His marriage and his daughters. 46. When Marco married we have not been able to ascertain, but it was no doubt early in the 14th century, for in 1324 we find that he had two married daughters besides one unmarried. His wife's Christian name was Donata, but of her family we have as yet found no assurance. I suspect, however, that her name may have been Loredano (vide infra, p. 77). Marco as a merchant. Under 1311 we find a document which is of considerable interest, because it is the only one yet discovered which exhibits Marco under the aspect of a practical trader. It is the judgment of the Court of Requests upon a suit brought by the NOBLE MARCO POLO of the parish of S. Giovanni Grisostomo against one Paulo Girardo of S. Apollinare. It appears that Marco had entrusted to the latter as a commission agent for sale, on an agreement for half profits, a pound and a half of musk, priced at six lire of grossi (about 227. 10s. in value of silver) the pound. Girardo had sold half-a-pound at that rate, and the remaining pound which he brought back was deficient of a saggio, or one-sixth of an ounce, but he had accounted for neither the sale nor the deficiency. Hence Marco sues him for three lire of Grossi, the price of the half-pound sold, and for twenty grossi as the value of the saggio. And the Judges cast the defendant in the amount with costs, and the penalty of imprisonment in the common gaol of Venice if the amounts were not paid within a suitable term.* Again in May, 1323, probably within a year of his death, Ser Marco appears (perhaps only by attorney), before the Doge and his judicial examiners, to obtain a decision respecting a question touching the rights to certain stairs and porticoes in contact with his own house property, and that obtained from his wife, in S. Giovanni Grisostomo. To this allusion has been already made (supra, p. 28–29). The document is given in Appendix C, No. 5. It was found by Signor Barozzi, the Director of the Museo Civico, when he had most kindly accompanied me to aid in the search for certain other documents in the archives of the Casa di Ricovero, or Poor House of Venice. These archives contain a great mass of testamentary and other documents, which probably have come into that singular depository in connexion with bequests to public charities. The document next mentioned was found in as strange a site, viz., the Casa degli Esposti or Foundling Hospital, which possesses similar muniments. This also I owe to Signor Barozzi, who had noted it some years before, when commencing an arrangement of the archives of the Institution. It is Marco 47. We catch sight of our Traveller only once more. on the 9th of January, 1324; he is labouring with disease, under which he is sinking day by day; and will and he has sent for Giovanni Giustiniani, Priest of S. Proculo and Notary, to make his Last Will and Testament. It runs thus:— "IN THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL GOD AMEN! Death. "In the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 1323, on the 9th day of the month of January, in the first half of the 7th Indiction,* at Rialto. "It is the counsel of Divine Inspiration as well as the judgment of a provident mind that every man should take thought to make a disposition of his property before death become imminent, lest in the end it should remain without any disposition : "Wherefore I MARCUS PAULO of the parish of St. John Chrysostom, finding myself to grow daily feebler through bodily ailment, but being by the grace of God of a sound mind, and of senses and judgment unimpaired, have sent for JOHN GIUSTINIANI, Priest of S. Proculo and Notary, and have instructed him to draw out in complete form this my Testament : "Whereby I constitute as my Trustees DONATA my beloved wife, and my dear daughters FANTINA, BELLELA, and MORETA,† in order that after my decease they may execute the dispositions and bequests which I am about to make herein. "First of all: I will and direct that the proper Tithe be paid. And over and above the said tithe I direct that 2000 lire of Venice denari be distributed as follows: § * The Legal Year at Venice began on the 1st of March. And 1324 was 7th of the Indiction. Hence the date is, according to the modern Calendar, 1324. + Marsden says of Moretta and Fantina, the only daughters named by Ramusio, that these may be thought rather familiar terms of endearment than baptismal names. This is a mistake however. Fantina is from one of the parochial saints of Venice, S. Fantino, and the male name was borne by sundry Venetians, among others by a son of Henry Dandolo's. Moreta is perhaps a variation of Maroca, which seems to have been a family name among the Polos. We find also the male name of Bellela, written Bellello, Bellero, Belletto. The Decima went to the Bishop of Castello (eventually converted into Patriarch of Venice) to divide between himself, the Clergy, the Church, and the Poor. It became a source of much bad feeling, which came to a head after the plague of 1348, when some families had to pay the tenth three times within a very short space. The existing bishop agreed to a composition, but his successor Paolo Foscari (1367) claimed that on the death of every citizen an exact inventory should be made, and a full tithe levied. The Signory fought hard with the Bishop, but he fled to the Papal Court and refused all concession. After his death in 1376 a composition was made for 5500 ducats yearly (Romanin, II. 406; III. 161, 165). § There is a difficulty about estimating the value of these sums from the variety of Venice pounds or lire. Thus the Lira dei piccoli was reckoned 3 to the ducat or zecchin, the Lira ai grossi 2 to the ducat, but the Lira dei grossi or Lira d'imprestidi was equal to 10 ducats, or (allowing for higher value of silver then) about 3. 