| Can the explorers POL-s (alias Polo and Pollo) be called "The
Venetian Polos"? - contrary to the Venetian documents, which
say that they "came from Dalmatia", a Croatian maritime province. CHRONICON
IUSTINIANI, 1358 (annotation) in the Venetian Bibliotheca Marciana. The Venetian
manuscripts from: 1423., 1446., 1450/60., and the two documnets from the beginning of the
1600-ies.
The Venetian chronicler Marino Sanudo junior writes to that effect in
1522.: "Poli di Dalmatia". See A. C. Moule: MARCO POLO, THE DESCRIPTION OF THE
WORLD (London, 1938), 17, 19, 20.
A. C. Moule says: "None of the large number of Venetian genealogies
which we have been able to consult seems explicitly to recognize more than one family of
Polo, namely "Polo di Dalmatia". Moule, 20.
Giovanni Orlandini, the Venetian authority on our subject writes in
1926., that the genealogy of the Polos is not "chiara" (clear). He asserts that
their generalogy is traceable in Venice as from the middle of the XIIIth century. He
believes that the Polos had been gradually comming from the Near East ports and settling,
after the year 1261., in Venice in the consequence of the downfall of the Near East latin
Empire. See G. Orlandini "Marco Polo e la sua familia" in ARHIVIO VENETO
TRIDENTINO, vol. IX. 1926., 1-68, especiall pp.: 1-3.
A. C. Moule contends that the Pols genealogy can be traced in Venice,
starting from the middle of the XIVth century. Moule, 20.
Marco Polo the elder writes in his Last Will (Venice, 1280.) that he
came from Constantinople. As quoted by moule, 523-524.
His brothers, the merchant-travellers Maffeu and Nicolau fetched in
1250. the merchandise from Venice to Constantinople. They sejourned in the Black Sea area
from then untill the year 1261. In 1261. They went to Asia and came back in 1269. In
1271., they went from Venice to Asia. Marc Pol the junior the son of Nicolau, (the author
of the book), accompanied them on their second journey. (He was born in 1254., and died in
1324.).
They returned from Asia in 1295. Then they (definately) settled in
Venice.
According to Vladimir DePolo, some Croatian manuscripts do mention:
"The merchants, shipbuilders, travelers,... (etc) POLOS from Dalmatia, in the Near
East ports including Constantinople. (The research paper published in Zagreb 1996. in the
collection of the research works, entitled: MARKO POLO and THE EASTERN ADRIATIC IN THE
XIIITH CENTURY).
Conclusion
By their family roots comming from Croatia, the explorers Pols settled in Venice, after
they had accomplished their historic explorations. Therefore they are misidentified as the
"Venetian Polos".
(One Marco Polo was in the year 1300., among the rebels against the
Venetian authorities, who condemned them to exile and then to death. Then the rebels flew
to Croatia. Some writers believe that the said Marco Polo-rebel, was is fact the explorer
Marc Pol himself.).
Andelko (Nedo) Pavešković: Putopisac Marko Polo POLJICA, br. 23,
38-66, Split 1998. |