Imbault Huart, French Consul at Canton.--H. C.]

[28] These doc.u.ments are noted in Appendix C, Nos. 9-12, 14, 17, 18.

[29] I can find no _Ranuzzo_ Dolfino among the Venetian genealogies, but several _Reniers_. And I suspect Ranuzzo may be a form of the latter name.

[30] _Cappellari_ (see p. 77, footnote) under _Bragadino_.

[31] Ibid. and _Gallicciolli_, II. 146.

[32] The _lire_ of the fine are not specified; but probably _ai grossi_, which would be = 37_l._ 10_s._; not, we hope, _dei_ grossi!

[33] Yet, if the family were so wealthy as tradition represents, it is strange that Marco's brother Maffeo, _after_ receiving a share of his father's property, should have possessed barely 10,000 _lire_, probably equivalent to 5000 ducats at most. (See p. 65, supra.)

[34] An Agnes Loredano, Abbess of S. Maria delle Vergini, died in 1397.

(_Cicogna_, V. 91 and 629.) The interval of 61 years makes it somewhat improbable that it should be the same.

[35] In the _Museo Civico_ (No. 2271 of the Cicogna collection) there is a commission addressed by the Doge Michiel Steno in 1408, "_n.o.bili Viro Marcho Paulo_," nominating him Podesta of Arostica (a Castello of the Vicentino). This is probably the same Marco.

[36] The descent runs: (1) Azzo = Maria Polo; (2) Febo, Captain at Padua; (3) Zaccaria, Senator; (4) Domenico, Procurator of St. Mark's; (5) Marc' Antonio, Doge (_Cappellari_, _Campidoglio Veneto_, MS. St.

Mark's Lib.).

Marc' Antonio _nolebat ducari_ and after election desired to renounce.

His friends persuaded him to retain office, but he lived scarcely a year after. (_Cicogna_, IV. 566.) [See p. 8.]

[37] In Appendix B will be found tabulated all the facts that seem to be positively ascertained as to the Polo genealogies.

In the Venetian archives occurs a procuration executed by the Doge in favour of the _n.o.bilis Vir_ SER MARCO PAULO that he may present himself before the king of Sicily; under date, Venice 9th November, 1342. And some years later we have in the Sicilian Archives an order by King Lewis of Sicily, directed to the Maestri Procuratori of Messina, which grants to MARCO POLO of Venice, on account of services rendered to the king's court, the privilege of free import and export at the port of Messina, without payment of customs of goods to the amount annually of 20 ounces. Dated in Catania 13th January, 1346 (1347?).

For the former notice I am indebted to the courtesy of Signor B.

Cecchetti of the Venetian Archives, who cites it as "transcribed in the _Commemor._ IV. p. 5"; for the latter to that of the Abate Carini of the _Reale Archivio_ at Palermo; it is in _Archivio della Regia Cancellaria_ 1343-1357, f. 58.

The mission of this MARCO POLO is mentioned also in a rescript of the Sicilian king Peter II., dated Messina, 14th November, 1340, in reference to certain claims of Venice, about which the said Marco appeared as the Doge's amba.s.sador. This is printed in F. TESTA, _De Vita et Rebus Gestis Federici II., Siciliae Regis_, Panormi, 1775, pp.

267 seqq. The Sicilian Antiquary Rosario Gregorio identifies the Envoy with our Marco, dead long before. (See _Opere scelte del Canon Ros.

Gregorio_, Palermo, 1845, 3za ediz., p. 352.)

It is possible that this Marco, who from the latter notice seems to have been engaged in mercantile affairs, may have been the Marcolino above mentioned, but it is perhaps on the whole more probable that this _n.o.bilis vir_ is the Marco spoken of in the note at p. 74.

[38] _La Collezione del Doge Marin Faliero e i Tesori di Marco Polo_, pp. 98-103. I have seen this article.--H. C.

IX. MARCO POLO'S BOOK; AND THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH IT WAS FIRST WRITTEN.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Porcelain Incense Burner, from the Louvre]

[Sidenote: General statement of what the Book contains.]

50. The Book itself consists essentially of Two Parts. _First_, of a Prologue, as it is termed, the only part which is actual personal narrative, and which relates, in a very interesting but far too brief manner, the circ.u.mstances which led the two elder Polos to the Kaan's Court, and those of their second journey with Mark, and of their return to Persia through the Indian Seas. _Secondly_, of a long series of chapters of very unequal length, descriptive of notable sights and products, of curious manners and remarkable events, relating to the different nations and states of Asia, but, above all, to the Emperor Kublai, his court, wars, and administration. A series of chapters near the close treats in a verbose and monotonous manner of sundry wars that took place between the various branches of the House of Chinghiz in the latter half of the 13th century. This last series is either omitted or greatly curtailed in all the copies and versions except one; a circ.u.mstance perfectly accounted for by the absence of interest as well as value in the bulk of these chapters.

Indeed, desirous though I have been to give the Traveller's work complete, and sharing the dislike that every man who _uses_ books must bear to abridgments, I have felt that it would be sheer waste and dead-weight to print these chapters in full.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Temple of 500 Genii at Canton _after a Drawing by_ FELIX REGAMEY]

This second and main portion of the Work is in its oldest forms undivided, the chapters running on consecutively to the end.[1] In some very early Italian or Venetian version, which Friar Pipino translated into Latin, it was divided into three Books, and this convenient division has generally been adhered to. We have adopted M. Pauthier's suggestion in making the final series of chapters, chiefly historical, into a Fourth.