Odoric of Pordenone
14th-century Italian Franciscan friar, missionary, and explorer
- Lived
- 1286–1331
- Country
- Republic of Venice
Updated September 2026
About Odoric of Pordenone
Odoric of Pordenone was a Franciscan friar and missionary explorer from Friuli in northeast Italy. He journeyed through India, Sumatra, Java, and China, where he spent three years in the imperial capital of Khanbaliq. After more than ten years of travel, he returned home and dictated a narrative of his experiences and observations called the Relatio, highlighting various cultural, religious, and social peculiarities he encountered in Asia.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.