PETRARCA: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Petrarca (1304-1374) was a recognized humanist, belonging to the intellectual and philosophical movement of Renaissance Europe in the fourteenth century. He also excelled in poetry, becoming the greatest influence on later writers such as Garcilaso de la Vega and Shakespeare.

The greatest legacy of this author is his work El Cancionero, whose lyrical or expressive content made him the most successful reference of poetry in and out of his time. In the same way, with his epic poem Africa he managed to position himself as far as Latin writers are concerned.

Petrarch. Source: By UnknownUnknown author (Lombardia Beni Culturali), via Wikimedia Commons

During his life he devoted himself to shaping the ideas of the Greeks and Latins, and unifying them through the doctrine of Christianity.

He strove to make Italy, his native land, once again as magnanimous as in the time of the Roman Empire. In addition, he was always convinced to provide an education opposed to the little innovative ideas that certain schools of the time had.

Biography

Francesco Petrarca was born in the city of Arezzo (Italy), in the year 1304. He was the son of a renowned lawyer from Florence named Prieto, and of Eletta Canigiani.

Petrarca spent part of his childhood in different cities due to his father's exile, for being related to Dante Alighieri, who in turn was against the policies of the Holy Roman Empire.

A life everywhere

In the year 1312, after having lived in Marseille and Pisa, he arrived in Avignon. It is in this city where his first caresses began with humanism, and also with passion, as it was the time when he met his unrequited love: Laura, the muse of many of his writings, and of whom little is known.

By the year 1316 he began his law studies in Montpellier, until he moved to the University of Bologna where he opened himself up to the knowledge of literature, especially the traditional Latin one, inclined towards that of the notable Roman writer Marco Tulio Cicero.

He abandoned his studies in 1326 when his father died. Once he left the law degree, he devoted himself to his greatest passion: literature. Around the same time, Bishop Giacomo Colonna, a friend of his belonging to a noble Italian family, entered the world of politics.

Petrarca's position was that of a diplomat in the house of Giovanni Colonna, a man well known for his high position as a cardinal within the Roman ecclesiastical management. During this stage of his life he dedicated himself to writing, studying Latin, reading the greatest writers, and traveling through Germany and France.

A life inside the Roman church

His stay within the Roman church allowed Petrarch to get closer to books and texts. He received as a gift the Confessions of Saint Augustine of Hippo, a theologian considered a forerunner of the Latin church, from which he later developed many of his thoughts and writings.

From the contact with the work of San Agustín a process of doubts began in the existence of Petrarca.

He struggled throughout his life between earthly passions and spiritual ordinances. It was a matter that accompanied him all his way in these lands, so much so that it was reflected in many of his works.

Victories and deserts of Petrarch

Petrarch's life was full of loneliness and reward. Although Laura never had a correspondence, he had other loves from which two children were born: Giovanni and Francesca. There is no greater knowledge of their mothers either.

Fresco of Petrarca and Laura. Source: By Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose from Montreal, Canada (Retreat, Arquà Petrarca), via Wikimedia Commons

Although his children were one of his greatest victories, the bad news also reached his life. In 1346 his beloved Laura died, because of the plague that destroyed Italy. She inspired him to write some love sonnets, divided into two parts: "Before and after Laura's death."

However, not everything was bad for Petrarca, even though he was not a famous writer, he was awarded at the Roman capitol for his poetic work. At that time he was writing the 66 letters called Epistolae Metricae and his famous composition in Africa verses.

Many scholars of his works find it difficult to establish a chronological order for his works, due to the many corrections and editions that were given later. But it is known that they were based on love and lack of love, and their existential conflict over religion and profane actions.

The constant situation in which the poet found himself led him to write De Vita Solitaria in 1346. In this writing, he stated that man could find peace in prayer and meditation, as well as in nature and by behaving well.

Francesco Petrarca died in Arquá, a community in the province of Padua, Italy, on July 19, 1374. His last days were spent in a villa that he acquired during his services to the church.

Plays

The works of Francesco Petrarca are divided into two parts: those written in Latin, and those written in vulgar or colloquial language. With his works in Latin the poet aspired to achieve his maximum recognition, by virtue of which they were the ones that gave him the most success.

Petrarch manuscript. Source: By Manu Matthaei domini Herculani de Vulterris; Francesco Petrarca, via Wikimedia Commons

About 24 books are known to Petrarch, published in the form of epistles or letters. The writing of these letters was made after reading the works of greats such as Cicero and Seneca. Also featured are his famous Songbook written in rhymes, as well as many works in prose.

Song book

This work was called at first as Fragment of Things in Vulgar, written, as its name implies, in vulgar language. In it Petrarca expresses his feelings for his already mentioned maiden. It is narrated in the first person.

The Songbook, which was later called the Petraquista Songbook, was made up of some three hundred sonnets and poems. Although he describes in them his love affair with Laura, it is no less true that he narrates his spiritual experience. In this work, his muse becomes an angel and communicates with God so that he gives them permission to live his love from morality.

