Petrarch 1

1. Francesco Petrarch was born in 1304 in Arezzo, Italy, to exiled nobles. He was a devout Catholic throughout his life. Petrarch spent early childhood near Florence and then much of his early life in Avignon. His father, a lawyer, insisted that Petrarch also study law, so from 1316-1320 he attended Montpellier and from 1320-1323 he attended Bologna. However, Petrarch was entirely uninterested in law, instead preferring writing and literature. In fact, his fervor for writing was so great that he felt he could not relate to anyone else, so he wrote letters to Cicero, who had died over 1200 years prior. Petrarch's life took a turn when he met Laura in church in Avignon following law school. He began writing sonnets addressing his love for her, and the sonnets gained an immediate following. Petrarch's work became very popular, and he was a celebrity of sorts in his time. He was declared poet laureate in Rome and spent much of his later life traveling at his leisure. Petrarch settled down near the end of his life in Padua, and he died soon after. He eventually became known as one of the first Renaissance humanists, as well as an extremely successful poet and scholar.


2. It is rumored that Petrarch wrote most of his sonnets and all of the Canzoniere for Laura de Noves. Scholars believe that Laura was the love of Petrarch's life, but that she was married before he met her. It is uncertain whether she knew of his love, or whether she was oblivious, but Petrarch perfected his sonnet in her honor and pined for her for many years. Other scholars believe that Laura is a fictitious character, invented solely for his works. EIther way, the Canzoniere, also known as Rime sparse, was written in her honor. The vast majority of the pieces of the Rime sparse are in sonnet form, but there are also canzoni, madrigal, sestine, and ballate as well. The poems were written over a time period spanning forty years, and are now often recognized as the most influential love poems of the Renaissance era. The central theme of the Canzoniere is Petrarch's admiration of Laura; however, there are other themes as well. Faith and religion are questioned throughout, and the paradox of Petrarchan love makes a steady appearance. This paradox is the issue of love being both painful and highly desirable. The passage of time, man's changing of mind, desire, isolation, the vanity of youth, glory, and antithesis are also central themes and issues throughout the poetry. It can be said that Petrarch's desire for Laura is a theme leading to a string of major themes: his love leads him to strive for glory, which he believes can fight time and its destruction. However, based on Christian theology, even glory cannot fight time and guarantee eternity, because only faith in salvation can. Petrarch is believed to have based parts of the Rime sparse on the Metamorphoses of Ovid and Virgil's Aeneid. He also borrowed structure and rhetoric from Sicilian court poetry, especially Giacomo de Lentini.