Un puente entre oriente y occidente

                We like to imagine the two men in a dark, dingy, damp cell. They seem ghosts, unshaven, pallor, threadbare clothes. Marco speaks, appeals to his memory, perhaps slightly alter the facts to fit well. Rustichello listen, select the words, sort the chaos, writes.  They do not know it, of course, but the result of the work they are doing will survive them long and  will become Marco a kind of emblem of world travelers. The scene is vibrant and inspiring but perhaps not entirely true.  The facts could have been different.  But before we go any further, I must clarify why Marco Polo and Rustichello  were imprisoned in the same place at the same time.

              At the time Marco Polo was forty-four years and had spent more than half, twenty five, travel East. He had returned to Venice in 1295.  Three years later, more precisely on September 7, 1298 participates as Sopracomito, in the battle of Curzola.  There, the Genoese fleet defeats Venetians and Marco Polo with seven thousand compatriots are taken prisoner and taken to Genoa. About ten months last in total Marco´s captivityk: May 25, 1299 the two cities signed peace and in August the prisoners were released.  San Giorgio Palace in Genoa city center, would have been the place of captivity of Marco. Even today there is a plaque in memory of his stay.   Some researchers, however, assume that by his noble status, and perhaps by the fame preceded him, his imprisonment would not have been as rigorous.  Professor Jacques Heers imagine Marco suffered another form of captivity, lighter: “Prisoners of a certain category, and Marco undoubtedly had, were entrusted to certain families who were responsible for them, to which staying at home”.   This form of captivity was not unusual at the time and favored the meeting Marco with another prisoner, in this case, a Pisan, Rustichello. 

             Rustichello had fourteen years in prison in Genoa, almost certainly in the same conditions as Marco.  He had been taken captive in the battle of Meloria, in 1284, where fleets of Genoa and Pisa clashed.   He was a writer, editor and translator of some note.

             How they met and how collaboration was organized, we do not know.  What we do know is that the captivity builded the ideal conditions: the adventurer, the writer and time needed to address the task.  Henry Yule believes it was possible that Marco has asked notes of the trip to Venice to help his memory.  How long did the work?  At maximum ten months as Marco captivity in Genoa lasted.  The travels of Marco Polo is the most popular title to the book in English.  Il Milione, call in Italy. Gian Batista Ramusio, the first biographer of Marco, appointing it as L´historia delle cose de Tartari, descritta da M.Marco Polo gentilhuomo venetiano;  M.S. Puathier, Le livre de Marco Polo, citoyen de Venise.  According to most researchers the book was originally written in French, so  corresponds to Rustichello at least the role of translator.  We know that years later Marco corrected and added notes to the original he had dictated to Rustichello.  When he died in 1324, the book had already been translated into Latin, Italian and Venetian.