Francesco Petrarca: biography, main dates and events, creativity. Francesco Petrarch Death of Francesco Petrarch

Francesco Petrarca

IGDA/M. Seemuller. FRANCESCO PETRARCA

Philosopher-moralist

Petrarca, Francesco (1304-1374) - Italian poet and moral philosopher, founder of Italian and European humanism. He defended the human right to happiness in real, earthly life. Petrarch's deep interest in depicting the experiences of his own "I", in the needs of the individual, reflected in his lyrics, as well as in ancient culture, including ancient philosophy, which he opposed to scholasticism, served as one of the starting points of the humanistic movement.

Philosophical Dictionary / ed.-comp. S. Ya. Podoprigora, A. S. Podoprigora. - Ed. 2nd, sr. - Rostov n/a: Phoenix, 2013, p. 317.

Francesco Petrarch (1304/1374), Italian poet. The founder of Italian national poetry, one of the brightest representatives of the culture of the Renaissance. The works of Petrarch are distinguished by the perfection of form and the musicality of the verse. He played a significant role in the development of European poetry. He wrote the poem "Africa" ​​about the 2nd Punic War (1339/1342, in Latin), allegorical pastoral eclogues "Bucoliki" (1346/1357), a book of songs "My Italy", "Noble Spirit", sonnets, etc.

Guryeva T.N. New literary dictionary / T.N. Guriev. - Rostov n / a, Phoenix, 2009, p. 217.

Petrarca, Francesco (July 20, 1304 - July 19, 1374) was an Italian humanist and poet. Studied law in Montpellier and Bologna. In the years 1326-1336 he lived mainly in Avignon, where he received a spiritual title (1326), then in many cities of Italy. Traveled in Europe (1332-1333). Fascinated by ancient culture, Petrarch searched for, deciphered and commented on manuscripts Cicero , Quintiliana and others. Speaking out against medieval scholasticism, Petrarch countered it with an interest in the earthly destiny of man (philosophical and ethical treatises, letters). He argued that the nobility of a person does not depend on the nobility of origin, but on his virtue. He highly valued the mind and creative abilities of man. Humanistic ideas found a vivid expression in the lyrics of Petrarch, revealing the inner world of man. The work of Petrarch (writings on moral, historical and political themes, poetry) marked the beginning of the formation of Italian humanism. Petrarch spoke angrily against the corruption of the clergy; dreamed of the unification of Italy, of the revival of the former greatness of Rome, welcomed the uprising Cola di Rienzo. In Petrarch's canzone "My Italy" there is a call for unity, for an end to civil strife and wars. As the greatest poet of Italy, Petrarch was crowned in Rome with a laurel wreath.

L. M. Bragina. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 11. PERGAMUM - RENUVEN. 1968.

Compositions: Opere latine, Torino-(etc), 1904; Il Canzoniere, Mil., 1925; in Russian per. - Autobiography. Confession. Sonnets, M., 1915; Fav. lyrics, M., 1953; Book of songs, M., 1963.

Literature: Korelin M., Early Italian. humanism and its historiography, 2nd ed., vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1914; Veselovsky A.N., Petrarch in poetic. canzoniere confessions. 1304-1904, St. Petersburg, 1912; Gukovsky M. A., Ital. Renaissance, vol. 1, L., 1947, p. 249-63; Nolhac P. de, Pétrarque et l "humanisme, nouv. ed., t. 1-2, P., 1907; Wilkins E. H., Studies in the life and works of Petrarch, Camb. (Mass.), 1955 ; Bosco U., F. Petrarca, Bari, 1961.

Italian poet

Petrarca, Francesco (Petrarca, Francesco) (1304-1374) Italian poet, recognized literary arbiter of his time and forerunner of the European humanist movement.

Born July 20, 1304 in Arezzo, where his father, a Florentine notary, fled in connection with political unrest. Seven months later, Francesco's mother took Francesco to Anchisa, where they remained until 1311. At the beginning of 1312, the whole family moved to Avignon (France). After four years of studying with a private teacher, Francesco was sent to law school in Montpellier. In 1320, together with his brother, he went to Bologna to continue the study of jurisprudence. In April 1326, after the death of their father, both brothers returned to Avignon. By that time, Petrarch had already shown an undoubted inclination towards literary pursuits.

In 1327, on Good Friday, in an Avignon church, he met and fell in love with a girl named Laura - nothing more is known about her. It was she who inspired Petrarch to write his best poems.

To make a living, Petrarch decided to take the priesthood. He was ordained, but hardly ever officiated. In 1330 he became a chaplain to Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, and in 1335 he received his first benefice.

In 1337 Petrarch purchased a small estate in Vaucluse, a valley near Avignon. There he began two works in Latin - the epic poem Africa (Africa) about the winner Hannibal Scipio the African and the book On Glorious Men (De viris illustribus) - a collection of biographies of prominent people of antiquity. Then he began to write lyrical poems in Italian, poems and letters in Latin, set about the comedy Philology (Filologia), now lost. By 1340, Petrarch's literary activity, his connections with the papal court, and long-distance travels had earned him European fame. On April 8, 1341, by decision of the Roman Senate, he was crowned with the laurels of the poet laureate.

1342-1343 Petrarch spent in Vaucluse, where he continued to work on the epic poem and biographies, and also, following the model of the Confession of St. Augustine, wrote the confession book My Secret (Secretum Meum) in the form of three dialogues between St. Augustine and Petrarch before the Court of Truth. At the same time, the Penitential Psalms (Psalmi poenitentialis) were written or begun; On memorable events (Rerum memorandum libri) - a treatise on the basic virtues in the form of a collection of anecdotes and biographies; the didactic poems Triumph of Love (Triumphus Cupidinis) and Triumph of Chastity (Triumphus Pudicitie), written in tercins; and the first edition of a book of lyrical poems in Italian - Canzoniere.

By the end of 1343, Petrarch went to Parma, where he stayed until the beginning of 1345. In Parma, he continued to work on Africa and the treatise On Memorable Events. He did not finish both works and, it seems, never returned to them. At the end of 1345 Petrarch again came to Vaucluse. In the summer of 1347, he enthusiastically met the uprising raised in Rome by Cola di Rienzo (later suppressed). During this period, he wrote eight of the twelve allegorical eclogues of Bucolic songs (Bucolicum carmen, 1346-1357), two prose treatises: On a solitary life (De vita solitaria, 1346) and On monastic leisure (De otio religioso, 1347) - on the beneficial influence secluded life and idleness on the creative mind, and also set about the second edition of Canzoniere.

