Francis Petrarch (born Francesco di Petracco; July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) was an Italian scholar and poet from the early Italian Renaissance. He was also one of the first humanists.

Petrarch is credited with finding Cicero’s letters again, which helped start the 14th-century Italian Renaissance and the beginning of Renaissance humanism. In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo used Petrarch’s writings, along with those of Giovanni Boccaccio and, to a lesser degree, Dante Alighieri, to help create the modern Italian language. Later, the Accademia della Crusca praised Petrarch as a model for Italian writing style.

Petrarch’s sonnets were widely admired and copied across Europe during the Renaissance. They became a standard for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first person to develop the idea of the "Dark Ages."

Biography

Petrarch was born on July 20, 1304, in the Tuscan city of Arezzo. His parents were Ser Petracco, a nickname for Pietro, and Eletta Canigiani. His full name was Francesco di Petracco, which he later changed to Franciscus Petrarcha in Latin. His younger brother, Gherardo, was born in Incisa in Val d'Arno in 1307. Dante Alighieri, a famous poet, was a friend of Petrarch’s father.

Petrarch spent his early childhood in the village of Incisa, near Florence. Later, his family moved to Avignon and nearby Carpentras to follow Pope Clement V, who began the Avignon Papacy in 1309. Petrarch studied law at the University of Montpellier from 1316 to 1320 and at the University of Bologna from 1320 to 1326. He studied with a lifelong friend, Guido Sette, who later became the archbishop of Genoa. His father, a notary, wanted Petrarch and his brother to study law. However, Petrarch was more interested in writing and studying Latin literature. He felt the seven years of legal study were wasted. His father once threw his books into a fire, but later regretted this. Petrarch also claimed that his legal guardians took his inheritance from Florence, which made him dislike the legal system. He said, "I couldn’t face making a merchandise of my mind," because he saw the legal system as selling justice.

Petrarch wrote many letters and corresponded with Boccaccio, a famous friend. After his parents died, Petrarch and his brother returned to Avignon in 1326, where he worked in clerical offices. This job gave him time to write. His first major work, Africa, a Latin epic about the Roman general Scipio Africanus, made him a European celebrity. On April 8, 1341, Petrarch became the second poet laureate since ancient times. He was crowned by Roman senators on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

Petrarch traveled widely in Europe, worked as an ambassador, and was called "the first tourist" because he traveled for pleasure, such as climbing Mont Ventoux. During his travels, he collected old Latin manuscripts and helped recover knowledge from Roman and Greek writers. He encouraged Leontius Pilatus to translate Homer’s works, but he was unhappy with the result. Petrarch owned a copy of Homer’s works but did not give it to Leontius because he did not know Greek. He once said, "Homer was dumb to him, while he was deaf to Homer." In 1345, Petrarch discovered a collection of Cicero’s letters, Epistulae ad Atticum, in the Chapter Library of Verona Cathedral.

Petrarch believed the time he lived in was filled with ignorance. He is credited with creating the idea of a "Dark Ages," a term now considered inaccurate by most scholars.

Petrarch wrote about climbing Mont Ventoux on April 26, 1336, with his brother and two servants. He described the climb in a letter to his friend, the monk Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro. He said he was inspired by Philip V of Macedon’s climb of Mount Haemo. An old farmer told him no one had climbed Ventoux before or after him in 50 years. Later, historians found that others had climbed the mountain before, including Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne.

Scholars note that Petrarch’s letter shows a modern attitude of enjoying nature’s beauty. He also expressed a desire for a virtuous Christian life. At the summit, he read from Saint Augustine’s Confessions, which he always carried. He reflected on the climb as a symbol of striving for a better life.

In the letter, Petrarch wrote:

"And men go about to wonder at the heights of the mountains, and the mighty waves of the sea, and the wide sweep of rivers, and the circuit of the ocean, and the revolution of the stars, but themselves they consider not."

Petrarch turned from nature to focus on the "soul," saying, "Nothing is wonderful but the soul." He believed that true greatness comes from within.

