The witnesses are Lionardo priest of S. Felice, Lionardo clerk of the
same, and the Notary Pietro Pagano priest of the same.
[2] According to Romanin (I. 321) the lira dei grossi was also called
Lira d'imprestidi, and if the lire here are to be so taken, the
sum will be 10,000 ducats, the largest amount by far that occurs in
any of these Polo documents, unless, indeed, the 1000 lire in Sec. 5 of
Maffeo Junior's Will be the like; but I have some doubt if such lire
are intended in either case.
[3] "(Resolved) That grace be granted to the respectable MARCO PAULO,
relieving him of the penalty he has incurred for neglecting to have
his water-pipe examined, seeing that he was ignorant of the order on
that subject." (See Appendix C. No. 3.) The other reference, to M.
Polo, of S. Geremia, runs as follows: -
[MCCCII. indic. XV. die VIII. Macii q fiat gra Guillo aurifici q ipe
absolvat a pena i qua dicit icurisse p uno spotono sibi iueto veuiedo
de Mestre ppe domu Maci Pauli de Canareglo ui descenderat ad
bibendu.]
"That grace be granted to William the Goldsmith, relieving him of the
penalty which he is stated to have incurred on account of a spontoon
(spontono, a loaded bludgeon) found upon him near the house of MARCO
PAULO of Cannareggio, where he had landed to drink on his way from
Mestre." (See Cicogna, V. p. 606.)
[4] Sansovino, Venezia, Citta Nobilissima e Singolare, Descritta, etc.,
Ven. 1581, f. 236 v.; Barbaro, Alberi; Coronelli, Allante Veneto,
I. 19.
[5] The word Millio occurs several times in the Chronicle of the Doge
Andrea Dandolo, who wrote about 1342; and Milion occurs at least
once (besides the application of the term to Polo) in the History of
Giovanni Villani; viz. when he speaks of the Treasury of Avignon: -
"diciotto milioni di fiorini d'oro ec. che ogni milione e mille
migliaja di fiorini d' oro la valuta." (xi. 20, Sec. 1; Ducange, and
Vocab. Univ. Ital.). But the definition, thought necessary by
Villani, in itself points to the use of the word as rare. Domilion
occurs in the estimated value of houses at Venice in 1367, recorded in
the Cronaca Magna in St. Mark's Library. (Romanin, III. 385).
[6] "Also; that Pardon be granted to Bonocio of Mestre for that 152 lire
in which he stood condemned by the Captains of the Posts, on account
of wine smuggled by him, in such wise: to wit, that he was to pay the
said fine in 4 years by annual instalments of one fourth, to be
retrenched from the pay due to him on his journey in the suite of our
ambassadors, with assurance that anything then remaining deficient of
his instalments should be made good by himself or his securities. And
his securities are the Nobles Pietro Morosini and MARCO PAULO
MILION." Under Milion is written in an ancient hand "mortuus."
(See Appendix C, No. 4.)
[7] Humboldt tells this (Examen, II. 221), alleging Jacopo d'Acqui as
authority; and Libri (H. des Sciences Mathematiques, II. 149),
quoting Doglioni, Historia Veneziana. But neither authority bears
out the citations. The story seems really to come from Amoretti's
commentary on the Voyage du Cap. L. F. Maldonado, Plaisance, 1812,
p. 67. Amoretti quotes as authority Pignoria, Degli Dei Antichi.
An odd revival of this old libel was mentioned to me recently by Mr.
George Moffatt. When he was at school it was common among the boys to
express incredulity by the phrase: "Oh, what a Marco Polo!"
[8] Thibault, according to Ducange, was in 1307 named Grand Master of the
Arblasteers of France; and Buchon says his portrait is at Versailles
among the Admirals (No. 1170). Ramon de Muntaner fell in with the
Seigneur de Cepoy in Greece, and speaks of him as "but a Captain of
the Wind, as his Master was King of the Wind." (See Ducange, H. de
l'Empire de Const. sous les Emp. Francois, Venice ed. 1729, pp. 109,
110; Buchon, Chroniques Etrangeres, pp. lv. 467-470.)
[9] The note is not found in the Bodleian MS., which is the third known
one of this precise type.
[10] Messire Jean, the son of Thibault, is mentioned in the accounts of
the latter in the Chambre des Comptes at Paris, as having been with
his Father in Romania. And in 1344 he commanded a confederate
Christian armament sent to check the rising power of the Turks, and
beat a great Turkish fleet in the Greek seas. (Heyd. I. 377;
Buchon, 468.)
[11] The document is given in Appendix C, No. 5. It was found by Comm.
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 connection
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 Comm. Barozzi, who had noted it some
years before, when commencing an arrangement of the archives of the
Institution.
[12] 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.