Perhaps it was sympathy for the uprising of Cola di Rienzo that prompted Petrarch to make a trip to Italy in 1347. However, his desire to join the rebellion in Rome faded as soon as he learned of Cola's atrocities. He stopped again in Parma. In 1348, a plague claimed the lives of Cardinal Colonna and Laura. In 1350 Petrarch met and became friends with Giovanni Boccaccio and Francesco Nelli. During his stay in Italy, he wrote four more eclogues and the poem Triumph of Death (Triumphus Mortis), proceeded to the poem Triumph of Glory (Triumphus Fame), and also began Poetic Epistles (Epistolae metricae) and letters in prose.

The years 1351-1353 Petrarch spent mainly in Vaucluse, paying special attention to public life, especially the state of affairs at the papal court. At the same time, he wrote the Invectiva contro medicum (Invectiva contro medicum), criticizing the methods of the pope's physicians. Most of the letters written during this period and criticizing the situation in Avignon were later collected in the book Without an address (Liber sine nomine).

In 1353 Petrarch, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Milan, Giovanni Visconti, settled in Milan, where he acted as secretary, orator and emissary. At the same time he completed Bucolic Songs and the collection Without an Address; began a lengthy essay On the means against any fortune (De remediis ultriusque fortunae), which eventually included more than 250 dialogues on how to cope with luck and failure; wrote the Way to Syria (Itinerarium syriacum) - a guide for pilgrims to the Holy Land. In 1361, Petrarch left Milan to escape the plague that was raging there. He spent a year in Padua, at the invitation of the Carrara family, where he finished work on the collection Poetic Epistles, as well as the collection Letters on Private Matters (Familiarum rerum libri XXIV), which included 350 letters in Latin. At the same time, Petrarch began another collection, Seniles, which eventually included 125 letters written between 1361 and 1374 and divided into 17 books.

In 1362 Petrarch, still fleeing the plague, fled to Venice. In 1366 a group of young followers of Aristotle attacked Petrarch. He responded with a caustic invective On the ignorance of one's own and of others (De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia).

In 1370 Petrarch bought a modest villa in Arqua, on the Euganean Hills. In 1372 hostilities between Padua and Venice forced him to take refuge for a time in Padua. After the defeat of Padua, he, together with its ruler, went to Venice to conduct peace negotiations. In the last seven years of his life, Petraraka continued to improve Canzoniere (in the last edition of 1373, the collection was titled in Latin Rerum vulgarium fragmenta - Fragments in the vernacular) and worked on the Triumphs, which in the final edition included six successive "triumphs": Love, Chastity, Death, Glory, Time and Eternity. Petrarch died at Arqua on July 19, 1374.

Petrarch revised the cultural heritage of antiquity, carefully analyzing the texts of ancient writers and restoring their original appearance. He himself felt himself standing at the junction of two eras. He considered his age decadent and vicious, but he could not but learn some of his addictions. Such, for example, is the preference for the teachings of Plato and St. Augustine to Aristotle and Thomism, Petrarch's refusal to recognize secular poetry and active life as an obstacle to Christian salvation, a view of poetry as the highest form of art and knowledge, an understanding of the virtues as a common denominator of ancient and Christian culture, and, finally, a passionate desire to return Rome to the position of the center civilized world.

Petrarch was tormented by a deep internal conflict caused by the clash of his beliefs and aspirations with the requirements for a Christian. It is to him that Petrarch's poetry owes its highest rises. The immediate sources of inspiration were the unrequited love for Laura and admiration for the valor and virtues of the ancients, embodied mainly in the figure of Scipio the African Senior. Petrarch considered Africa his main achievement, but Canzoniere - 366 various Italian poems, mainly dedicated to Laura, became his "miraculous monument".

The sublime lyricism of these poems cannot be explained solely by the influence on Petrarch of the poetry of the Provencal troubadours, the "sweet new style", Ovid and Virgil. Drawing a parallel between his love for Laura and the myth of Daphne, which Petrarch understands symbolically - as a story not only about fleeting love, but also about the eternal beauty of poetry - he brings to his "book of songs" a new, deeply personal and lyrical experience of love, wrapping it in a new art form.

Bowing before the achievements of ancient heroes and thinkers, Petrarch at the same time considers their achievements as a sign of a deep need for moral rebirth and redemption, longing for eternal bliss. The life of a Christian is fuller and richer, because he is given to understand that Divine light can turn the knowledge of the past into true wisdom. The same refraction of pagan mythology in the prism of the Christian worldview is also present in the love lyrics of Petrarch, where the theme of redemption sounds as a result. Laura as Beauty, Poetry and Earthly Love is worthy of admiration, but not at the cost of saving the soul. The way out of this seemingly insoluble conflict, redemption, consists rather in Petrarch's effort to achieve the perfect expression of his passion than in the renunciation with which the collection begins and ends. Even sinful love can be justified before the Lord as pure poetry.

Petrarch's first meeting with Laura took place, according to him, on Good Friday. Petrarch further identifies his beloved with religious, moral and philosophical ideals, while at the same time emphasizing her incomparable physical beauty. So his love is on the same level with Plato's eternal ideas that lead a person to the highest good. But, although Petrarch is within the framework of a poetic tradition that originates with Andrei Chaplain and ended with a “sweet new style”, nevertheless, neither love nor the beloved is something unearthly, transcendent for him.

Admiring the ancient authors, Petrarch developed a Latin style that was much more perfect than the Latin of that time. He did not attach importance to writings in Italian. Perhaps that is why some of the poems in Canzoniere have purely formal merits: in them he is fond of wordplay, striking contrasts and strained metaphors. Unfortunately, it was precisely these features that the imitators of Petrarch (the so-called Petrarchism) most readily adopted.

Petrarch's sonnet, one of two typical sonnet forms (along with Shakespeare's), is distinguished by a two-part division into an initial eight-line (octave) rhyming abba abba and a final six-line (sextet) rhyming cde cde.

