Petrarch (1304-1374), Father of Petrarchan Sonnet

 

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Francesco Petrarca, known in English as Petrarch, was born in Arezzo in central Italy, but he was raised near the papal court in Avignon, France. Bowing to family pressure, Petrarch studied law in France and Italy until his father’s death in 1326. Then he moved to the household of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna until 1337, writing and participating in the fashionable lifestyle of the city of Avignon.

On Easter 1341, Petrarch was crowned poet laureate of Rome. The huge ceremony was said to be the first celebration of its size in more than 1000 years. The magnitude of the event illustrates the monumental status of Petrarch, who is known as both the founder of modern humanism and one of the world’s greatest love poets.

Petrarch, along with his friend Giovanni Boccaccio played a key role in the Renaissance revival of ancient Greek and Roman literature. Petrarch was an authority on classical authors and used their writing styles and philosophical insights in many of his own writings. Petrarch was also famous for his sonnets, many of which focus on a mysterious woman named Laura.

Petrarch is credited with founding humanism, a movement that sought to dignify people by focusing on their earthly achievement. In his writing, however, he often blends the sacred and the secular. One work the embodies this effort is De Viris illustrious, a collection of biographies of famous men from the Old Testament through Roman and Christian history. Another piece – Secretummeum – reflects Petrarch’s personal struggle with spirituality and earthly experiences. It concludes that a spiritual life is still possible even among the distractions of the world.

As Petrarch grew more committed to his faith, he drew back from his preoccupation with Laura, viewing it as a symptom of earthly attachment. Petrarch grew to love solitude and nature, living for many years in the isolation of France’s Vaucluse region. De vita solitaria (1346), describes the value of a solitary life. Throughout his diverse works, Petrarch powerfully combines a love of the ancient world with a yearning for inner peace.

The Renaissance and Humanism?

Humanist authors of the Renaissance put pleasures and pains of everyday life at the center of their works. They also painstakingly studied the style and ideas of classical authors. Petrarch’s love sonnets embody these developments.

Sonnets?

A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter. Each line has five metric units consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Sonnets have fixed rhyme scheme and a two-part structure. Since Petrarch popularized the sonnet in 1300s, many poets have used the form.

You may read about the Petrarchan Sonnet here.  

Response to Love?

The speaker in a sonnet frequently conveys a distinct attitude toward love. Petrarch’s sonnets feature a male speaker who loves an idealized, unattainable woman.

Petrarch passed away just before his 70th birthday, in Arquà (near Padua), Carrara, which is now part of Italy. After retiring to work in his study on July 18, 1374, Petrarch died during the night. His body was discovered the following morning.

 

Sources: Glencoe’s book of World Literature, https://www.biography.com/scholars-educators/petrarch