Francesco Petrarch is an Italian poet of the 14th century who became the founder of early humanism. Considered a mentor by the writer-monk Barlaam of Calabria, he played a major role in the Italian Proto-Renaissance and became a cult poet of the Middle Ages.
Francesco Petrarch was born in Arezzo on July 20, 1304. His father was Pietro di Ser Parenzo, a Florentine lawyer who was expelled from Florence at the same time as Dante for supporting the “white” party. Parenzo had the nickname “Petracco” - probably because of this, the poet’s pseudonym was subsequently formed. The Parenzo family moved from one city in Tuscany to another, and when Francesco was nine years old, they settled in Avignon, France. Subsequently, Petrarch's mother moved to the neighboring city of Carpentras.
In Avignon, the boy began to attend school, studied Latin and began to become interested in works of Roman literature. In 1319, Francesco graduated from school, after which his father advised him to study law. Although jurisprudence was not close to Francesco, the guy fulfilled his father’s wishes by entering Montpellier, and soon the University of Bologna. In 1326, Petrarch’s father died, and the young man himself finally realized that classical writers were much more interesting to him than legislative acts.
The only inheritance that Francesco received after his father's death was the manuscript of Virgil's works. Partly due to the difficult financial situation, partly due to the desire for spiritual enlightenment, after graduating from university, Petrarch decided to accept the priesthood. The Italian settled at the papal court in Avignon and became close to representatives of the authoritative Colonna family (Giacomo Colonna is a friend from his university days).
In 1327, Francesco first saw Laura de Nove, whose unrequited love for whom prompted him to write poetry, considered the pinnacle of excellence in the field of Italian sonnets.
Creation
Petrarch's greatest popularity came from his poetic works written in Italian. The vast majority is dedicated to Laura de Nov (although her full name is still a mystery, and Laura de Nov is only the most suitable candidate for the role of Petrarch's muse). The poet himself only reports about his beloved that her name is Laura, whom he first saw on April 6, 1327 in the church of Santa Chiara, and that on April 6, 1348, this woman died. After Laura's death, Francesco sang of this love for ten years.
The collection of canzonas and sonnets dedicated to Laura is called “II Canzoniere” or “Rime Sparse”. The collection consists of two parts. Although most of the works included in it describe Petrarch’s love for Laura, there was also room in “Canzoniere” for several poems of other content: religious and political. Even before the beginning of the seventeenth century, this collection was reprinted two hundred times. Reviews of the sonnets contained in “Canzoniere” were written by poets and scholars from different countries, recognizing the undeniable significance of Francesco’s works for the development of Italian and world literature.
It is noteworthy that Petrarch himself did not take his Italian poetic works seriously. Although it was the poems that ensured success with the public, and initially Petrarch wrote exclusively for himself and perceived them as trifles and trifles that helped him ease his soul. But their sincerity and spontaneity appealed to the taste of the world community, and as a result, these works influenced both Petrarch’s contemporaries and the writers of subsequent generations.
Petrarch’s Italian-language poem entitled “Triumphs” is also widely known, in which his philosophy of life was expressed. In it, the author, with the help of allegories, talks about a chain of victories: love defeats man, chastity - love, death - chastity, glory - death, time - glory, and, finally, eternity defeats time.
Francesco's Italian sonnets, canzones, and madrigals influenced not only poetry, but also music. Composers of the 14th (while the Renaissance lasted) and then the 19th centuries used these poems as the basis for their musical works. For example, he wrote “Sonnets of Petrarch” for piano under the deep impression of the poet’s poems dedicated to Laura.
Books in Latin
Francesco's significant works written in Latin include the following books:
- Autobiography “Epistola ad posteros” in the format of a letter to future generations. In this work, Petrarch sets out the story of his life from the outside (talks about the key events that happened along his life path).
- Autobiography "De contempu mundi", which translates as "On contempt for the world." The author wrote this work in the format of a dialogue with St. Augustine. The poet's second autobiography tells not so much about the external manifestations of his life story, but about his internal development, the struggle between personal desires and ascetic morality, and so on. The dialogue with Augustine turns into a kind of duel between the humanistic and religious-ascetic worldviews, in which humanism still wins.
