An Italian writer of the 13th century, Rustichello of Pisa is best known for writing down the account of Marco Polo's travels while sharing a cell with him in Genoa. His work, known under the title 'The Book of Marvels', is one of the most important documents on medieval Asia.
Rustichello of Pisa(1300 — 1322)
Rustichello of Pisa
république de Venise
7 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Around 1298: imprisoned in Genoa with Marco Polo after the Battle of Curzola
- 1298–1299: wrote 'The Description of the World' (Book of Marvels) from Marco Polo's dictation
- Presumed author of several chivalric romances in Old French before his collaboration with Marco Polo
- His text was written in Franco-Venetian, the literary language of the era
Works & Achievements
An account of Marco Polo's travels through Central Asia, China, India, and Persia, written by Rustichello in Old French from the stories dictated by the Venetian traveler while they shared a cell in Genoa. The most comprehensive work ever written on medieval Asia, it profoundly shaped European cartography and inspired the great explorers, including Christopher Columbus, who owned an annotated copy.
A collection of chivalric romances in Old French featuring Knights of the Round Table such as Tristan, Palamedes, and Guiron le Courtois. These works showcase the stylistic mastery that Rustichello would later put to use in narrating Marco Polo's adventures.
Anecdotes
In 1284, the Pisan fleet was crushed by the Genoese at the Battle of Meloria. Rustichello of Pisa was among the thousands of prisoners taken to Genoa, where he would be held for many years. This defeat marked the final decline of Pisa as a Mediterranean maritime power.
Around 1298, another illustrious prisoner arrived in the Genoese jails: Marco Polo, captured after the Battle of Curzola against Venice. The two men shared a cell, and Rustichello, already an experienced novelist, immediately grasped the extraordinary value of the travel stories his companion told him.
Rustichello deliberately chose to write Marco Polo's account not in Italian, but in Old French, the language of courtly romances and chivalry. This was no casual choice: French was then the prestige literary language, ensuring a far wider readership across educated Europe.
Before meeting Marco Polo, Rustichello was already known as a writer of Arthurian romances, retelling the adventures of Tristan, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. It was thus a professional writer, well versed in shaping epic narratives, who gave literary form to the Venetian's travels.
The original manuscript of the Book of Marvels was copied and translated into many languages as early as the fourteenth century. More than 140 manuscript copies are known today, testament to the work's spectacular success. Paradoxically, Rustichello remains far less famous than Marco Polo, whose essential pen he nonetheless was.
Primary Sources
Lords, Emperors and Kings, Dukes and Marquises, Counts, Knights and Burgesses, and all people desirous of knowing the diversities of the races of mankind and the diversities of the regions of the world, take this book and have it read to you.
And know that since Our Lord God created Adam our first father until this day, neither Christian nor Saracen, Tartar nor Indian, nor any man of any generation, explored as much of the world as did Messer Marco Polo.
Rustichello assembles and rewrites in Old French several Arthurian romances featuring Tristan, Lancelot, and Palamedes, establishing his reputation as a novelist before his imprisonment.
Key Places
Rustichello's hometown and a major Italian maritime power of the Middle Ages, rival to Genoa and Venice. Pisa's defeat by Genoa in 1284 was the unlikely starting point of Rustichello's literary adventure.
The city where Rustichello was imprisoned after the Battle of Meloria, and where he shared his cell with Marco Polo from 1298 onwards. It was in this Genoese prison that the *Book of the Marvels of the World* was written.
The maritime site where the decisive battle between Pisa and Genoa took place in 1284, during which Rustichello was taken prisoner. Paradoxically, this painful event led him toward his greatest literary destiny.
A Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea where the 1298 battle took place in which Marco Polo was captured by the Genoese — an event that would lead to his fateful meeting with Rustichello in the prisons of Genoa.
Typical Objects
The indispensable tool of the medieval scribe and writer, sharpened to a point for tracing letters on parchment. It was with these instruments that Rustichello transcribed Marco Polo's accounts in their Genoese cell, giving birth to the Book of Marvels.
A writing medium made from finely treated sheepskin or calfskin, used before paper became widespread. Rustichello wrote his manuscripts on parchment, a costly but durable material that ensured the work would be handed down to future generations.
The only source of light available in medieval prison cells. Rustichello and Marco Polo had to plan their writing sessions around daylight hours, stopping in the evening to conserve this precious resource.
Before his imprisonment, Rustichello was the author of chivalric romances featuring Tristan and Lancelot. These manuscripts adorned with miniatures bear witness to the literary career that led Marco Polo to choose him to give shape to his memories.
A map of the world as conceived in the Middle Ages, centered on Jerusalem and incorporating mythical regions at its edges. The precise geographical descriptions that Rustichello shaped in the Book of Marvels would overturn this entire vision of the world.
A reusable writing surface used for drafts and provisional notes. Rustichello could use it to organize chapters and record information dictated by Marco Polo before transcribing it definitively onto parchment.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Tags
Daily Life
Morning
In his Genoese cell, Rustichello woke to the sound of the city's bells and light filtering through the narrow stone windows. His mornings began with a meager ration — bread, water, sometimes a few vegetables — before dedicating himself to writing alongside Marco Polo.
Afternoon
Afternoons were devoted to composing the *Book of Marvels*. Marco Polo dictated his memories in Venetian, and Rustichello reshaped them in Old French with the literary flourishes of the courtly romances he knew by heart, structuring the chapters by regions and themes.
Evening
As daylight faded, the two men had to stop writing to conserve their candles. These evenings provided an opportunity for deeper discussions in which Rustichello asked questions to clarify the geographical, cultural, or commercial details he wished to render faithfully in his text.
Food
Like any medieval prisoner of honorable standing, Rustichello had access to basic provisions: wheat or spelt bread, legumes such as fava beans and chickpeas, dried or salted fish, and olive oil. Prisoners of some social standing could sometimes receive supplementary food from relatives or purchase it from the guards.
Clothing
As a writer from the Pisan bourgeoisie, Rustichello wore before his imprisonment a long woolen or linen tunic, a cloak, and hose suited to the Tuscan climate. In prison, his clothing would have been plainer and more worn, perhaps gradually replaced by garments provided by the jailers.
Housing
Rustichello spent several years in a cell in the Genoese prison, whose conditions — for prisoners of war of respectable standing — were not among the harshest. The cell was probably a stone room with thick walls, a straw mattress, a few basic utensils, and enough space to sit and work at a tablet or improvised lectern.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Le Devisement du Monde (Il Milione / Le Livre des merveilles)
vers 1298-1299
Compilation arthurienne (Meliadus / Guiron le Courtois)
vers 1270-1280
