Travel account and life experience: the itinerant biography of Odoric of Pordenone

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the travel account of the Franciscan friar Odoric of Pordenone († 1331) as a source for the knowledge of his personality, since this document is the only one that transmits reliable information about his life. The author consciously involved himself in his account, therefore it transmits the material aspects of the journey (regions, cities, objects and people visited) as well as the active and open personality of the friar. This can be seen in three elements: the communication of emotions in an uninhibited manner, the posture towards oriental religions and the knowledge of cities of northern Italy. In this way the travel account becomes an autobiographical piece of first order.