Blessed Odoric of Pordenone | |
|---|---|
 The departure of Odoric | |
| Born | c. 1280 Pordenone, Patriarchate of Aquileia, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | January 14, 1331 (aged 44–45) Udine, Patriarchate of Aquileia, Holy Roman Empire |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism (Franciscan Order) |
| Beatified | 2 July 1755, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Benedict XIV |
| Major shrine | Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Udine, Italy |
| Feast | January 14 |
Odoric of Pordenone[a] (c. 1280–14 January 1331) 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 (now Beijing). 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.
His manuscript was copied multiple times and distributed widely across Europe, both in the original Latin and several vernacular translations including Italian, French, and German. The Relatio was an important contribution to Europe's growing awareness of the Far East.
Odoric's account was a primary source for the account of Mandeville's Travels. Many of the incredible reports about Asia in Mandeville have proven to be versions of Odoric's eyewitness descriptions.[1]
After his death, Odoric became an object of popular devotion and was beatified in 1755.
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- ^ Higgins 1997, pp. 2, 9, 10.