Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Intruduccion:

Francesco Petrarca (July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374), known in English as

Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest Renaissance

humanists. Petrarch is often popularly called the "Father of Humanism". Based

on Petrarch's works, and to a lesser extent those of Dante Alighieri and Giovanni

Boccaccio, Pietro Bembo in the 16th century created the model for the actual

Italian language, later endorsed by the Accademia della Crusca. His sonnets

were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and

became a model for lyrical poetry. With this form of love poetry, Petrarch had

such a great influence on European poetry of the Middle Ages that a new style

was named for him, Petrarchism, which lived late into modern times and

influenced, among other traditions, the German Minnesang. Petrarch was also

known for being one of the first people to call the Middle Ages the Dark Ages.

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 1
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 2
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Index:

Page 1
Introduction

Page 2
index

Page 3
index

Page 4
Biography
antecedents
birth
childhood
gherardo

Page 5
studies
death of Ser Petrarch
Metricae
Laura

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 3
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Canzionere
his life in Aviñon
the epistolae
mount Ventuox
The confessions of Saint Agustin

Page 6
his life in Rome and Vulcluse
Africa poem
Scipio Africanus
De virilis illustribus
the reinstitution of the poeta laurentis
Petrch at the Roman Capitol
Secretum meum
De vita solitaria
the plague
the death of Laura
the division of the poem
In vitam en in mortem Laura
Vaucluse
Rime in vita di Laura e Rime in morte di Laura”
Page 7
the fame of the Rimes
Trionfi
Milan
the viscount

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 4
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

the publish the first editon of Rime

being in Padua
travelling to Venice
staying at Arquà Padua
the last Chapter of Trionfi
death of Petrarch at Arquà
Page 8
literature works
Page 9
sources

Biography:

Francesco Petrarca was born in Arezzo, Toscana, on the 20th of July of the 1304.

His father,Ser Petracco, a lawyer, held a post of notary in the Florentine Rolls

Court of the Riformagioni; but, having espoused the same cause as Dante

during the quarrels of the Blacks and Whites, Petrarch was expelled from

Florence by that decree of the 27th of January 1302 which condemned Dante to

lifelong exile. With his wife he took refuge in the Ghibelline township of Arezzo;

and it was here, on the very night when his father, in company with other

members of the White party, made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Florence by

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 5
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

force, the Francesco first saw the light. He did not remain long in his birthplace.

His mother, having obtained permission to return from banishment, settled at

Incisa, a little village on the Arno above Florence, in February 1305. Here

Petrarch spent seven years of boyhood, acquiring that pure Tuscan idiom which

afterwards he used with such consummate mastery in ode and sonnet. Here

too, in 1307, his brother Gherardo was born. In 1312 Petracco set up a house for

his family at Pisa; but soon afterwards, finding no scope there for the exercise of

his profession as jurist, he removed them all in 1313 to Avignon.

Francesco Petrarch received his education in the French next cities of

Carpentras, Bologna and Montpellier. In 1312 he returned to Italy to finish his

studies of laws in the University of Bologna, he also studied in Montepellier, but

he never finished his studies, during his instance in Montepellier he had the

chance to experience the art of the poetic, what awakened his interest in Roman

poetry and literature. After the death of his father on 1327, Francesco Petrarch

returned to Avignon and decided to dedicate to study and to literature.

In the 6th of April of 1327 occurred an event that would change his life when he

first saw Laura ( possibly Laura de Noves, c. 1308-1348) an idealized woman

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 6
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

whose name he was to immortalize in his lyrics and who inspired him with a

passion that has become proverbial for its constancy and purity. He dedicated to

her a work called Canzionere (“Book of Songs”).Nobody knew about this

woman, at a certain point it was thought that she wasn't real, that it was a mere

incarnation of purity and chastity, but the poet denied indeed this affirmation and

insisted in her existence.

Years after, he stayed in Avignon continuing his latin studies and traveling

around Europe. During this period of time he wrote his famous Epistolae

Metricae collection of letters in latin in form of verse,Also, the first depiction of

nature in European literature appears here: a description of climbing Mount

Ventoux, from whose pinnacle Petrarch described the surrounding landscape.

And also by analising a book called The Confessions of San Agustin, what

denoted his new conviction about classic culture to be linked to christian doctrine

and that the renaissance of the evangelic spirituality could just be archived by

seeking God in yourself and not by the rigid scholastic perspective.

On 1337, after a short instance in Rome, Petrarch retired looking for peace and

serenity to a village of Vaulcluse, near to Avignon, that would be for him a place of

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 7
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

retirement and meditation for the rest of his life. There he his famous poem in latin

Africa (between 1338 and 1339), about Scipio Africanus; the roman conqueror of

Carthage, and his latin series De viris illustibus ("On Illustrious / Famous Men"),

concerned at that time as a panegyric about characters of roman history. His fame was

so for then that Rome reintroduced the old Roman tradition of the crowning of the

"poeta laurentis" (poet laureate), in order to appropriately honor Petrarch. The 8th of

April of 1341 was solemnly crowned poet at the Capitol in Rome.