James Hillman argues that Petrarch’s focus on the inner self after the climb was the real importance of the event. The Renaissance began with this shift, not the climb itself.

Later in life, Petrarch traveled through northern Italy and southern France as a scholar and poet-diplomat. He did not marry because of his Church work, but he is believed to have had two children with an unknown woman. His son, Giovanni, was born in 1337, and his daughter, Francesca, in 1343. Both were later legitimized.

In the 1340s and 1350s, Petrarch lived in a small house in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, near Avignon. Giovanni died of the plague in 1361. That same year, Petrarch became a canon in Monselice near Padua. Francesca married Francescuolo da Brossano, who later became the executor of Petrarch’s will. In 1362, after the birth of their daughter Eletta, they joined Petrarch in Venice to escape the plague. Their second grandchild, Francesco, was born in 1366 but died before his second birthday. Francesca and her family lived with Petrarch in Venice for five years, from 1362 to 1367, at Palazzo Molina. Petrarch continued to travel during this time. Between 1361 and 1369, Boccaccio visited Petrarch twice: once in Venice and once in Padua.

Works

Petrarch is most famous for his Italian poetry, especially Rerum vulgarium fragmenta ("Fragments of Vernacular Matters"), a collection of 366 poems in different styles also called canzoniere ("songbook"), and I trionfi ("The Triumphs"), a six-part story inspired by Dante. However, Petrarch also wrote many works in Latin, the language of scholars and ancient Rome. His Latin writings include essays, letters, and more poetry. These works include Secretum ("My Secret Book"), a personal imaginary conversation with a figure inspired by Augustine of Hippo; De Viris Illustribus ("On Famous Men"), a series of moral biographies; Rerum Memorandarum Libri, an unfinished book about important virtues; De Otio Religiosorum ("On Religious Leisure") and De vita solitaria ("On the Solitary Life"), which praise quiet, thoughtful living; De Remediis Utriusque Fortunae ("Remedies for Fortune Fair and Foul"), a self-help book that stayed popular for centuries; Itinerarium ("Petrarch's Guide to the Holy Land"); criticisms of people like doctors, scholars, and the French; Carmen Bucolicum, a group of 12 pastoral poems; and the unfinished epic Africa. He also translated seven psalms, known as the Penitential Psalms.

Petrarch wrote many letters, some addressed to historical figures like Cicero and Virgil, who were his literary role models. Most of his Latin works are hard to find today, but some are available in English. Some of his Latin writings will soon be published by Harvard University Press. It is hard to know exact dates for his writings because he often revised them over his lifetime.

Petrarch organized his letters into four major collections. The first and fourth are available in English. He was inspired by Cicero’s letters to create his own. These letters were published without names to protect the people he wrote to, all of whom were close to him. Some of his letter recipients included Philippe de Cabassoles, a bishop; Ildebrandino Conti, a bishop; Cola di Rienzo, a leader in Rome; Francesco Nelli, a priest; and Niccolò di Capoccia, a cardinal. His "Letter to Posterity" (the last letter in Seniles) is an autobiography and summary of his life’s philosophy. It was written in Latin and finished in 1371 or 1372—the first autobiography in over 1,000 years since Saint Augustine.

After Petrarch stopped being a priest, he saw a woman named "Laura" in a church in 1327, which sparked a lasting love for her. This love is celebrated in Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. Laura may have been Laura de Noves, the wife of Count Hugues de Sade. Petrarch describes her as beautiful, with golden hair and a modest, dignified presence. Laura and Petrarch had little contact, and she refused his love because she was married. He wrote poems about his feelings and criticized men who pursued women. When Laura died in 1348, Petrarch said her loss was as painful as his earlier sadness. In his "Letter to Posterity," he wrote, "In my youth, I struggled with a pure but overwhelming love—my only one. If not for her early death, I might have struggled longer."