In one form or another, Petrarchism manifested itself in most European countries. Having reached its peak in the 16th century, it periodically revived until recently. At an early stage, they imitated mainly the works of Petrarch in Latin, later the Triumphs and, finally, the Canzoniere, whose influence proved to be the most persistent. Among the famous poets and writers of the Renaissance who, to one degree or another, were influenced by Petrarch, are J. Boccaccio, M. M. Boiardo, L. Medici and T. Tasso in Italy; Marquis de Santillana, A. Mark, G. de la Vega, J. Boscan and F. de Herrera in Spain; K.Maro, J.Du Bellay, M.Sev, P.Ronsard and F.Deportes in France; J. Chaucer, T. Wyeth, G. H. Surry, E. Spencer, F. Sidney, T. Lodge and G. Constable in England; P. Fleming, M. Opitz, G. Weckerlin and T. Höck in Germany. During the period of romanticism, Petrarch also found admirers and imitators, of which the most notable are U. Foscolo and G. Leopardi in Italy; A. Lamartine, A. Musset and V. Hugo in France; H. W. Longfellow, J. R. Lowell and W. Irving in America.

Materials of the encyclopedia "The World Around Us" are used.

Founder of the humanistic culture of the Renaissance

Petrarca (Petrarca) Francesco (July 20, 1304, Arezzo - July 19, 1374, Arqua, near Paddi) - Italian poet and thinker, founder of the humanistic culture of the Renaissance. As the greatest poet, he was crowned with a laurel wreath on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, according to the custom of ancient antiquity (1341), without accepting for this ritual an invitation from the University of Paris, the center of medieval theology and scholasticism. Son of a notary, studied law at the University of Bologna; leaving the Faculty of Law, he took the priesthood, which did not connect him with the church, but allowed him to engage in free creativity. Very young, he gained fame as the best lyric poet of his time, ch. about. thanks to the brilliant sonnets dedicated to the woman he met in the church - Laura, whose platonic love he carried through his whole life. Sonnets, canzones, madrigals, ballads written in the vernacular made up his "Book of Songs" (Canzoniere, 1373). Petrarch defiantly proclaimed himself "ignorant" in scholasticism, rejecting, in particular, in the invective "On his own and others' ignorance" (De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia, 1370), the Aristotelian-Averroist traditions of medieval universities, the entire system of medieval philosophy. At the same time, Petrarch, based on the humanistic idea that a person is able to create himself, ennoble his nature, was constantly, all his life engaged in self-education and self-education, which he considered a prerequisite for fruitful activity for people. He had one of the richest libraries, where ancient Roman writers, poets, historians, philosophers, as well as the Church Fathers, primarily Augustine, were represented. He strove to master the "new knowledge", to build a new, humanistic culture, the basis of which was to be the revived antiquity. Open to the traditions and customs of different peoples and countries, Petrarch traveled a lot, including with diplomatic missions, established personal contacts with scientists, examined monastic libraries in search of forgotten manuscripts of ancient authors; found, in particular, unknown speeches and letters of Cicero.

Petrarch showed himself a type of person breaking out of medieval traditions. Creating himself, improving his inner world, he attached special importance to loneliness, not burdened by it, as Dante, but realizing that it enables the human spirit to rest on God, on itself, on its aspirations (“On a Solitary Life”, 1346). The contradictions of the inner world of the human personality with its passions, creative and moral search were reflected in the confession-dialogue "My Secret" (Secretum, 1343), where in a dispute between two persons - Augustine and Francis - historically different interpretations of a person collide. Self-analysis and self-description of himself as a “new man”, a humanist writer, was also carried out by Petrarch in other works of a confessional nature, primarily in letters that were collected and repeatedly carefully processed - “On Personal Affairs in 24 Books” (Familiarium rerum libri XXIV, 1353-66), "Elderly Letters" (Seniles, 1361-74).

Among the works of Petrarch there are no texts devoted directly to the problems of literature and art, but it was he who, in the struggle for classical, rooted in antiquity, against the imposed "learned" language of the scholastics - medieval Latin, laid the foundations of philology. The desire to develop methods of identical reading of ancient texts, the creation of works of art in classical Latin became the basis of a new humanistic knowledge - the "sciences of humanity" (studia humanitatis). The classical philology of Petrarch, filled with new humanistic ideas and socio-political content, appears as a philosophy of humanism.

Petrarch was the first in modern times, rejecting the absolutization of the authority of Aristotle, whom he considered "great and most learned", but only a thinker among other Greek philosophers, a man, and not an instrument of divine revelation, put Plato above him. He replaced the dominance of one teaching with dialogue and the combination of many. Petrarch and his followers are new representatives of philosophy, non-professionals who think outside the scholastic tradition, outside departments and universities and meet the spiritual needs of an era that needed justification, ethical sanctions and new ideals. The main thing in the humanistic philosophy they created is the “new man”, freed from traditional theology, becoming the center of philosophical reasoning.

L.A. Mikeshin

New Philosophical Encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Huseynov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Thought, 2010, vol. III, N - S, p. 228.

The first of the humanists was Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374). We are still fascinated by his poems, in which he sang of his beloved Laura during her lifetime and after her death. In them, the poet, with unprecedented subtlety, describes his experiences, and through them, Laura sung by him and the world around him. Here, the image of Laura no longer dissolves into an incorporeal symbol of philosophy, like the image of Beatrice in Dante's Comedy, ceases to be an inaccessible and distant lady of knightly lyrics. This is an earthly woman, and the poet feels a completely earthly feeling of love for her. And although Petrarch does not completely abandon allegory, playing, for example, on the consonances of the name of his beloved Laura and the word "laurel" (in Italian lauro), as a symbol of glory, his thought is nevertheless freed from the shackles of scholasticism and therefore becomes extremely clear , fully corresponding to the beauty and musicality of the verse.

In ancient culture, Petrarch found such a worldview, where in the center was not a god, but a man. The closest students and followers of Petrarch introduced the Latin term humanitas, which they had read from ancient authors, into general use. Petrarch is considered the founder of humanism because he himself, although not always consistently, was the first to oppose medieval theology - divina studia (divine knowledge) to a new worldview - humana studia (human knowledge).

It is now difficult for us to share the enthusiasm of the people of the fourteenth century for the newly discovered antiquities of the Latin language. But we will be able to understand them if we consider that thanks to the Roman poets and prose writers they received the opportunity to perceive the world as people who broke with the scholastic and ecclesiastical fetters of the Middle Ages. Perhaps nothing so vividly characterizes the path from Dante to Petrarch, which was short in time, but important in terms of results, as the fact that Virgil accompanies Dante through the afterlife, and Petrarch with the “Aeneid” of the same Virgil already travels around the outskirts of Naples and searches for the places described last. Renaissance artists willingly illustrated the works of ancient authors.