After returning to Avignon, Petrarch suffered a spiritual crisis that made him to

profound in the interpretation of christian doctrine. Example of that are the books

Secretum meum (1342-1343), constituted by a dialogue between the author and San

Agustin, y De vita solitaria (1346). Between those years he made several trips through

France and Italy, looking for latin manuscripts.

On 1348 there was an epidemic plague in which, according to the poet, died his loved,

Laura. That impressed Pertarch a lot, so he retired to Vaucluse and he concerned a

new structure for his poem, he divided it into “Rime in vita di Laura e Rime in morte di

Laura”, showing his own spiritual evolution; from the initial debility to earthly passions

to the seeking of God's plenitude – evolution reflected in the transition of the play by

the progressive spiritualization of Laura-.

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 8
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Although Petrarch thought his italian manuscripts were inferior to his latin works, most

of fame he owes is thanks to his Rimes.

In that same period he began working on another great latin poem called “Trionfi”

(Triumph), describing a the allegoric medieval life tradition, and was concerned as a

huge allegory divided in 6 songs of the progress of soul to the union with God.

On 1353 Petrarch left Avignon to go to Milan in order to put his diplomatic abilities to

use in the service of the viscount, where he would publish the first editon of Rime. His

new spiritual conceptions made him to enlarge his already done proyect; De virlis

illustribus and included other 12 characters taken from the mythology and of the sacred

history, to put on high the ideals from the Old Testament, the greek,roman and

Christian worlds.

The constant expansion of the plague made him to escape to in 1361 to Padua and a

year after to Venice, where he continued working in the revision of his main

manuscripts. On 1367 he settled finally in Padua, although he stayed most of the time

in a village near to Arquà.

A little time after finishing the last song of the Trionfi poem, triunph of the death,

Petrarch died in Arquà the 18th or 19th of July on 1374.

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 9
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 10
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

1. Literature works

(a) Poetry Works

i. Canzionere:

(in Italian) was the name of the popularly known lyric made in Toscan as the

Reum vulgarium fragmenta( Fragments of things in vulgar [common]), made in

the year 1327 and published in the year. It was made of about 317 sonnets , 29

songs, 9 sextinas, 7 ballads and 4 Madrigals.

Manuscript of Petrarcha: Madonna Laura

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 11
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

A. n vita Madonna Laura

B. In morte Madonna Laura

i. Trionfi (“Triunphs”)

A. it is a book of 6 songs that are about 6 steps of human soul in

the procession of union with God

(b) Some of his Latin artworks

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 12
Painting based on the book of songs Trionfi
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

i. Secretum meum (“My Secret Book”) 1342-1343), constituted by a

dialogue between the author and San Agustin

ii. Rerum Memorandarum Libri ( A series of moral biographies)

iii. De Otio Religiosorum (“On Religious Leisure”)

iv. De Vita Solitaria (“On the Solitary Life”), written in 1446

v. De Remediis Utiusque Fortunæ ( Remedies for Fortune Fair and

Foul)
vi.Africa; an epic poem about Scipio Africanus, the roman
conqueror of Africa
vii. Epistolae Metricae ( a collection of 66 latin letters in verse)
viii. Confessions of San Agustin
ix. De viris illustibus,was a product of his new spiritual conceptions

made him to enlarge his already done proyect; and included other 12

characters taken from the mythology and of the sacred history, to put

on high the ideals from the Old Testament, the greek,roman and

Christian worlds.

Conclusion

In conclusion we would say that Petrarch was a very good poet indeed for

being worthy of be the one for the poeta laurentis price to be restored he

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 13
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

would need to have a very big impact on literature on those times in Italy.

He ensured that his Poetry in Latin were better than his Italian sonnets in

despite that the fame he had he owed it to the Canzionere, I think that was

because it could be read in the language the Italians knew, in the other

hand the Latin poems could just be read and understood by scholars that

knew Latin but the Latin is very similar to the Italian language.

He was also know for his teachings of phiosophy and humanism. In most

of some of his literature works he makes reference to humanism and

philosophy despite he was Catholic he never doubt about his faith and he

always made a mixture that agreed from his faith and philosophy, he never

found a problem with realizing

humanities potencial and believin in God and be a follower of the Church.

And we conclude with this hopping that our investigation made a

contribution to our class and so we hope it will help to extend the

knowledge of everyone of us.

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 14
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

Humberto Ponce de León Solana

David Grayeb Grayeb

Lorenzo Rojas Sánches

Sources:

• Encarta Encyclopedia

• Britanica Hispanica Encyclopedia page 331,332 1992-1993 edition

• Guia del estudiante Encyclopeida edition 2003, article written by Vicente

Villacampa, traduced by Humberto Ponce de Leon Solana.

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 15
Humberto Ponce de León Solana History project information Humberto, Lorenzo and David

• Petrarch.net

• petrarch.petersadlon.com/bio.html

Sources: Encarta Encyclopedia, Britanica Encyclopedia, Guía del Estudiante Encyclopedia,

Petrarco.net, 16