While some believe Laura might be a fictional character (since "Laura" sounds like "laurels," which Petrarch admired), Petrarch always said she was real. He often used the word aura ("breeze") in his poetry, such as in the line "Erano i capei d'oro a l'aura sparsi," which can mean both "her hair was scattered by the breeze" and "the breeze moved her hair." Petrarch’s descriptions of Laura show real emotions, though he used common ideas about love from medieval poetry. Her presence brought him joy, but his unreturned love caused deep inner conflict between his love for her and his religious beliefs. His search for love led to despair, as seen in his poem: "I find no peace, and yet I make no war: I fear, and hope; I burn, and I am ice."

Laura is described as distant and fleeting—her image is vivid but incomplete. Francesco de Sanctis praised the musical quality of Petrarch’s poetry in his History of Italian Literature. Gianfranco Contini, in an essay, described Petrarch’s use of language as "unilinguismo" (using one language, unlike Dante’s "plurilinguismo" or use of multiple languages).

Aura che quelle chiome bionde et crespe cercondi et movi, et se’ mossa da loro, soavemente, et spargi quel dolce oro, et poi ’l raccogli, e ’n bei nodi il rincrespe, tu stai nelli occhi ond’amorose vespe mi pungon sí, che ’nfin qua il sento et ploro, et vacillando cerco il mio tesoro, come animal che spesso adombre e ’ncespe: ch’or me ’l par ritrovar, et or m’accorgo ch’i’ ne son lunge, or mi sollievo or caggio, ch’or quel ch’i’ bramo, or quel ch’è vero scorgo. Aër felice, col bel vivo raggio rimanti; et tu corrente et chiaro gorgo, ché non poss’io cangiar teco vïaggio?

Breeze, blowing that blonde curling hair, stirring it, and being softly stirred in turn, scattering that sweet gold about, then gathering it, in a lovely knot of curls again, you linger around bright eyes whose loving sting pierces me so, till I feel it and weep, and I wander searching for my treasure, like a creature that often shies and kicks: now I seem to find her, now I realize she’s far away, now I’m comforted, now despair, now longing for her, now truly seeing her. Happy air, remain here with your living rays: and you, clear running stream, why can’t I exchange my path for yours?

Dante

Petrarch was very different from Dante and his work, Divina Commedia. Although Divina Commedia deals with spiritual themes, it is closely connected to the culture and society of Florence around the year 1300. Dante gained power in 1300 and was exiled in 1302. His political beliefs led him to use strong and varied language, ranging from simple to deeply philosophical. Petrarch once told Boccaccio he had never read Divina Commedia. Some scholars, like Contini, question whether this was true or if Petrarch wanted to avoid being linked to Dante. Dante’s writing style changed over time, moving from early poems about courtly love to more philosophical works, where Beatrice becomes a symbol of wisdom.

Petrarch’s ideas and writing style remained more consistent throughout his life. He spent much of his time revising poems in his collection, the Canzoniere, rather than exploring new topics. His poetry focused on personal sorrow, not on philosophy or politics like Dante’s. Petrarch struggled with inner conflicts, such as balancing sensuality with spirituality or secular and religious writing, rather than fighting external issues. Dante’s strong moral and political beliefs were tied to the Middle Ages and the independent city-states of the time. Petrarch’s avoidance of politics and his quiet, private life suggest a different era. The independent city-states that had made Dante a leader were being replaced by powerful families. While humanism and scientific study were growing, the church (especially after the Avignon period) and the empire (including Henry VII, who died near Siena in 1313) had lost much of their influence.

Petrarch refined the sonnet form, which was originally developed by Giacomo da Lentini and used by Dante in Vita Nuova to promote courtly love. His sonnets used three-line groups (tercets) inspired by Dante’s terza rima (as seen in Divina Commedia). His four-line groups (quatrains) used a rhyme pattern of ABBA–ABBA, unlike the Sicilian ABAB–ABAB style. Petrarch avoided certain rhymes, such as those between open and closed vowels, but kept others. His use of enjambment, where one line connects to the next, helped create longer, meaningful ideas. Of the 366 poems in Canzoniere, 317 were sonnets, and the structure of the Petrarchan sonnet is still named after him.

