Marco Polo was born in 1254. By the time of his death in 1324, he was wealthier than any of his close relatives had ever been. The history behind Marco the Traveler, as he came to be known during his lifetime, is one of relative mystery.

We know much about his travels through Asia from his timeless literary work, The Travels of Marco Polo, or Le Divisament dou monde, as it was originally titled. This is the first modern travel account of his time. It presented a great stylistic and thematic change from other, more popular, forms of medieval travel writing.