Petrarch

Francesco Petrarch
Portrait by Altichiero, c. 1370–1380
Portrait by Altichiero, c. 1370–1380
BornFrancesco Petracco
(1304-07-20)20 July 1304
Comune of Arezzo
Died19 July 1374(1374-07-19) (aged 69)
Arquà, Padua
Resting placeArquà Petrarca
Occupation
Language
NationalityAretine
Education
PeriodEarly Renaissance
Genres
Subjects
  • Beautiful lady
  • other
Literary movement
Notable works
Notable awardsPoet laureate of Rome, 1341
ChildrenGiovanni (1337–1361)
Francesca (born in 1343)
ParentsSer Petracco (father)
Eletta Canigiani (mother)
RelativesGherardo Petracco (brother)
Giovanni Boccaccio (friend)
Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo
La Casa del Petrarca (birthplace) at Vicolo dell'Orto, 28 in Arezzo

Francesco Petrarca (Italian: [franˈtʃesko peˈtrarka]; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (/ˈptrɑːrk, ˈpɛt-/), was a scholar and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, and one of the earliest humanists.[1]

Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the 14th-century Italian Renaissance and the founding of Renaissance humanism.[2] In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio, and, to a lesser extent, Dante Alighieri.[3] Petrarch was later endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca.

Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages".[4]

  1. ^ Rico, Francisco; Marcozzi, Luca (2015). "Petrarca, Francesco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 82. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.
  2. ^ This designation appears, for instance, in a recent review of Carol Quillen's Rereading the Renaissance.
  3. ^ In the Prose della volgar lingua, Bembo proposes Petrarch and Boccaccio as models of Italian style, while expressing reservations about emulating Dante's usage.
  4. ^ Renaissance or Prenaissance, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 4, No. 1. (Jan. 1943), pp. 69–74; Theodore E. Mommsen, "Petrarch's Conception of the 'Dark Ages'" Speculum 17.2 (April 1942: 226–242); JSTOR link to a collection of several letters in the same issue.