Who is petrarch and what was he noted for

Upon his return he stopped at Parma, hoping to settle at Selvapiana. There, in the cathedral library, he discovered the first 16 books of Cicero's letters to Atticus and his letters to Quintus and Brutus.

Petrarch personally transcribed them, and these letters of Cicero stimulated Petrarch to plan a formal collection of his own letters. From to Petrarch lived at Vaucluse and undertook his De vita solitaria and the Bucolicum carmen the latter a collection of 12 Latin eclogues.

Early in a visit to Gherardo's monastery inspired Petrarch to write his De otio religioso. In May of that year an event occurred in Rome that aroused his greatest enthusiasm. Cola di Rienzi, who shared Petrarch's fervent desire for the rebirth of Rome, gained control of the Roman government through a successful revolution. Petrarch encouraged Cola with his pen, exhorting him to persevere in his task of restoring Rome to its universal political and cultural missions. Petrarch then started out for Rome.

But Cola's dictatorial acts soon brought down upon himself the hostility of the Pope and the antagonism of the Roman nobles. News of Cola's downfall, before the year was over, prompted Petrarch to write his famous letter of reproach Familiares VII, 7 , which tells of his bitter disillusionment. Rather than proceed to Rome, Petrarch remained in Parma, where in May news of Laura's death reached him.

The Black Death deprived Petrarch of several of his close friends that year, among them Cardinal Colonna. His grief is reflected in the poems he then wrote to Laura and in his letters of this period, one of the most desolate letters being addressed to himself Ad se ipsum.

Three eclogues and the Triumphus mortis following the Triumph of Love and the Triumph of Chastity were also inspired by the pestilence. Because of the losses Petrarch had suffered, a period of his life seemed to have ended. In he began to make the formal collection of his Latin prose letters called Familiares.

Since was a Year of Jubilee, Petrarch also made a pilgrimage to Rome. On his way he stopped in Florence, where he made new friends, among whom was Giovanni Boccaccio. After a brief stay in Rome, Petrarch returned northward and arrived in Parma in January In the meantime, Pope Clement VI was soliciting Petrarch's return to Avignon, and Florence sent Boccaccio with a letter of invitation promising Petrarch a professorship at the university and the restitution of his father's property.

Petrarch chose Provence, where he hoped to complete some of his major works. He arrived in Vaucluse in June , accompanied by his son. In Avignon that August he refused a papal secretaryship and a bishopric offered to him. Petrarch was impatient to leave the papal "Babylon" and wrote a series of violent letters against the Curia Epistolae sine nomine.

In the spring of , Petrarch returned to Vaucluse, resolved to leave Provence. Petrarch wrote about Laura—whose true identity has never been verified — for most of his life, even after she died during the Black Death of When he collected of his vernacular poems in his Rerum vulgarium fragment — also known as Rime Sparse "Scattered Rhymes" and as Petrarch's canzoniere "Petrarch's songbook" — his love for Laura was one of the main themes.

The collection also contains sonnets; Petrarch was an early practitioner of the form and helped to popularize it. After retiring to work in his study on July 18, , Petrarch died during the night. His body was discovered the following morning. As one of the world's first classical scholars, Petrarch unearthed vast stores of knowledge in the lost texts he discovered, while his philosophy of humanism helped foment the intellectual growth and accomplishments of the Renaissance.

Petrarch's legacy also includes his poems, sonnets and other writing. His vernacular writing was immortalized when it was used — alongside the works of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio — as the foundation for the modern Italian language. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Follow Us. Find Poets. Poetry Near You. Jobs for Poets. Read Stanza. Privacy Policy. Press Center.

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