15; a little more than the equivalent of the then Pound sterling. This last 66 viz., 20 soldi of Venice grossi to the Monastery of St. Lawrence where I desire to be buried. "Also 300 lire of Venice denari to my sister-in-law YSABETA QUIRINO,* that she owes me. "Also 40 soldi to each of the Monasteries and Hospitals all the way from Grado to Capo d'Argine.t "Also I bequeath to the Convent of SS. Giovanni and Paolo, of the Order of Preachers, that which it owes me, and also 10 lire to Friar RENIER, and 5 lire to Friar BENVENUTO the Venetian, of the Order of Preachers, in addition to the amount of his debt to me. I also bequeath 5 lire to every Congregation in Rialto, and 4 lire to every Guild or Fraternity of which I am a member.‡ "Also I bequeath 20 soldi of Venetian grossi to the Priest Giovanni Giustiniani the Notary, for his trouble about this my Will, and in order that he may pray the Lord in my behalf. "Also I release PETER the Tartar, my servant, from all bondage, as completely as I pray God to release mine own soul from all sin and guilt. And I also remit him whatever he may have gained by work at his own house; and over and above I bequeath him 100 lire of Venice denari.§ money is specified in some of the bequests, as in the 20 soldi (or 1 lira) to St. Lorenzo, and in the annuity of 8 lire to Polo's wife; but it seems doubtful what money is meant when libra only or libra denariorum venetorum is used. And this doubt is not new. Gallicciolli relates that in 1232 Giacomo Menotto left to the church of S. Cassiano as an annuity libras denariorum venetorum quatuor. Till 1427 the church received the income as of lire dei piccoli, but on bringing a suit on the subject it was adjudged that lire ai grossi were to be understood (Delle Mem. Venet. Ant. II. 18). This story however cuts both ways, and does not decide our doubt. *The form of the name Ysabeta aptly illustrates the transition that seems so strange from Elizabeth into the Isabel that the Spaniards made of it. I. e., the extent of what was properly called the Dogado, all along the Lagoons from Grado on the extreme east to Capo d'Argine (Cavarzere at the mouth of the Adige) on the extreme west. The word rendered Guilds is "Scholarum." The crafts at Venice were united in corporations called Fraglie or Scholae, each of which had its statutes, its head called the Gastald, and its place of meeting under the patronage of some saint. These acted as societies of mutual aid, gave dowries to poor girls, caused masses to be celebrated for deceased members, joined in public religious processions, &c., nor could any craft be exercised except by members of such a guild (Romanin, I. 390). § A few years after Ser Marco's death (1328) we find the Great Council granting to this Peter the rights of a natural Venetian, as having been a long time at Venice, and well conducted (see App. C, Calendar of Documents, No. 13). This might give some additional colour to M. Pauthier's supposition that this Peter the Tartar was a faithful servant who had accompanied Messer Marco from the East 30 years before. But yet the supposition is probably unfounded. Slavery and slave-trade were very prevalent at Venice in the Middle Ages, and V. Lazari, a writer who examined a great many records connected therewith, found that by far the greater number of slaves were described as Tartars. There does not seem to be any clear information as to how they were imported, but probably from the factories on the Black Sea, especially Tana after its establishment. A tax of 5 ducats per head was set on the export of slaves in 1379, and as the revenue so received under the Doge Tommaso Mocenigo (1414-1423) amounted And the residue of the said 2000 lire, free of tithe, I direct to be distributed for the good of my soul, according to the discretion of my trustees. "Out of my remaining property I bequeath to the aforesaid Donata, my Wife and Trustee, 8 lire of Venetian grossi annually during her life, for her own use, over and above her settlement, and the linen and all the household utensils,* with 3 beds garnished. "And all my other property movable and immovable that has not been disposed of [here follow some lines of mere technicality] I specially and expressly bequeath to my aforesaid Daughters Fantina, Bellela, and Moreta, freely and absolutely, to be divided equally among them. And I constitute them my heirs as regards all and sundry my property movable and immovable, and as regards all rights and contingencies tacit and expressed, of whatsoever kind as hereinbefore detailed, that belong to me or may fall to me. Save and except that before division my said daughter Moreta shall receive the same as each of my other daughters hath received for dowry and outfit [here follow many lines of technicalities, ending] "And if any one shall presume to infringe or violate this Will, may he incur the malediction of God Almighty, and abide bound under the anathema of the 318 Fathers; and farthermore he shall forfeit to my Trustees aforesaid five pounds of gold; † and so let this my Testament abide in force. The signature of the above named Messer Marco Paulo who gave instructions for this deed. (so says Lazari) to 50,000 ducats, the startling conclusion