Philosophy

Petrarch is often called the father of humanism and is known as the "father of the Renaissance." In his work Secretum meum, he explained that achieving success in the world does not stop someone from having a true relationship with God. He believed that God gave humans the ability to think and create, and that these abilities should be used fully. Petrarch influenced humanist ideas, which helped lead to the great intellectual growth of the Renaissance. He valued the study of ancient history and literature, which includes learning about how people thought and acted in the past. Petrarch was a devout Catholic and did not believe there was a conflict between using human potential and having religious faith. However, some scholars later described him as someone who challenged the Pope's teachings.

Petrarch was deeply thoughtful and helped shape the early humanist movement. His writings explored personal struggles and ideas that were later accepted by Renaissance humanist thinkers and discussed for many years. For example, he questioned the balance between a life focused on action and one focused on reflection, often emphasizing the value of solitude and study. In 1346, Petrarch disagreed with Dante by arguing that Pope Celestine V’s decision to refuse the papacy in 1294 was a good example of a life lived in solitude. Later, Leonardo Bruni (1370–1444) promoted the idea of an active life, or "civic humanism." Because of this, many political, military, and religious leaders during the Renaissance believed that their personal goals should be based on examples from classical times and philosophical reflection.

Petrarchism

Petrarchism was a 16th-century literary movement inspired by the style of the Italian poet Petrarch. It was followed by writers from Italy, France, Spain, and England. These writers considered Petrarch’s collection of poems, Il Canzoniere, to be an important text. Some of the most well-known followers, listed in order of importance, include Pietro Bembo, Michelangelo, Mellin de Saint-Gelais, Vittoria Colonna, Clément Marot, Garcilaso de la Vega, Giovanni della Casa, Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Joachim du Bellay, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, and Bálint Balassi. In Bembo’s book Prose of the Vernacular Tongue (1525), Petrarch is described as the example to follow for writing poetry.

Legacy

Petrarch's influence is seen in the works of Serafino Ciminelli from Aquila (1466–1500) and in the works of Marin Držić (1508–1567) from Dubrovnik.

The Romantic composer Franz Liszt created musical versions of three of Petrarch's Sonnets (47, 104, and 123) for voice, titled Tre sonetti del Petrarca. He later rewrote these pieces for solo piano, including them in the suite Années de Pèlerinage. Liszt also composed a piece based on a poem by Victor Hugo titled "Oh! quand je dors," which mentions Petrarch and Laura as an example of romantic love.

In 1991, while in Avignon, Modernist composer Elliott Carter finished a solo flute piece called Scrivo in Vento. This work was partly inspired by and structured using Petrarch's Sonnet 212, Beato in sogno. It was first performed on Petrarch's 687th birthday. In 2004, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho created a short piece for solo piccolo flute titled Dolce tormento. In this piece, the flutist whispers parts of Petrarch's Sonnet 132 into the instrument.

In November 2003, scientists announced plans to dig up Petrarch's body from his tomb in Arquà Petrarca to confirm 19th-century reports that he was 1.83 meters tall (about six feet), which would have been unusual for his time. Researchers from the University of Padua also wanted to rebuild his skull to create a computer image of his face for his 700th birthday. The tomb had been opened before in 1873 by Professor Giovanni Canestrini of Padua University. When the tomb was opened, the skull was found in pieces, and a DNA test showed the skull did not belong to Petrarch. This led to calls for the return of Petrarch's skull.

Scientists believe the body in the tomb is Petrarch's because the skeleton shows signs of injuries he wrote about in his writings, including a kick from a donkey when he was 42.

Petrarch is known as the first and most famous enthusiast of numismatics, the study of coins. He wrote about visiting Rome and asking peasants to bring him ancient coins they found in the soil, which he would buy. He also described his joy at being able to recognize the names and faces of Roman emperors on the coins.