The whole world knows the great Italian sonnets. Francesco Petrarch, their author, a beautiful Italian poet and humanist of the XIV century, has been famous for centuries for his work. It is about him that will be discussed in this article. We will talk about the life, work and love story of Petrarch.
Francesco Petrarch: biography
The great poet was born in Arezzo (Italy) in 1304, July 20. His father, Pietro di Ser Parenzo, nicknamed Petracco, was a Florentine notary. However, he was expelled from Florence even before the birth of his son for supporting the party of “whites”. Dante suffered the same persecution. However, Arezzo's journey of the Petrarch family did not end. The poet's parents wandered around the cities of Tuscany until they decided to go to Avignon. By then, Francesco was nine years old.
Training
In France, there were already schools in those years, and Francesco Petrarch entered one of them. The poet’s biography confirms that during his studies he mastered the Latin language and gained a love of Roman literature. Petrarch graduated in 1319 and, at the insistence of his father, set about studying law. To do this, he went to Montpellier, and then to the University of Bologna, where he stayed until 1326 - at that time his father died. However, jurisprudence did not interest Francesco at all. He was attracted to a completely different area - classical literature.
And after graduating from university, the future poet, instead of going to lawyers, went to the priests. This was caused by a lack of funds - he inherited from his father a manuscript of the works of Virgil.
Papal court
Francesco Petrarch (whose biography is presented here) settles in Avignon at the court of the pope and takes priesthood. Here he draws close to the powerful Colonna family thanks to university friendship with one of its members Giacomo.
In 1327, Petrarch first saw his future beloved Laura, who will remain his muse for life. Feelings for a girl became one of a number of reasons for the removal of the poet to Vaucluse from Avignon.
Petrarch is considered the first to climb the summit of Mont Ventoux. The climb took place on April 26, 1336. He traveled with his brother.
The literary fame and patronage of the Colonna family helped Petrarch acquire a house in the Sorgi River Valley. Here, the poet lived a total of 16 years.
Laurel wreath
Meanwhile, thanks to his literary works (sonnets are especially worth noting), Francesco Petrarch became famous. In this regard, he received an invitation to receive a laurel wreath (the highest award for the poet) from Naples, Paris and Rome. The poet elected Rome, and in 1341 was crowned on the Capitol.
After that, Francesco lived for about a year at the court of the Parma tyrant, Azzo Correggio, and then returned to Vaucluse. All this time, the poet dreamed of a revival of former Roman greatness, so he began to preach the uprising of the Roman Republic. Such political views destroyed his friendship with Colonna, which led to the relocation to Italy.
New Pope Innocent VI
The life of Francesco Petrarch from the moment of birth to almost until his death was full of travel and travel. So, in 1344 and in 1347. the poet made long trips around Italy, which brought him many acquaintances, most of which ended in friendship. Among these Italian friends was Boccaccio.
In 1353, Francesco Petrarch was forced to leave Vaucluse. The poet’s books and his enthusiasm for Virgil provoked the unfavorable attitude of the new Pope Innocent VI.
Nevertheless, Petrarch was offered a chair in Florence, which the poet, however, refused. He preferred to go to Milan, where he took a seat at the court of Visconti, performing diplomatic missions. At this time, he even visited Charles IV in Prague.
Death of poet
The year 1361 was marked for Petrarch by an attempt to return to Avignon, which was unsuccessful. Then the poet left Milan and in 1362 settled in Venice. Here lived his illegitimate daughter with her family.
Petrarch traveled from Venice almost every year to Italy to travel. The last years of his life, the poet lived in the court of Francesco da Carrara. Petrarch died in the village of Arkva on the night of July 18-19, 1374. The poet did not live until his 70th birthday only one day. He was found only in the morning. He sat at the table, bending over the manuscript in which he described the life of Caesar.
Periodization of creativity
Lived an extraordinary and interesting life, Francesco Petrarch (the biography of the poet allowed us to see this). Not everything is simple and with the writer's work. So, in literary criticism, it is customary to divide Petrarch's works into two parts: various works in Latin and Italian poetry. Latin works have great historical significance, while poetry in Italian made the writer world famous.
Although the poet himself perceived his poems as trifles and trifles, which he did not write for the sake of publication, but only in order to lighten the poet's heart. Perhaps that is why the depth, sincerity and spontaneity of the Italian author’s sonnets had a huge impact not only on his contemporaries, but also on subsequent generations.
Petrarch and Laura
All the poetry lovers know about the love of Petrarch's whole life and the inspiration of his great creations. However, information about her is not very much.
It is known for certain that he first saw the girl on April 6, 1327 in the church of Santa Chiara. Laura was then 20 years old, and the poet is 23 years old.
Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence of whether they were familiar, whether the girl reciprocated the writer, who for all his life kept in his soul and thoughts a bright image of a golden-haired lover. Nevertheless, Petrarch and Laura, even if their feelings were mutual, could not be together, because the poet was bound by the church rank. And church ministers did not have the right to marry and have children.
Since the first meeting, Francesco has lived in Avignon for three years, singing his love for Laura. At the same time, he tried to see her in the church and in those places where she usually went. Do not forget that Laura had her own family, husband and children. However, these circumstances did not bother the poet at all, because the beloved seemed to him an angel in the flesh.
Laura's last meeting and death
According to the claims of literary scholars, Petrarch last saw his lover on September 27, 1347. And six months later, in April 1348, the woman died tragically. The cause of her death remained unknown. Petrarch did not want to accept the death of his beloved, and in many verses written after the death of Laura, he often referred to her as living.
The collection of sonnets dedicated to her by the “Canzoniere” by Petrarch was divided into two parts: “for life” and “for Laura’s death”.
Before his death, the poet wrote that in his life he wanted only two things - laurel and Laura, that is, glory and love. And if fame came to him during his lifetime, then he hoped to find love after death, where he could connect with Laura forever.
Features of creativity and spiritual struggle
It was the collection "Canzoniere" that determined the place and role of the poet in Italian and world literature. Petrarch, whose verses were a true discovery of his time, first created the art form for Italian lyric works - the poetry of the writer for the first time became the story of an inner individual feeling. Interest precisely in inner life became the basis of all Petrarch's creativity and determined his enormous humanistic role.
These works include two autobiographies of Petrarch. The first, unfinished, takes the form of a message to the descendants and tells the external side of the author's life. The second, having the form of a dialogue between Petrarch and St. Augustine, describes the inner life and moral struggle in the poet's soul.
The basis of this confrontation is the struggle between the ascetic morality of the church and the personal desires of Petrarch. Against this background, the poet’s interest in ethical issues is clear, for which he devoted 4 works to reflection: On Monastic Leisure, On Secluded Life, etc. Nevertheless, in a dispute with Augustine, who defends ascetic-religious philosophy, the humanistic a look at the world of Petrarch.
Church attitude
He is trying to reconcile the church doctrine with the classical literature of Petrarch. Poems, of course, have nothing to do with religion or asceticism, nevertheless, the poet managed to remain a believing Catholic. This is confirmed by a number of treatises, as well as correspondence with friends. In addition, Petrarch spoke out sharply against the scholastics and the modern clergy.
For example, “Letters without an Address” is filled with satirical and extremely sharp attacks on the depraved mores of the papal capital. This work consists of 4 parts, addressed to various persons - both real and fictional.
Criticism
Francesco Petrarch, whose work was very diverse, was critical of both the church modern to him and ancient literature. This state of affairs suggests that the poet was highly developed self-contemplation. Examples of those works where a similar attitude to the world has manifested are the following: a speech against a physician who placed science above eloquence and poetry; opposing the prelate, who predicted the return of Urban V to Rome; opposing another prelate who attacked the writings of Petrarch himself.
The criticism of the poet, associated with ethical issues, is also found in his historical writings. For example, in De rebus memorandis libri IV - a collection of anecdotes (stories) and sayings that were borrowed from Latin and modern authors. These sayings are located according to ethical categories, which bore, for example, such names: “On Wisdom”, “On Solitude”, “On Faith”, etc.
The main significance for the biographers of Petrarch is the huge correspondence of the poet. Many of these letters are, in fact, treatises on politics and morality, while others are similar to journalistic articles. The writer's speeches, which he made at various celebrations, are much less important.
"Canzoniere" ("Book of Songs")
How the poet Francesco Petrarch became famous thanks to his collection "Canzoniere", which we have already mentioned above. The book was dedicated to the poet’s love for Laura. The collection included only 350 sonnets, of which 317 belonged to the part “On the Life and Death of Madonna Laura”. For forty years, Petrarch dedicated his beloved sonnets.
In his lyric works, Francesco admires the heavenly purity and angelic appearance of Laura. It is a magnificent and inaccessible ideal for the poet. Her soul is compared to a bright star. With all this, Petrarch manages to describe Laura as a real woman, and not just as an ideal image.
For his era, Francesco Petrarch was the first to begin to glorify the greatness and beauty of man, paying attention not only to appearance, but also to personal qualities. In addition, the poet is one of the founders of humanism as the content of creativity and way of thinking. Before Petrarch, the art of the Middle Ages sang only the features of the spiritual, divine and unearthly, and man seemed to be an imperfect and unworthy servant of God.