The study of ancient authors had another result: Petrarch sought to imitate them and therefore became the first expert in classical Latin. Petrarch tried with all his might to popularize the ancient authors, for which he compiled such treatises as “On the Great Men of Antiquity”. With the inaccessibility of manuscripts at that time, these compilations were of great importance and further increased the world fame of Petrarch. The appeal to antiquity acquired the widest social significance also because it had a deeply patriotic basis. The reign of ancient Rome was for Petrarch a heroic period in the history of Italy. The resurrection of the ancient tradition was, according to Petrarch, the key to further success not only in politics, but also in all areas of culture. “Who can doubt,” he wrote, “that if Rome begins to know itself, then ancient valor will be resurrected.” Petrarch was dissatisfied with the scholastic and ascetic worldview of the Middle Ages, he sought to create a new worldview. He furiously attacked modern Rome - the repository of superstition and ignorance - and wrote a passionate accusatory work "To the Papal Court in Rome",

Expressing the thoughts that determined the subsequent development of humanism throughout Western Europe, Petrarch, however, was by no means always consistent. As a sensitive artist, he painfully experienced the contradictions of a man standing at the turn of two eras: he himself felt how the old gravitates over him and how he cannot abandon it. His Latin treatise "On Contempt for the World" is dedicated to this. But the future development of Italian culture showed that it was not the attachment to the old, but the desire for the new that made Petrarch the great founder of humanism.

Quoted from: World History. Volume III. M., 1957, p. 624-625.

Read further:

Philosophers, lovers of wisdom (biographical index).

Compositions:

Opere... A cura di E. Bigi. Mil., 1966;

in Russian trans.: Lyric. Autobiographical prose. M., 1989;

Petrarch F. Aesthetic fragments. M., 1982;

Petrarch F. Africa. M., 1992.

Petrarch F. Lyric. Autobiographical prose. M., 1989

Petrarch F. Africa. M., 1992

Petrarch F. Sonnets. M., 1997

Literature:

Kholodovsky R.I. Francesco Petrarch. Poetry of humanism. M., 1974;

Garin E. The birth of humanism: from Francesco Petrarch to Coluccio Salutati. He is. Problems of the Italian Renaissance. Selected works. M., 1986;

Danchenko V.T. Francesco Petrarca: Bibliographic Index of Russian Translations and Critical Literature in Russian. M., 1986

Devyataikina N.I. Worldview of Petrarch: Ethical views. Saratov, 1988

The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. by E. Cassirer a. o. Chi., 1954.

I. Lileeva

The greatest poet, he himself valued only the poetry of the ancients. Francesco Petrarch was known to contemporaries as a brilliant connoisseur of antiquity. Then, in the XIV century, the Renaissance began in Italy. The old medieval laws and ideas were broken, people were freed from the oppression of the "spiritual dictatorship" of the Catholic Church. The new worldview was based on the humanism of ancient culture. Francesco Petrarch is rightfully considered one of the first humanists of the Renaissance, who expressed new, progressive ideas, a new attitude to life, to man.
Petrarch devoted all his time to the study of ancient culture, searching for, deciphering, translating, interpreting the manuscripts of the authors of Ancient Rome, and brilliantly writing poems in Latin. Of particular interest is his treatise "On Contempt for the World" - a kind of confession of a restless soul. And for his Latin poem "Africa", describing the feat of the ancient Roman commander Scipio Africanus, Petrarch was crowned with a laurel wreath on the Capitol as the first poet of Italy. But the judgment of posterity very often differs from the judgment of contemporaries. The poem "Africa" ​​has long been forgotten, and Petrarch's immortal fame was brought by his poems in Italian, written "On the Life of the Madonna Laura" and "On the Death of the Madonna Laura", poems that made up the famous collection "Canzoniere" (Book of Songs).
On April 6, 1327, in Avignon, in the south of France, in the church of Saint Clare, an Italian young monk, listed in the retinue of the powerful Cardinal Colonne, first saw the young woman Laura. The beauty of Laura made an irresistible impression on Francesco Petrarch, and although he saw her only a few times from a distance, her image sunk deep into the heart of the poet. For twenty-one years, until the death of Laura, Petrarch lived in love for her, dreams of his ideal lover, and then mourned her death for a long time. The image of Laura was always with him: both in his travels in France and Italy, and in his solitude in the mountain town of Vaucluse, where he lived for four years, indulging in philosophical reflections. Petrarch wrote these verses for himself and did not attach much importance to them.
The most interesting thing in the "Canzoniere" is the image of the poet himself, whose feelings, thoughts, spiritual confusion, experiences, "impulses of a mournful heart" make up the content of most of the poems. Petrarch with amazing depth reveals the diverse, complex and contradictory world of human love experiences. This brought him the fame of a classical singer of love.
The main poetic genre of Petrarch's book is the sonnet - a poem of 14 lines with a certain rhyme order. Petrarch made the difficult form of the sonnet flexible, capable of expressing great feelings and thoughts. A. S. Pushkin wrote:

Severe Dante did not despise the sonnet;
In it, the heat of Petrarch's love poured out.

In addition to the sonnets, there are also songs (canzones) in the Canzoniere. In the famous canzone "My Italy" sounds the voice of Petrarch - a citizen, a patriot: he mourns the fragmentation of Italy, is indignant at the ongoing internecine wars. Addressing his canzone, the poet exclaims: “Go and demand: “Peace! peace! peace!"
Petrarch, continuing Dante, did a lot to create the Italian literary language.
A humanist, a thinker who defended the greatness and dignity of the human person, a singer of love, a poet who created poems that are amazing in terms of the depth of penetration into the inner world of a person, Petrarch has long been known and loved by Russian readers.