is that 10,000 slaves yearly were exported! This it is difficult to accept. The slaves were chiefly employed in domestic service, and the records indicate the women to have been about twice as numerous as the men. The highest price recorded is 87 ducats paid for a Russian girl sold in 1429. All the higher prices are for young women; a significant circumstance. With the existence of this system we may safely connect the extraordinary frequence of mention of illegitimate children in Venetian wills and genealogies (see Lazari, Del Traffico degli Schiavi in Venezia, &c., in Miscellanea di Storia Italiana, I. 463 seqq.). In 1308 the Khan Toktai of Kipchak (see Polo, II. 426) hearing that the Genoese and other Franks were in the habit of carrying off Tartar children to sell, sent a force against Caffa, which was occupied without resistance, the people taking refuge in their ships. The Khan also seized the Genoese property in Sarai (Heyd. II. 27). * “Stracium et omne capud massariciorum;" in Scotch phrase "napery and plenishing." A Venetian statute of 1242 prescribes that a bequest of massariticum shall be held to carry to the legatee all articles of common family use except those of gold and silver plate or jeweller's work (see Ducange, sub voce). Stracci is still used technically in Venice for "household linen." In the original aureas libras quinque. According to Marino Sanudo the Younger (Vite dei Dogi in Muratori, xxii. 521) this should be pounds or lire of aureole, the name of a silver coin struck by and named after the Doge Aurio Mastropietro (1178-1192): "Ancora fu fatta una Moneta d'argento che si chiamava Aureola per la casata del Doge; è quella Moneta che i Notai de Venezia mettevano di pena sotto i loro instrumenti." But this was a vulgar error. An example of the penalty of 5 pounds of gold is quoted from a decree of 960; and the penalty is sometimes expressed "auri purissimi librae 5." A coin called the lira d'oro or redonda is alleged to have been in use before the ducat was introduced (see Gallicciolli, II. 16). But another authority seems to identify the lira a oro with the lira dei grossi (see Zanetti, Nuova Racc. delle Monete &c. d'Italia, 1775, I. 308) † I John Giustiniani, Priest of S. Proculo, and Notary, have completed and authenticated (this testament).”* We do not know, as has been said, how long Marco survived the making of this will, but we know, from a scanty series of documents commencing in June of the following year (1325), that he had then been some time dead.† Place of 48. He was buried, no doubt, according to his declared wish, in the church of S. Lorenzo; and indeed Sansovino bears testimony to the fact in a confused notice of our Traveller. But there does not seem to have been any monument to Marco, though the sar Sepulture. * We give opposite a photo-lithographic reduction of the original document. This, and the other two Polo Wills already quoted, had come into the possession of the Noble Filippo Balbi, and were by him presented in our own time to the St. Mark's Library. They are all on parchment, in writing of that age, and have been officially examined and declared to be originals. They were first published by Cicogna, Iscrizioni Veneziane, III. 489-493. We gave Marco's in the original language, line for line with the facsimile, in Appendix C of First Edition. There is no signature, as may be seen, except those of the Witnesses and the Notary. The sole presence of a Notary was held to make a deed valid, and from about the middle of the 13th century in Italy it is common to find no actual signature (even of witnesses) except that of the Notary. The peculiar flourish before the Notary's name is what is called the Tabellionato, a fanciful distinctive monogram which each Notary adopted. Marco's Will is unfortunately written in a very cramp hand with many contractions. The other two Wills (of Marco the Elder and Maffeo) are in beautiful and clear Gothic penmanship. † We have noticed formerly (p. 14, note) the recent discovery of a document bearing what was supposed to be the autograph signature of our Traveller. The document in question is the Minute of a Resolution of the Great Council, attested by the signatures of three members, of whom the last is MARCUS PAULLO. But the date alone, 11th March, 1324, is sufficient to raise the gravest doubts as to this signature being that of our Marco. And further examination, as I learn from a friend at Venice, has shown that the same name occurs in connexion with analogous entries on several subsequent occasions up to the middle of the century. I presume that this Marco Polo is the same that is noticed in our Appendix B, II. as a voter in the elections of the Doges Marino Faliero and Giovanni Gradenigo. I have not been able to ascertain his relation to either branch of the Polo family; but I suspect that he belonged to that of S. Geremia, of which there was certainly a Marco about the middle of the century. "Under the angiporta (of S. Lorenzo) is buried that Marco Polo surnamed Milione, who wrote the Travels in the New World, and who was the first before Christopher Columbus to discover new countries. No faith was put in him because of the extravagant things that he recounted; but in the days of our Fathers Columbus augmented belief in him, by discovering that part of the world which eminent men had heretofore judged to be uninhabited" (Venezia . . . . Descritta, &c. f. 23 v.) Marco Barbaro attests the same inscription in his Genealogies (copy in Museo Civico at Venice). |