How important was Marco Polo in the overarching narrative

First things first, he probably made up a lot of his journeys from hearing stories from other people.

But as a symbol, everyone loves the idea of journeying and exploring.

On a 1 to 10 scale, probably a solid 6

Been studying the Mongol Conquests, China under Mongol rule, and Marco Polo and I gotta say, this has been one of the most entertaining sagas in history I've ever read. So many great characters. Kublai Khan is way different than you think a descendant of Genghis Khan would be. The dynamic of Marco Polo and Kublai Khan reminds me of William Adams and Ieyasu or Lawrence and Faisal.

As for importance, it doesn't seem like Venice or the rest of Medieval Europe cared much for Marco Polo's story. It seems like they thought the story was cute or romantic and most likely fictional, though this could be speculation on my part. Medieval Europe at the time did not care for the eastern world as too much was happening in their own.

The only immediate kind of influence he has was introducing paper money to the west. Paper money originated in Tang and Song China iirc.

His work (the Travels of Marco Polo, which wasn't even written by him, but his jail mate Rustichello da Pisa) becomes a little more influential in that it inspires Christopher Columbus about a century and a half later.

>>2441643
>It seems like they thought the story was cute or romantic and most likely fictional, though this could be speculation on my part.
They called his work "The Thousand", the thousand referring to the "thousand lies he made up". People didn't believe it.

>>2441667
>The Thousand
More than that (I understand the confusion though, mille = thousand, milione = million)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/marco-polos-million-lies