petrarch

petrarch

Petrarch Francesco (Francesco Petrarca, 1304-1374) - the famous Italian poet, head of the older generation of humanists (see). The son of the Florentine notary Petracco, a friend and political associate of Dante (see). R. in Arezzo. Studied law in Montpellier and Bologna; in Avignon (the residence of the pope from 1309) entered the clergy, which gave him access to the papal court, and entered the service of Cardinal Column (1330). P. supplemented his education with a trip to France, Flanders and Germany (1332-1333), which brought him a number of valuable acquaintances in the scientific world. In 1337 P. visited Rome for the first time, which made a huge impression on him with its ancient and Christian monuments. Dissatisfied with the empty and noisy life in Avignon, P. retired to the village of Vaucluse, where he lived in complete seclusion for 4 years (1337-1341), and subsequently often returned here for rest and creative work. In Vaucluse written or conceived most of the works of P., including the epic in Latin. "Africa" ​​(9 books, 1338-1342), which sang the conquest of Carthage by the Roman general Scipio. Even before its completion, "Africa" ​​brought P. the glory of a great poet and crowned with a laurel wreath in Rome on the Capitol, like the great men of antiquity (1341). From that moment on, Petrarch becomes the intellectual leader of the entire cultural world. He lives alternately in Italy and in Avignon; Italian and foreign sovereigns invite P. to their place, shower them with honors and gifts, and ask for his advice.
P. used his unparalleled position for a writer and scientist to influence political affairs. He urged Popes Benedict XII (1336) and Clement VI (1342) to transfer their throne to Rome, calling on Emperor Charles IV to unite Italy (1351-1363), etc. But almost all of P.'s political activity was fruitless due to the lack of clarity and firmness in his political views. Being, like Dante, a passionate patriot, the ideologist of the national unity of Italy, P. placed the care of this association either on the popes, or on the emperor, or on the Neapolitan king Robert. Dreaming of the revival of the greatness of ancient Rome, he either preached the restoration of the Roman Republic, supporting the adventure of the "tribune" Cola di Rienzi (1347), or no less ardently promoted the idea of ​​the Roman Empire.
Colossal authority P. was based primarily on his scientific work. P. was the first humanist in Europe, a connoisseur of ancient culture, the founder of classical philology. He devoted his whole life to searching, deciphering and interpreting ancient manuscripts. Most of all he loved and knew Cicero and Virgil, whom he called his "father" and "brother".
P.'s admiration for antiquity was almost superstitious. He learned not only the language. and the style, but also the way of thinking of the ancient authors, wrote letters to them, as to friends, quoted them at every turn. Ancient literature fed not only his imagination, but also political and philosophical thought. It helped shape the ideological trends generated by the development of the money economy and capitalist relations. In antiquity P. sought support for his bourgeois individualism and nationalism, the cult of earthly life and the autonomous human personality. Antiquity helped him lay the foundation for a new secular bourgeois culture.
But this militant individualist, who brought his personality to the forefront, admired its complexity and versatility, this convinced pagan, who everywhere looked for echoes of antiquity he adored and sought to rebuild modern life in the antique way, was deprived of ideological integrity and consistency, was unable to break the threads associated with medieval culture. Under the shell of a humanist in P. lived a believing Catholic who dragged a heavy load of monastic, ascetic views and prejudices. All of P.'s works are permeated with these contradictions and are marked by an eclectical desire to combine elements of feudal-church and bourgeois-humanist culture.
Of great interest in this regard are the moral and philosophical treatises of P., written in Latin. P. contradicts himself at every step. So, if in the treatise "On a solitary life" (De vita solitaria, 1346), under the guise of praise for solitude, he puts forward a purely humanistic ideal of "secured leisure" devoted to science and literature, then in the next book "On monastic leisure" (De otio religiosorum , 1347) he unfolds an ascetic preaching of the vanity of the world and flight from its temptations; but, even glorifying monasticism, P. remains a humanist, because he sees its essence not in the exploits of piety, but in philosophical contemplation. The treatise “On the means against any fortune” (De remediis utriusque fortunae, 1358-1366) is permeated with the same contradictions, in which P. teaches, in the manner of medieval moralists, about the frailty of everything that exists and the inconstancy of fate, keeping from enjoying earthly blessings , hindering the achievement of heaven, but at the same time reveals a great interest in earthly life and his own personality. Finally, in the treatise “On True Wisdom” (De vera sapientia), P. venomously criticizes medieval science and sets the goal of philosophy not to know God, but to know oneself, the study of man, which should give a strong support to the new bourgeois morality.
But the most striking expression of the contradictions of P.'s psyche is his famous book "On Contempt for the World" (De contemptu mundi, 1343), otherwise called "The Secret" (Secretum). Built in the form of a dialogue between the author and Blessed. Augustine, who was one of P.'s favorite writers, she reveals with tremendous force P.'s spiritual discord and oppressive melancholy (acidia), his impotence to reconcile the old and the new person in himself, and at the same time his unwillingness to give up worldly thoughts, from the thirst for knowledge, love, wealth and fame. So. arr. in a duel with Augustine, who embodies the religious-ascetic worldview, P.'s humanistic worldview still wins, which undoubtedly plays a leading role in the contradictory complex of his aspirations.
Of the Latin writings of P., in addition to those mentioned, it is also necessary to name: 4 books of his letters addressed to either real or imaginary persons - a peculiar literary genre inspired by the letters of Cicero and Seneca and enjoyed tremendous success both due to their masterful Latin style and due to their diverse and topical content (letters “without an address” - sine titulo - filled with sharp satirical attacks against the depraved mores of the papal capital - this “new Babylon” are especially curious); 3 books of poetic messages (epistolae) (epistle 1.7 is especially famous, in which P. tells Jacopo Colonna about the torments of his love); 12 eclogues written in imitation of Virgil's Bucolics; a number of polemical works (“invective”) and speeches delivered by P. on various occasions (especially interesting was the speech delivered at the crowning of P. on the Capitol about the essence of poetry, in which he declares allegory to be the essence of poetry). Special mention should be made of P.'s two major historical works: "On famous men" (De viris illustribus) - a series of biographies of famous people of antiquity, conceived by P. as a scientific glorification of ancient Rome, and "On Memorable Things" (De rebus memorandis, in 4 books) - a collection of anecdotal extracts from Latin authors, as well as anecdotes from modern life, grouped under moral headings. A whole treatise in the second book of this work is devoted to the question of witticisms and jokes, and numerous illustrations to this treatise allow P. to be recognized as the creator of the genre of a short novel-anecdote in Latin, which was further developed in Poggio's Facetsii (1450) (see). A very special place among P.'s works is occupied by his "Syrian Guide" (Itinerarium Syriacum) - a description of the sights on the way from Genoa to Palestine - in which religious interest gives way to the curiosity of an enlightened traveler and the medieval pilgrimage is replaced by a bourgeois tourist.
If the Latin works of P. have more historical significance, then his world fame as a poet is based solely on his Italian poetry. P. himself treated them with disdain, as “trifles”, “trinkets”, which he wrote not for the public, but for himself, striving “somehow, not for the sake of fame, to relieve a mournful heart.” Immediacy, deep sincerity Italian. P.'s poems determined their enormous influence on contemporaries and later generations.
Like all his predecessors, Provencal and Italian, P. sees the task of poetry in the glorification of the beautiful and cruel "Madonna" (lady). He calls his beloved Laura and reports about her only that he first saw her in the church of Santa Chiara on April 6, 1327 and that exactly 21 years later she died, after which he sang about her for another 10 years, breaking the collection of sonnets and canzones dedicated to her ( commonly called "Canzoniere") into 2 parts: "for the life" and "for the death of Madonna Laura". Like the poets “dolce stil nuovo” (see), P. idealizes Laura, makes her the center of all perfections, states the cleansing and ennobling effect of her beauty on his psyche. But Laura does not lose her real outlines, does not become an allegorical figure, an incorporeal symbol of truth and virtue. She remains a real beautiful woman, whom the poet admires like an artist, finding new colors to describe her beauty, capturing the original and unique that is in her given pose, this situation. These experiences of Petrarch are the main and only content of the collection "Canzoniere", which can be called a genuine "poetic confession" of Petrarch, revealing the contradictions of his psyche, the same painful split between old and new morality, between sensual love and consciousness of its sinfulness. Petrarch skillfully portrays the struggle with his own feelings, his futile desire to suppress it. Thus, the ideological conflict that dominates the consciousness of P. imparts drama to his love lyrics, causes the dynamics of images that grow, collide, and turn into their own opposite. This struggle ends with the consciousness of the insolubility of the conflict. In the second part of "Canzoniere", dedicated to the dead Laura, complaints about the cruelty of her beloved are replaced by grief for her loss. The image of the beloved becomes more alive and touching. Laura throws off the guise of a "cruel" Madonna, dating back to the courtly lyrics of the troubadours. Bourgeois spontaneity wins over the chivalrous posture. At the same time, the passionate struggle against feeling also ends, because this feeling is spiritualized, cleansed of everything earthly. Thus, a new contradiction is created, which at times revives the old conflict. The poet is aware of the sinfulness of his love for the "saint" Laura, who enjoys the sight of God, and he asks the Virgin Mary to beg God's forgiveness for him. A certain inconsistency is also characteristic of the artistic form of "Canzoniere". Based on the "dark" manner of "dolce stil nuovo", P. creates canzones that amaze with elegance and clarity of form. He carefully finishes his poems, taking care of their melody and artistic transparency. At the same time, P.'s canzones are characterized by elements of precision. They often contain pretentious antitheses, magnificent metaphors, a play on words and rhymes, which suppress the poet's lyrical impulse with their precise massiveness. The images of "Canzoniere" are characterized by great convexity and concreteness, and at the same time their clear outlines are sometimes blurred in a stream of rhetorical affectation. In the 16th century (“Petrarchists”) and in the Baroque era, on the basis of a degrading aristocratic culture, this second side of P.'s work gained particular popularity. However, she is not the leader in Canzoniere. The passionate search for synthesis, reconciliation of contradictions, prompts P. at the end of his life to return back to the old poetic tradition. He turns from the "low" genre of love lyrics to the "high" genre of the moral-allegorical poem in the manner of Dante and his imitators. In 1356, he begins a poem in the terzan "Triumphs" (I trionfi), in which he tries to connect the apotheosis of Laura, the embodiment of purity and holiness, with the image of the fate of mankind. But for the bourgeoisie of the second half of the XIV century. so scholarly and allegorical. poetry was a passed stage, and P.'s plan was not crowned with success.
The historical significance of P.'s lyrics comes down to the liberation of Italian poetry from mysticism, abstraction and allegorism (dolce stil nuovo). For the first time in P., love lyrics became an objective justification and glorification of real, earthly passion. Because of this, she played a colossal role in the spread and establishment of the bourgeois-humanistic worldview with its hedonism, individualism and the rehabilitation of earthly ties, causing imitation in all European countries.
But P. was not only a singer of love. He was a patriotic poet, citizen, ideologist of a united great Italy, heir to Roman glory, "mentor of peoples." His canzones "Italia mia" and "Spirito gentil" became for many centuries a symbol of faith of all Italian patriots, fighters for the unification of Italy. In our day, the fascists also count P. among their forerunners, demagogically speculating on P.'s nationalism, which in his era was a deeply progressive fact, but in our day is a weapon of struggle against the growing international movement of the working class, which brings the death of a decaying, reactionary bourgeoisie. Bibliography:

