Francis Petrarch | |
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 Portrait by Altichiero, c. 1370–1380 | |
| Born | Francesco di Petracco 20 July 1304 Comune of Arezzo |
| Died | 19 July 1374 (aged 69) Arquà, Padua |
| Resting place | Arquà Petrarca |
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| Nationality | Aretine |
| Education | |
| Period | Early Renaissance |
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| Notable works | |
| Notable awards | Poet laureate of Rome, 1341 |
| Children | Giovanni (1337–1361) Francesca (born in 1343) |
| Parents | Ser Petracco (father) Eletta Canigiani (mother) |
| Relatives | Gherardo Petracco (brother) Giovanni Boccaccio (friend) |
Francis Petrarch (/ˈpɛtrɑːrk, ˈpiːt-/; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; Latin: Franciscus Petrarcha; modern Italian: Francesco Petrarca [franˈtʃesko peˈtrarka]), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo 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]
- ^ Rico, Francisco; Marcozzi, Luca (2015). "Petrarca, Francesco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 82. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.
- ^ This designation appears, for instance, in a recent review of Carol Quillen's Rereading the Renaissance.
- ^ In the Prose della volgar lingua, Bembo proposes Petrarch and Boccaccio as models of Italian style, while expressing reservations about emulating Dante's usage.
- ^ 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.