Study of Marco Polo's last will sheds new light on famed traveller

On January 9, 1324, the renowned Venetian traveller and merchant, Marco Polo, was about to set off on his final journey - into the afterlife he was certain existed.

    On his deathbed, Polo, 70, summoned a priest to be a notary and two witnesses. As Polo spoke some of his final words, the priest-notary recorded his will in Latin, writing on the intestinal side of a sheepskin.

    Now, a three-year project by scholars and historians who studied the will offers a fresh glimpse of Marco Polo, the man, as well as giving more support to the view that he went to China, which has been a subject of debate for years.

    Scrinium, a high-end publishing house in Venice, has produced a limited edition 395-page, large-format book on the will, which includes an exact reproduction of the nearly 700-year-old parchment, including marks left when the sheep was sheared on the external side and ink stains on the writing side.

    The speciality work, called "Ego Marcus Paulo Volo et Ordino (I, Marco Polo, Desire and Order), is intended mostly for collectors, history buffs and libraries.  

    Rosi Fontana, spokesperson for the publishing house, explained the will shows how god-fearing Marco Polo was in his last hours, with almost half of the testament taken up by his donations he wanted to make in order to pay penance for past sins. Fontana says it also gives us a window into Polo's trips to China.   

    In the late 20th century a few historians argued that Polo had never made it to China but picked up stories of the Mongol Empire from Persian merchants he met on the Black Sea. 

    Most historians have rejected this view and say the fact that Polo's servant was a Tatar, who were a Mongol people, supports evidence that he did make it to China.

    Another aspect supporting this view, he said, was that an inventory of Polo's possessions that surfaced after his death, listed items from the far east, such as expensive musk.

    Apart from the money bequeathed to the Church, Polo left nearly everything else to his wife and three daughters, Fantina, Bellela and Moreta.