History Creator / Petrarch

-->-- '''Letter to Posterity'''

Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), known as Petrarch, was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance. Born in Arezzo, when his father (a contemporary of [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]]) was exiled from Florence, he was to grow up near the Papal Court at Avignon. In minor clerical orders, though never fulfilling any priestly duties, he spent most of his adult life travelling between Avignon and various towns in Italy, either working as an envoy for various powers, or as an independent scholar, searching libraries for forgotten books.

Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), known as Petrarch, was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance. Born in Arezzo, when his father (a contemporary of [[Creator/Dante Alighieri Dante]]) was exiled from Florence, he was to grow up near the Papal Court at Avignon. In minor clerical orders, though never fulfilling any priestly duties, he spent most of his adult life travelling between Avignon and various towns in Italy, either working as an envoy for various powers, or as an independent scholar, searching libraries for forgotten books.

Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), known as Petrarch, was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance. Born in Arezzo, when his father (a contemporary of Dante) was exiled from Florence, he was to grow up near the Papal Court at Avignon. In minor clerical orders, though never fulfilling any priestly duties, he spent most of his adult life travelling between Avignon and various towns in Italy, either working as an envoy for various powers, or as an independent scholar, searching libraries for forgotten books.

* ''Secretum'' (1347-53) - A dialogue between [[AuthorAvatar 'Franciscus']] and St Augustine on whether he should focus on secular or religious pursuits. [[spoiler:He goes with secular.]]

* ''Guide to the Holy Land'' - a travel guide to the sights of Jerusalem. Petrarch wrote it having never been there.

* ''Africa'' - An epic poem in Latin hexameters about the [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Second Punic War]], equivalent to Literature/TheAeneid. Petrarch based his reputation as a poet on it ... although it was never published during his lifetime, and, when it finally was, it was considered [[MagnumOpusDissonance disappointing]]. Unfinished.

* ''Secretum'' (1347-53) - A dialogue between [[AuthorAvatar 'Franciscus']] and St Augustine on whether he should focus on secular or religious pursuits. [[spoiler: He goes with secular.]]

* ''Africa'' - An epic poem in Latin hexameters about the [[UsefulNotes/PunicWars Second Punic War]], which Petrarch intended as his MagnumOpus, equivalent to Literature/TheAeneid. Petrarch based his reputation as a poet on it ... although it was never published during his lifetime, and, when it finally was, it was [[HypeBacklash considered]] [[MagnumOpusDissonance disappointing]]. Unfinished.

Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), known as Petrarch, was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) TheRenaissance. Born in Arezzo, when his father (a contemporary of Dante) was exiled from Florence, he was to grow up near the Papal Court at Avignon. In minor clerical orders, though never fulfilling any priestly duties, he spent most of his adult life travelling between Avignon and various towns in Italy, either working as an envoy for various powers, or as an independent scholar, searching libraries for forgotten books.

* ''Africa'' - An epic poem in Latin hexameters about the [[PunicWars Second Punic War]], which Petrarch intended as his MagnumOpus, equivalent to Literature/TheAeneid. Petrarch based his reputation as a poet on it ... although it was never published during his lifetime, and, when it finally was, it was [[HypeBacklash considered]] [[MagnumOpusDissonance disappointing]]. Unfinished.

'''Francesco Petrarca''' (1304-1374), known as '''Petrarch''', was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) TheRenaissance. Born in Arezzo, when his father (a contemporary of Dante) was exiled from Florence, he was to grow up near the Papal Court at Avignon. In minor clerical orders, though never fulfilling any priestly duties, he spent most of his adult life travelling between Avignon and various towns in Italy, either working as an envoy for various powers, or as an independent scholar, searching libraries for forgotten books.

* ''Africa'' - An epic poem in Latin hexameters about the [[PunicWars Second Punic War]], which Petrarch intended as his MagnumOpus, equivalent to TheAeneid. Petrarch based his reputation as a poet on it ... although it was never published during his lifetime, and, when it finally was, it was [[HypeBacklash considered]] [[MagnumOpusDissonance disappointing]]. Unfinished.

* ''De viris illustribus'' - biographies of famous men (1338-50s). Unfinished. [[DistaffCounterpart Prompted]] {{Boccaccio}}'s ''De mulieribus claris'' - biographies of famous women.

'''Francesco Petrarca''' (1304-1374), known as '''Petrarch''', was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) the {{Renaissance}}. Born in Arezzo, when his father (a contemporary of Dante) was exiled from Florence, he was to grow up near the Papal Court at Avignon. In minor clerical orders, though never fulfilling any priestly duties, he spent most of his adult life travelling between Avignon and various towns in Italy, either working as an envoy for various powers, or as an independent scholar, searching libraries for forgotten books.

'''Francesco Petrarca''' (1304-1374), known as '''Petrarch''', was an Italian [[RenaissanceMan poet, scholar, diplomat, and moral philosopher]] famous for his CourtlyLove poems, and for inventing Humanism, thus starting (in his own view) the {{Renaissance}}.

Petrarch devoted his life to the revival of classical learning and style, criticising the methods of the then-dominant scholastic philosophers of the medieval universities. Petrarch spent a large proportion of his time finding, and making copies of, previously lost or unknown classical works. Through this, Petrarch hoped to bring back the lost culture of the classical world, particularly that of the Romans. Ironically, though Petrarch was very insistent on the superiority of Latin to vernacular languages, his Latin works are now very little read, and his Italian writings form the basis for the modern Italian language.