- Invective (angry accusatory speeches) towards representatives of the cultural, political, religious spheres. Petrarch was one of the first creative figures capable of looking at the statements, teachings and beliefs of our time from a critical point of view. Thus, his invective against the doctor, who considered science more important than eloquence and poetry, is widely known. Francesco also spoke out against a number of French prelates (representatives of the highest Catholic clergy), against the Averroists (followers of the popular philosophical teaching of the 13th century), Roman scientists of yesteryear, and so on.
- “Letters without an Address” are works in which the author boldly criticizes the depraved morals of 14th-century Rome. Petrarch was a deeply devout Catholic throughout his life, but he did not feel reverence for the highest clergy, whose behavior he considered unacceptable, and did not hesitate to openly criticize them. “Letters without an address” are addressed either to fictional characters or to real people. Francesco borrowed ideas for writing works in this format from Cicero and Seneca.
- "Africa" is an epic poem dedicated to the exploits of Scipio. It also contains prayers and penitential psalms.
Personal life
The love of Petrarch's life was Laura, whose identity has not yet been established for certain. After meeting this girl, the poet, for three years spent in Avignon, hoped to catch her chance glance in the church. In 1330, the poet moved to Lombe, and seven years later he bought an estate in Vaucluse to live near Laura. Having taken holy orders, Petrarch did not have the right to marry, but he did not shy away from carnal relations with other women. The story goes that Petrarch had two illegitimate children.
Laura herself, apparently, was a married woman, a faithful wife and mother of eleven children. The last time the poet saw his beloved was on September 27, 1347, and in 1348 the woman died.
The exact cause of death is unknown, but historians believe that it could have been the plague, which killed a large part of the population of Avignon in 1348. In addition, Laura could have died due to exhaustion due to frequent childbirth and tuberculosis. It is unknown whether Petrarch spoke about feelings, and whether Laura knew about his existence.
The poets note that if Laura had become Francesco’s legal wife, he would hardly have written so many heartfelt sonnets in her honor. For example, Byron spoke about this, as did the Soviet poet Igor Guberman. In their opinion, it was the remoteness of his beloved, the inability to be with her, that allowed Petrarch to write works that had a huge impact on all world literature.
Death
Even during Petrarch's lifetime, his literary works were appreciated by the public, and as a result he received invitations to the coronation with a laurel wreath from Naples, Paris and Rome (almost simultaneously). The poet chose Rome, where he was crowned with a laurel wreath on the Capitol on Easter 1341. Until 1353, he lived on his estate in Vaucluse, periodically leaving it for travel or preaching missions.
Leaving this place forever in the early 1350s, Francesco decided to settle in Milan, although he was offered a job at the department in Florence. Having settled at the Visconti court, he began carrying out diplomatic missions.
Subsequently, the poet wanted to return to his native Avignon, but tense relations with authoritative Italian families prevented him from doing so. As a result, he moved to Venice and settled near the family of his illegitimate daughter.
But here Petrarch did not stay long: he regularly traveled to various Italian cities, and in the last months of his life he ended up in the small village of Arqua. There the poet died on the night of July 18-19, 1374, when he had only one day to live before his 70th birthday. The story goes that Francesco passed away at the table, sitting over his biography work with a pen in his hand. He was buried in the local cemetery.
Bibliography
- Book of Songs
- Triumphs
- About contempt for the world
- Book about famous men
- Letter to descendants
- Letters without an address
- Bucolic songs
- Penitential Psalms
On April 6, 1327, the first meeting took place Francesco Petrarch With Laura. A married woman became a permanent muse for the great poet, a sublime and unattainable dream. At the same time, it is unknown whether Laura herself knew about his feelings or not.
366 sonnets
I bless the day, the minute, the shares
Minutes, time of year, month, year,
Both the place and the chapel are wonderful,
Where a bright look doomed me to captivity
She was twenty years old, he was twenty-three. Their meeting could not be the beginning of a happy love story: Laura was already married, and Petrarch was under a vow of celibacy. The lover could only cast languid glances at the Beautiful Lady and sing her praises in his sonnets, canzones, sextinas, ballads, madrigals...