I. Russian translations: Selected sonnets and canzones in translations by Russian writers, St. Petersburg, 1898 (“Russian Classy Bib-ka” by A. N. Chudinov); Autobiography - Confession - Sonnets, transl. M. Gershenzon and Vyach. Ivanova, ed. M. and S. Sabashnikov, M., 1915; P.'s writings in Italian. and Latin. lang. have a very large number of publications. Complete collection. sochin.: 1554, 1581 (and earlier); national edition: 1926 et seq. P.'s letters: Petrarchae epistolae de rebus familiaribus et variae, ed. G. Fracassetti, 3 vv., Firenze, 1859-1863; in Italian lang., with notes. G. Fracassetti, 5 vv., Firenze, 1863-1867; Le rime di F. Petrarca restituite nell'ordine e nella lezione del testounico originario, ediz. curata da G. Mestica, Firenze, 1596; Il Canzoniere di F. Petrarca riprodotto letteralmente, ediz. curata da E. Modigliani, Roma, 1904; Le rime di F. Petrarca secondo la revisione ultima del poeta, a cura di G. Salvo Cozzo, Firenze, 1904 (most convenient edition); Die Triumphe Fr. Petrarca's in kritischem Texte, hrsg. v. C. Appel, Halle, 1901; Rime disperse di F. Petrarca o a lui attribuite raccolte a cura bi A. Solerti, Firenze, 1909.

