Franciscan missionary; born Villanova near Pordenone, Friuli, Italy, 1286; died Udine, Italy, 1331. On his way to China, 1318, as a missionary, he passed through Persia, Java, and Ceylon, and on his return was the first European to penetrate the capital of the Dalai-Lama. For a long time doubt was expressed regarding the veracity of his travels, for he accepted so many fabulous stories, but Mandeville's plagiarisms from them were extremely popular in the Middle Ages, and were used as a manual by the geographers of that period.