The poet combined 366 sonnets dedicated to Laura into the “Book of Songs”, which glorified not only his feelings, but also poetry itself - glorifying the love of a man for a woman, and not a slave for God, Petrarch marked the beginning of the Proto-Renaissance era (a stage in the history of Italian culture, preceding the Renaissance).
Altichiero da Zevio, portrait of Petrarch. Source: Public Domain
Angel in the flesh
The poet, who preferred to lead a wandering life, spent another three years after the fateful meeting in Avignon. Researchers do not know the answer to the question: did they exchange at least one word during this time? Did Laura know about the passionate feelings of the great Italian? But there is no doubt that Petrarch’s Muse was a worthy wife, and in the eyes of a lover she is a real angel:
Among thousands of women there was only one,
Invisibly struck my heart.
Only with the appearance of a good seraphim
She could match her beauty.
Historians are inclined to believe that Petrarch's Muse was Laura De Nov - the golden-haired daughter of the Syndic of Avignon Audiberta de Nov, mother of 11 children. However, Petrarch's love is in many ways like history Dante Alighieri And Beatrice- in both cases, skeptics doubt the real existence of the Muses. In their opinion, the Beautiful Ladies were just a figment of the imagination of romantic poets.
Laura, drawing from the 15th century (?) Laurentian Library. Source: Public Domain
Laura's name is not mentioned in any of Petrarch's letters (with the exception of a letter to descendants, where he talks about his past love, and a letter where he refutes accusations that she is not real). Basic information about Laura can be gleaned from Petrarch’s handwritten notes and his poetic lines, where her name is usually found in a play on words - golden, laurel, air. But the credibility of the image of the Muse is given by the fact that the poet once ordered a cameo with her portrait from an artist from the Avignon Curia:
This beautiful face tells us,
That on Earth she is a dweller of heaven,
Those best places where the spirit is not hidden by flesh,
And that such a portrait could not be born,
When the Artist from unearthly orbits
I came here to marvel at mortal wives
Petrarch justified his fanatical platonic love by the fact that it was she who helped him get rid of earthly weaknesses, it was she who elevated him. But even this noble feeling did not prevent the famous poet from having two illegitimate children from different women (history is silent about their names).
Mary Spartali Stillman. "The first meeting of Petrarch and Laura."
Among Petrarch's works are treatises, sonnets, canzones, sextinas, ballads, madrigals in Latin and Italian: "Canzoniere" ("Book of Songs", Canzoniere, 1327-1374; consists of 2 parts, "On the Life of Madonna Laura" and "On death of Madonna Laura" containing 366 poems in Italian: 317 sonnets, 29 canzones, 9 sextins, 7 ballads and 4 madrigals; in the latest edition of 1373 the collection is entitled Rerum vulgarium fragmenta - "Passages in the vernacular language"), "Africa" (Africa , 1339-1342; epic poem in Latin about the 2nd Punic War), “My secret, or the Book of conversations about contempt for the world” (“De coutemptu mundi” or “De secreto conflictu curarum suarum”, 1342 - 1343; autobiography in the form of a dialogue between Petrarch and St. Augustine - a philosophical treatise in Latin), "The Triumph of Love" (Triumphus Cupidinis, 1342 - 1343; didactic poem), "The Triumph of Chastity" (Triumphus Pudicitie, 1342 - 1343; didactic poem), "Bucolics" (Basolicum carmen in XII aeglogas distinctum, 1346-1357; pastoral eclogues of allegorical content), “On the solitary life” (De vita solitaria, 1346; treatise), “On monastic leisure” (De otio religioso, 1347; treatise), “Triumphus Mortis” (Triumphus Mortis, 1350; poem), “Triumphus Fame” (Triumphus Fame, 1350; poem), “Invective against doctors” ( Invectiva contro medicum, 1351 - 1353), "On remedies against all fortune" (De remediis ultriusque fortunae, 1353 - 1354; more than 250 dialogues), "Senile letters" (Seniles, 1361 - 1374; 125 letters, divided into 17 books) , “Triumphs” (1373; the final version included six successive “triumphs”: Love, Chastity, Death, Glory, Time and Eternity), “Letter to Posterity” (Epistola ad posteros, 1374; unfinished autobiography in the form of a letter to posterity) ; treatises concerning ethical issues: “De remediis utriusque fortunae”, “De vita solitaria”, “De otio religioso”, “De vera sapientia”; "Letters without an address" (Epistolae sine titulo); "De rebus memorandis libri IV" (a collection of anecdotes and sayings borrowed from Latin authors and modern times, arranged according to headings); "Vitae virorum illustrium" (biographies of famous Romans); letters (“Epistolae de rebus fami iaribus et variae libri XXV”, “Epistolae seniles libri XVII”); "The Way to Syria" (Itinerarium syriacum, guide to the Holy Land), "Philology" (Filologia, comedy lost) (Petrarca, Francesco) (1304–1374) Italian poet, a recognized literary arbiter of his time and the forerunner of the European humanist movement.