Petrarca worked on this composition for many years, dedicating so much to it that even with Laura's death it had not been completed. This allowed him to include his regret for the loss of his love. The work also contains some poems that deal with politics, friendship, morality and even patriotism.

It is important to note that the perfect writing of the sonnets and the majesty of the hendecasyllables influenced the growth period of the literary era in Spain. The writing was published for the first time in 1470, in the city of Venice, by Vindelino da Spira, a renowned publisher of the time.

Fragment of the Sonnet to his muse Laura:

"Whoever keeps me in prison neither opens nor closes, neither holds me nor looses the snare;

and it does not kill me love or undo me, it neither loves me nor does it take away my pregnancy ”.

Africa

This work is counted within the Latin writings of Petrarch, composed in hexameter, a metric widely used in classical writings. Here the poet describes the efforts of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africano, a Roman conqueror who excelled in politics and military strategies of the time.

By Vita Solitaria

It enters within the prose writings of Petrarca, he made it between the years 1346 and 1356; This document collects aspects of moral and religious issues. Its main objective is the attainment of moral and spiritual perfection, but it does not pose it from the point of view of religiosity.

On the other hand, he leans towards meditation and life alone as a reflective act. At the same time it is oriented to study, reading and writing as an approach to favor the concentration process; from this part freedom as individuals and the essence of happiness proposed by Francesco Petrarca.

Secretum

It is a work written in prose, dated in the years 1347 and 1353. It consists of a fictitious conversation between Petrarca and Saint Augustine, before the figure of truth who remains as an observer. Its name is given because it touches on personal issues of the writer, and at first it was not to be published.

The secret is made up of three books. In the first, Saint Augustine tells the poet the steps he must follow in order to achieve peace of mind. While in the second there is an analysis of the negative attitudes of Francesco Petrarca, which confronts him.

In the third book an in-depth review is made of the two great dreams of the Italian writer, which are passion and glory for his beloved Laura, which he considers his two greatest faults. Although he opens his mind to the explanations of Saint Augustine, he does not have the strength to put a stop to his desires.

Summary of letters or epistolary collections

They are one of those many works by Petrarca that cannot be left out due to their relevance from the autobiographical point of view, because they contain many data on the life of the writer. They were conceived in the Latin language, and grouped by dates.

In this work the author was seen as a perfect and magnificent person. They were examined for later publication, and in many cases rewritten. Of these letters stand out those entitled "Family" "Seniles" and "Sine Nomine Liber".

Remediis Utriusque Fortunae

The translation of the title in Latin to Spanish would come to be something like Remedies for the extremes of fortune. Petrarca wrote it between 1360 and 1366, in prose style and in Latin. They are a series of talks within 254 scenes, which in turn are interpreted by allegorical figures. Education and morality is his teaching.

De Viris Illustribus ("Men")

Petrarca began to write this work in prose in 1337. It is based on a series of biographies. At first it narrated the life of the representative of the province of Padua, known as Francesco da Carrara. The first idea was to expose the existence of the men who managed to make history in Rome.

He began by recounting the life of Romulus, considered the founder of Rome, in order to reach Titus. However, it only reached Nero, who was the last sovereign of the well-known Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Later Petrarca added outstanding personages of all the history of the humanity. It began with Adam, until reaching the son of Jupiter in Greek mythology, the great Hercules. Men, his translation into Spanish, could not be completed by Petrarca, but scholars indicate that a friend of his did.

Posteriati

This work by Petrarca, also written in prose, was taken by the author himself from the compilation "Seniles", which in turn was part of the collections of letters that he wrote as part of his autobiographical repertoire.

The main content of this writing was humanistic in nature. He was referring to the qualities that the future society should have to re-align itself with certain aspects that it had lost, especially those related to the classic conventions of citizenship and the permanence of Latin as a language.

Other

Finally, the set of works by Francesco Petrarca goes through several categories, if that is what you want to call it. There are his Latin works, in which Petrarca del Centanario can be mentioned, along with those written in verse, such as Carmina Varia, a variety of poems written in different places.

On the other hand, within the prose writings of this author, in addition to those already mentioned in previous lines, the anecdotal and historical selections gathered in the Rerum Memorandarum Libri, in Castilian understood as Book on the value of things, stood out.

Within the previous category also enters De Otio Religioso, whose elaboration took place in ten years, specifically from 1346 to 1356. In this work the author exposes the lifestyle that is lived within the monasteries, and the importance of experiencing a life quiet through serenity and peace.

References

1. Petrarch. (2018). (Spain): Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org
2. Petrarch, Francesco. (S. f.). (N / a): mcnbiographies. Recovered from: mcnbiogramas.com
3. Mico, J. (2013). Life and Work of Francesco Petrarca. (N / a): e-consultation. Recovered from: file.econsulta.com
4. Francesco Petrarca. (S. f.). (N / a): Universal History. Recovered from: mihistoriauniversal.com
5. Francesco Petrarca. (2004-2018). (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com