Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)

By Hedyeh T

Francesco Petrarch. Who was he and what did he do, you may ask? As a child Francesco was set apart…not just because of his exiled parents but his need and love to read and write. While others found this quite tedious Francesco found enjoyment. Dear Francesco was born on July 20^th, 1304 and died on July 19^th, 1374. He was an Italian poet, a father, a grandfather, an admirer and a loving older brother. His writing was thought to shake the Dark Ages and bring out the beginning of humanism.

Francesco was born in the little town of Arezzo. He was the first of two sons from the exiled nobles, Eletta Canigiani and Pietro di Parenzo di Garzo. He lived with his parents until he was fourteen in 1316 when he and his younger brother, Gherardo, went to study at Montpellier. Three years later in 1319 his mother died from an unknown cause. A year later in 1320 he left his brother and headed to Bologna to study the ways of law. He enjoyed the theory of law but had a hard time getting along with his classmates because he disliked their dishonesty when practicing law. This is another way he was set apart from most people. Sadly, in 1326 his father died causing him to stop studying law. Instead Francesco restudies classic literature that he studied when he was younger. Revisiting his favorite authors such as, Cicero, made him want to own and share these books with his dear friends. He began to collect old Roman and Greek books. He also asked his friends to help him to collect in order to make a library for reader such as himself. Because of his wonderful father’s death Sir Petrarch spent more and more of his at the church mourning and praying. Finally he decided that he should volunteer at his peaceful church.

Days became weeks and weeks became a year. When one day on April 6^th, 1347, a Good Friday on the old calendars, he meet someone special. It was the time of the Easter Sermon when he met this person and shared a few laughs. Her name was Laura de Noves. She was married to a man named Hugues II de Sade, so their love was forbidden. He was heartbroken and sadly never managed to let her go. It turns out there is very little proof Laura de Noves existed. She may have or she may not been real. There is not enough proof to claim her fictional or fact. Fact or fiction, it was quite obvious that Petrarch loved Laura very much. He wrote poems and letters about her hoping that they could be together.

Sir Petrarch’s remedy for his loves death was to travel once again. This time he stayed longer than excepted in Flanders, Brabant and Rome in 1337. Also in 1337 his first son, Giovanni, was born. The mother was unknown and many thought Petrarch should have treated her better. Petrarch portrays him as, “Intelligent, perhaps even exceptionally intelligent, but he hates books". Giovanni stays with Petrarch until he is twenty years old in 1357 when he goes to study in Avignon school. His only son dies in 1361 from the plague.

In 1340 Petrarch receives two invitations to be crowned poet laureate in either Rome or Paris. He chose Rome and on April 8^th, 1341 he was crowned poet laureate with a laurel wreath by a Roman noble named Orso dell'Anguillara. He always wore the wreath to show his greatness.

In 1343 Petrarch had a daughter named Francesca. The mother was anonymous and some believe she died early in her life. Francesca has two children in 1362, Eletta and Francesco. Francesco was cherished by Petrarch until his death in 1368 the plague. Also in 1343 his brother becomes a monk and this causes Petrarch to question his own faith as he begins to write Secretum. Secretum means “secret book” or “my secret book” and is an imaginary talk between Petrarch and St. Augustine. Petrarch would write/read in this book during hardships as a remedy. Books seemed to be the best therapy for his hardships. Petrarch blissfully found a few books to add to his library in 1345. Each of these books was about one thousand years old at the time and each written by his favorite author, Cicero. Cicero was the greatest influence on Petrarch writings. Petrarch studied his books when finally he wrote letters called the Familiares. Familiares means familiar letters and was written in 24 books from 1325-1366. A few years late the books were destroyed as he started his next letters called Seniles (letter of the elders). The Seniles were letter to Kings, Queens, cardinals, bishops and even ghosts. The Seniles was made of 128 letters on 18 books written from 1361-1373. After finishing Seniles in Italy he decided to stay there and this time permanently. He would also serve for the rest of his life under the government and serve to church voluntarily. Church serves calmed his mind and was thought to make him closer to his faith. In 1373 he had finally finished his collection of books and opened a public library for readers like himself.

Our Italian poet deceased on July 19^th, 1374, a day before his 70^th birthday, and was found by his daughter, Francesca, with a pen in his hand while writing his finale poem for Laura. Some believe he might have died from a fractured skull when he was kicked in a head by a donkey in 1346 or that he died of old age. He departed this life in Arquà on the Euganean Hills. Petrarch lived during the time of the Bubonic Plague and lost almost everyone including beloved Laura de Noves. Petrarch was one of the first humanists and became known as the “ Father of Humanism” He was thought to have caused the renewal of poetry as never before. His influence on history was so grand that his sonnets influenced even William Shakespeare possibly assisting him in writing Romeo & Juliet or Hamlet. In 1368 the lords of Padua apprehended his grand library and his books are now spread throughout Europe. He was buried in Perish Church but then was moved six years later to a tomb built by his son-in-law.

Sources/More Info

Frey, Wendy. History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond. Palo Alto, California 94303, Teacher’s Curriculum Institute.

Kindersley, Dorling. Laurel Wreath: Image. http://www.dkimages.com/discover/. 08/26/07previews/1009/50204823.JPG

Luare_12: Image. http://mail.tku.edu.tw/kiss7445/KissHomePage/Literature-Arts/laure_12.jpg. 08/26/07

Petrarca: Image. http://trionfi.com/0/t/p/petrarca.jpg. 08/26/07

Saldon, Peter. Family Tree. http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/tree.html. 08/26/07

Saldon, Peter. Francesco Petrarch: Biography. http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/bio.html.">http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/bio.html. 08/25/07.

Wikipedia Users. Petrarch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch. 08/25/07