Niccolò Polo

c. 12th century–1294

Niccolò Polo was a Venetian merchant, the brother of Maffeo Polo and father of Marco Polo. He travelled through the Mongol world to the court of Kublai Khan and later returned with Marco on the journey described in the Travels of Marco Polo.

Gary Jennings’s The Journeyer places Niccolò Polo within a narrative shaped by exploration, travel and cultural encounter, court politics and dynastic power, and political ambition and government.