For 14th-century Europeans, often starving, this atmosphere was breathtaking. This was especially true of the extensive maritime trade network, as he saw large Majapahit ships coming and going, transacting with Indian, Chinese, Arab, and Southeast Asian traders. He realized that this region was part of a larger trading system, not a peripheral one.
Odorico da Pordenone noted that the Majapahit kingdom, like several other Asian kingdoms, had a powerful king, a magnificent palace, well-planned cities with stunning architecture, and courtly rituals very different from those of Europe. He was impressed that the Majapahit people were hospitable and polite, disciplined, and prosperous, without the rigid religious (Christian) rules of Europe.
The community embraced Hinduism and Buddhism, which lived side by side with tolerance, strengthening social cohesion. His writings were crucial because they shook the European view at the time, that only the religious (Christian) world could progress. His tone was nuanced with admiration, not condescension, which was typical of the observational writings of Franciscan missionaries, not colonialism.
In the European imagination at that time, the East was a world of prosperity, while Europe was a West of poverty. His historical significance in the story of the monk Odorico da Pordenone demonstrated a crucial fact: that the people of Majapahit were more prosperous than Europeans. The global trade network in the Eastern hemisphere demonstrated that the Indonesian archipelago was not a periphery but a center of excellence, which immediately overturned the Western colonial narrative.
