Summary: Ethnic Origin Of The Explorers POLs (alias POLO-s) by Andjelko Nedo Paveskovic, Montecarlo

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 documents 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 Polo himself.).

Andelko (Nedo) Paveskovic: Putopisac Marko Polo POLJICA, br. 23, 38-66, Split 1998.