II. Korelin M., Petrarch as a politician, "Russian Thought", 1888, book. V and VIII; His own, F. Petrarch's Worldview, Moscow, 1899; His, Early Italian Humanism, vol. II, F. Petrarch, his critics and biographers, ed. 2nd, St. Petersburg, 1914; Gaspari A., History of Italian literature, vol. I, M., 1895, ch. XIII and XIV; Gershenzon M., Petrarch, "A book for reading on the history of the Middle Ages", Edited by prof. Vinogradov, issue IV, Moscow, 1899; Shepelevich L., On the occasion of the six hundredth anniversary of Petrarch, Vestnik Evropy, 1904, XI; His own, Patriotism of Petrarch, in the book. "Historical and literary studies", St. Petersburg, 1905; Veselovsky Al-dr, Petrarch in the poetic confession "Canzoniere", M., 1905, and "Coll. sochin." A. N. Veselovsky, volume IV, issue I, St. Petersburg, 1909 (the best Russian work on Petrarch); Nekrasov A.I., Love lyrics by F. Petrarch, Warsaw, 1912; Charsky E., Petrarch (Poet-humanist), edition of "Frontiers", Berlin, 1923; Zumbini B., Studi sul Petrarca, Napoli, 1878; Same, Firenze, 1895; Nolhac P., de, Petrarque et l'humanisme, Paris, 1892; Mezieres A., Petrarque, nouv. ed., P., 1895; Cesareo G. A., Sulle poesie volgari del Petrarca, note e ricerche, Rocca S. Casciano, 1898; Festa N., Saggio sull'Africa del Petrarca, Palermo, 1926; Sanctis F., de, Saggio critico sul Petrarca, 6th ed., Napoli, 1927; Croce B., Sulla poesia del Petrarca, in Sat. "Atti della r. Accademia di scienze morali e politiche, v. LII, Napoli, 1928; Gustarelli A., F. Petrarca. "Il canzoniere" e "I trionfi", Milano, 1929; Rossi V., Studi sul Petrarca e sul Rinascimento, Firenze, 1930; Tonelli L., Pertarca, 2nd ed., Milano, 1930; Penco, E., Il Pertarca viaggiatore, ed. rived., Geneva, 1932.

III. Hortis A., Catalogo delle opere di Fr. Petrarca, Trieste, 1874; Ferrazzi G. J., Bibliografia petrarchesca - "Manuale Dantesco", v. V, Bassano, 1877; Calvi E., Bibliografia analitica petrarchesca (1877-1904), Roma, 1904; Fowler M., Catalog of the Petrarch Collection bequeathed to the Cornell Univers. Library by W. Fiske, Oxford, 1917. See also the bibliography of Art. "Renaissance".

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Petrarch

(Petrarca) Francesco (real name Petracco; 1304, Arezzo - 1374, Arcua, near Padua), Italian poet. Born in the family of Dante's political ally, who was expelled from Florence at the same time. As a child, he studied Latin and ancient Roman literature. After graduating from the University of Bologna, he became a priest and served in Avignon, where the papacy was located at that time.

According to the legend, which the poet himself put together, he began to write poetry after on April 6, 1327, in the Avignon church of Saint-Clair, he met a young lady with whom he fell in love and whom he sang for many years under the name of Laura. The legend partly resembles the story of Dante's love for Beatrice, so some researchers doubt that Laura really existed, and consider her, like Beatrice, philosophical symbol. The book of poems that the author wrote for about half a century (1327-70) and which he divided into two parts - "On the Life of the Madonna Laura" and "On the Death of the Madonna Laura" - is usually called "Canzoniere" ("Book of Songs"). This is the most famous work of the poet, and it consists of 317 sonnets, 29 canzone, 9 sextin, 7 ballads and 4 madrigals.

If the Canzoniere and the allegorical poem Triumphs (published in 1470) were written in Italian, then the other works of the poet were written in Latin: the treatises On Glorious Men (begun in 1337), On Memorable Things (begun in 1342). -43), "On a solitary life" (1345-47), "On monastic leisure" (1346-47), the epic poem "Africa" ​​(1338-42), the philosophical dialogue "On contempt for the world" (1342-43) , eclogues "Bucoliki" (1345-47), "Poetic epistles" (begun in 1345).
The work of Petrarch is diverse, but it was the sonnets that brought the author all-Italian fame during his lifetime: in 1341 he was recognized as a poet laureate and crowned in Rome with a laurel wreath (one of the meanings of the name Laura is “laurel”, the emblem of glory). It was the sonnets that brought him posthumous pan-European fame: the Italian form of the sonnet, popularized and improved by Petrarch, is today called “Petrarchian” in his honor.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Under the editorship of prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

- the famous Italian poet, philosopher, creator of the humanistic culture of the Renaissance. Born July 20, 1304 in Italy, the city of Arezzo. The father of the future poet was a Florentine notary, however, like Dante, he was expelled from Florence as a member of the "white" party. When the boy was nine years old, his parents moved to Avignon. While studying at school, Francesco showed a particular interest in Latin and Roman literature. In 1319, at the request of his father, Petrarch began to study law, in 1320 he entered the University of Bologna. While studying at the university, Petrarch became more and more convinced that jurisprudence did not interest him at all. He is increasingly interested in literature, the works of the great classics. By the time he graduated from the university, his father dies (1326), Petrarch abandons his career as a lawyer.

In order to have a livelihood, Petrarch, at the age of 22, takes the priesthood. As a legacy from his father, Petrarch received only a manuscript of the works of Virgil. In Avignon, Petrarch settled at the papal court. Here he became close to the very rich and influential family of Colonna through his university friend Giacomo, who was a member of this family. On April 6, 1327, the most important, most striking and sublime event in the life of Petrarch took place. In the church of St. Clare, he first saw and fell in love with a delightful and beautiful, like an angel, a young lady, whose name was Laura. He will carry his love for a beautiful lady through his whole life and remain faithful to her even after her death. Unrequited love for Laura will force him to retire from Avignon and retire to Vaucluse.

Love lyrics in the work of Petrarch occupies a special place. He conveys his deep feeling for Laura in the poems "Canzoniere", consisting of two parts. The first is “On the Life of the Madonna Laura”, the second is “On the Death of the Madonna Laura”. The Canzoniere contains 317 sonnets, 9 sextins, 29 canzones, 4 madrigals and 7 ballads. The lyrics of Petrarch became a new stage in the development of not only Italian, but also European poetry in general. The poetic form of Petrarch is perfect, the images are elegant, the verse is musical. The stylistic devices he uses, which reflect the confusion in his soul and give drama to the sonnets, absolutely do not violate the smoothness and harmony of his verse.

