The Travels of Marco Polo (Pt. 3) @VoicesofthePast

Uploaded August 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

Whilst in prison at the end of the Thirteenth Century Italian writer Rustichello da Pisa began to hear extraordinary tales from his cell mate. That man turned out to be a Venetian merchant named Marco Polo. The tales that Polo then narrated to Rustichello eventually became the ‘Book of the Marvels of the World’. Usually known to us today as ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’.

This is Part Two of the Preface, concerning the travels of Marco Polo’s father and uncle.

Music-
Kevin MacLeod - Ryno’s Theme
youtube.com/watch?v=i6LoR3o2oL4
Kevin MacLeod - Crowd Hammer
youtube.com/watch?v=CW2vCJdoegw

This is an original work by the Thirteenth Century writer Rustichello da Pisa and Venetian trader and explorer Marco Polo. Written over seven hundred years ago to record Polo’s extraordinary travels for posterity it remains one of the most important chronicles of the Medieval World, especially in regards to European involvement in the rest of Eurasia.

The words of this video come directly from Rustichello and Polo themselves, translated in the Nineteenth Century by Sir Henry Yule and slightly revised by Henri Cordier .
You can read the full text here:-
en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo#Preface

This is a History Time production. Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month to vote on upcoming videos & help keep the channel going:-
patreon.com/historytimeUK

—Join the History Time community on social media:-
Facebook Page:-
facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial
Facebook Group:-
facebook.com/groups/410224606007519
Instagram:-
instagram.com/historytime_ig
Twitter:-
twitter.com/HistoryTimePete

History Time is now a podcast. You can find us on iTunes.

Are you a budding artist, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send me a message! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, I can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.

I try to use copyright free images at all times. However if I have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and I’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.

Fascinated British Visitor Describes Life in American Civil War (1863) // Diary of Henry Y. Thompson

Justinian: The Headless Emperor // Procopius Secret History // 6th century AD Primary Source

First Japanese Visitor After Sakoku Describes European Life // 1862 Tokugawa Embassy Primary Source

Words of Hanno The Navigator - Ancient Explorer // 5th century BC // Primary Source

British Soldier Gives Chaotic First Hand Account of Zulu War

Native American Perspective On The Civil War // Diary of GW Grayson

Young Soldier Describes True Horror of Life in Napoleons Army (Russia, 1812) // Jakob Walter Diary

Letter from Genghis Khan Asking for the Secret of Eternal Life // (1219) Invitation to Taoist Monk

Real Samurai Explains Rules for Peace and War // 17th cent. Scrolls of Natori-Ryu // Primary Source

$Baghdad under the Abbasids // Yaqut 1000 AD // Arabic Primary Source Here we have an account to echo History Times upcoming video - a description of the wonders of Baghdad at the turn of the first millennium, under its Abbasid rulers. The first city to hit one million inhabitants, at the time Baghdad was the worlds largest - the jewel in the crown of the Islamic Golden Age. How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and images. — Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future. — Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month & help keep this project going:- https://www.patreon.com/historytimeUK — Don’t forget to subscribe to our primary channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:- https://www.youtube.com/historytime — History Time is now a podcast. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts from. —Join our community on social media:- Twitter:- https://twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK/ Facebook:- https://www.facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial/ Instagram:- https://www.instagram.com/historytime_ig/ — Music courtesy of:- - Epidemic Sound - Joss Edwards Music:- https://soundcloud.com/jossedwardsmusic Kevin MacLeod — Voice actor & editor:- David Kelly Weve compiled a reading list of our favourite history books via the Amazon influencer program. If you do choose to purchase any of these incredible sources of information then Amazon will send us a tiny fraction of the earnings (as long as you do it through the link) (this means more and better content in the future) Ill keep adding to and updating the list as time goes on:- https://www.amazon.com/shop/historytime Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you. We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please dont hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.$

Young English Soldier Gives BRUTAL First-Hand Account of Battle of Waterloo (1815, William Lawrence)