In 1354, Petrarch wrote the allegorical poem Triumphs in terzan, which he also dedicated to Laura. The literary works of Petrarch played a huge role in the development
European poetry. He, along with Dante and Boccaccio, is considered the creators of the amazing Italian literary language. Among the lyrical poems, the poet also has political ones. In the canzone "My Italy", with pain and bitterness, Petrarch reveals the fragmentation of the country, anarchy and civil strife that reigns in it. To save the Italian people, he calls on Cola di Rienzo, to whom he dedicated the canzone "Noble Spirit". In the years 1339-1342 Petrarch creates in the style of "Aeneid" the Latin poem "Africa", which tells about the second Punic War. In 1342-1343, Petrarch wrote a philosophical treatise in Latin "On Contempt for the World."

Literary works of Petrarch and his letters brought him success and fame. Almost at the same time, Petrarch received an invitation from Naples, Paris and Rome to be crowned with a laurel wreath. Having chosen Rome in 1341, Petrarch was solemnly crowned with a laurel wreath. His talent is rich and multifaceted. A writer and poet who received love, fame and recognition during his lifetime, Petrarch was a tireless traveler, an excellent connoisseur of ancient literature, a connoisseur of nature and all that is beautiful, a scientist, a thinker. He became the first who in 1336 officially registered his ascent (together with his brother) to the top of Mont Ventoux. Petrarch in the last years of his life was in Padua at the court of Francesco da Carrara or in the suburban village of Arqua, where he died on July 19, 1374, one day before his 70th birthday.

Francesco Petrarca (Petrarca) - the greatest of the Italian lyric poets and at the same time one of the greatest scientists of that era was born July 20, 1304, died July 18, 1374. His father Petracco (i.e. Pietro) di Parenzo, as a member of the White Party together with Dante and others, he was expelled from Florence in 1302 and went to Avignon, where the papal court soon moved. The young Francesco's teacher was the grammarian Convenevole da Prato. Petrarch then listened to law in Montpellier and Bologna.

Francesco Petrarch. Artist Andrea del Castagno. OK. 1450

In 1325 he returned to Avignon and after the death of his parents (1326) entered the clergy. In 1333 Petrarch traveled through Paris, Ghent, Flanders and Brabant to Luttich, where he opened two of Cicero's speeches. For a Latin message to Pope Benedict XII with a plea addressed to him to return from Avignon to Rome, Petrarch received his first parish in 1335 - a canon in Lombets. Near Avignon, in the charming valley of Sorga, at the source of Vaucluse, so famous thanks to Petrarch, the Italian poet bought himself a small house, in which he spent several years in complete silence, deepened in studies. Many of his best poems to Laura were written by him here. The poetic works of Francesco Petrarch soon brought him great fame. The Roman Senate and the Chancellor of the University of Paris simultaneously invited the poet to crown him with a poetic crown. Petrarch decided to accept the laurels offered to him by Rome, and was crowned with them from the hands of the Senator Orso del Aniljar on the first day of Easter (April 8) 1341 in the Capitol. For a new message to the pope, the poet received the Priory of Migliarino in the diocese of Pisa.

From the end of May 1342 to the beginning of September 1343, Petrarch lived in Avignon, where he met Cola di Rienzi. During this period of time, Petrarch wrote the book "On Contempt for the World" ("De contemptu mundi"). Byzantine Varlaam taught him elementary knowledge of the Greek language. In September 1343, the pope sent Petrarch to Naples to protect the supreme rights of the papacy there. In 1346 Petrarch received the prebend, and later (1350) the archdeaconate in Parma. The news of the uprising of the Roman people against their noble tyrant and the elevation of Cola di Rienzi to the rank of tribune of the people (1347) inspired the poet, and he wrote his famous epistle to Cola di Rienzi and to the Roman people.

At the end of the year, Francesco Petrarch went to Parma, where on May 19, 1348 he received the news of Laura's death. In 1350 Petrarch went to Rome for the jubilee. On the way there, he visited his native city of Florence for the first time, and here he became close friends with Boccaccio. In May 1353, Petrarch left Avignon forever and spent the last 21 years of his life in Upper Italy. At first he lived at the court of the ruler of Milan, Archbishop Giovanni Visconti. Emperor Charles IV during a visit to Italy he received Petrarch with the utmost kindness (1354). The rumor that the emperor intended to undertake a new campaign in Italy prompted Petrarch in 1356 to write a letter to Charles IV in Prague. While living in Milan, Petrarch began to write two books for his friend Azzo da Correggio, De remedies utriusque fortunae. In 1360, Petrarch was instructed to go as ambassador to French King John. From 1362 to 1368, Francesco Petrarch's main residence was Venice. Then he left there and spent the last years of his life alternately in Padua and the village of Akua in the family of his daughter. Here Petrarch died of a blow in the library, bending over a tome.

Most of the works of Francesco Petrarch are written in Latin. On it were created: "Africa" ​​(completed 1342), an epic poem in hexameters, interpreting the deeds of Scipio the African Senior; Bucolic Songs (Carmen Bucolicum), an imitation of Virgil's Bucolics from Eclogue 12 (1346-1356), with numerous allusions, personal and political; "Epistolae metricae", divided into three books and addressed to different persons. Of Petrarch's moralizing treatises, let us also mention "On a lonely life" ("De vita solitaria", 1346 - 1356). From the historical works of Francesco Petrarca, we will mention: "Rerum memorandarum" (four books of short historical, anecdotal and legendary narratives); "On famous men" ("De viris illustribus"). Of all the Latin works of Petrarch, the first place, both in terms of volume and significance for his biography and the history of his time, is occupied by his correspondence. The poet's letters fall into "Rerum familiarium" (family), "Rerum senilium" (senile), "Rerum variarum" (various) and "Sine titulo" (no address).

The national-literary significance of Francesco Petrarch is based on his Italian poems, which he himself considered very insignificant. This is "Canzoniere" or "Rime" (canzones, sonnets, sestinas, ballads, madrigals), which received the meaning of the poetic charter of all love dreams. The lyrics of Petrarch were influenced by Provencal poetry and some ancient Italian poets. Ease and purity of language, richness and variety of thoughts, expressions and images, subtle taste and feeling distinguish Petrarch from all other Italian poets. The collection of poems by Francesco Petrarch consists of two parts: "On the Life of the Madonna Laura" and "On the Death of the Madonna Laura". Already in old age. Petrarch wrote the allegorical-moral work Triumphs, the form of which was clearly influenced by Dante's poetry. There are also a number of Petrarch's poems that he did not include in the Canzoniere, and therefore called Estravaganti.

Italian poems, namely his "Canzoniere" by Francesco Petrarch, usually not quite correctly called "Sonnets", have gone through countless editions.