Born on July 20, 1304 in Arezzo, where his father, a Florentine notary, fled due to political unrest. Seven months later, Francesco's mother took him to Ancisa, 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 his 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 earn a living, Petrarch decided to take orders. 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 acquired a small estate in the Vaucluse, a valley near Avignon. There he began two works in Latin - the epic poem Africa (Africa) about the conqueror of Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, and the book On Glorious Men (De viris illustribus) - a set of biographies of outstanding people of antiquity. At the same time he began to write lyric poetry in Italian, poetry and letters in Latin, and began writing the comedy Filologia, now lost. By 1340, Petrarch's literary activity, his connections with the papal court and his long travels had earned him European fame. On April 8, 1341, by decision of the Roman Senate, he was crowned poet laureate.
Petrarch spent 1342–1343 in Vaucluse, where he continued to work on an epic poem and biographies, and also, based on the model of the Confession of St. Augustine, wrote the book of confession 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 cardinal virtues in the form of a collection of anecdotes and biographies; didactic poems Triumph of Love (Triumphus Cupidinis) and Triumph of Chastity (Triumphus Pudicitie), written in terzas; and the first edition of a book of lyric poetry in Italian – Canzoniere.
Towards the end of 1343, Petrarch went to Parma, where he stayed until the beginning of 1345. In Parma, he continued 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 greeted the uprising raised in Rome by Cola di Rienzo (later suppressed). During this period, he wrote eight of the twelve allegorical eclogues Bucolic songs (Bucolicum carmen, 1346–1357), two prose treatises: On the solitary life (De vita solitaria, 1346) and On monastic leisure (De otio religioso, 1347) - on the beneficial influence solitary life and idleness on the creative mind, and also began the second edition of Canzoniere.
Perhaps it was sympathy for the uprising of Cola di Rienzo that prompted Petrarch to undertake a trip to Italy in 1347. However, his desire to join the revolt in Rome faded as soon as he learned of the atrocities committed by Cola. He stopped again in Parma. In 1348, the 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), began the poem Triumph of Glory (Triumphus Fame), and also began Poetic Epistles (Epistolae metricae) and letters in prose.
Petrarch spent the years 1351–1353 mainly in Vaucluse, paying special attention to public life, especially the state of affairs at the papal court. At the same time, he wrote Invectiva contro medicum, criticizing the methods of the pope's treating doctors. 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 served as secretary, orator and emissary. At the same time he completed Bucolic Songs and the collection Without an Address; began a lengthy essay On Remedies Against All 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 completed work on the collection Poetic Epistles, as well as the collection Letters on Private Affairs (Familiarum rerum libri XXIV), which included 350 letters in Latin. At the same time, Petrarch began another collection, Letters of the Senile (Seniles), which ultimately 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 about his own and other people’s ignorance (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 in Padua for a time. After the defeat of Padua, he and its ruler went to Venice to negotiate peace. In the last seven years of his life, Petraraca continued to improve Canzoniere (in the last edition of 1373 the collection was entitled in Latin Rerum vulgarium fragmenta - Passages 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 in Arqua on July 19, 1374. Petrarch revised the cultural heritage of antiquity, carefully analyzing the texts of ancient writers and restoring their original form. He himself felt himself standing at the junction of two eras. He considered his age to be decadent and vicious, but he could not help but adopt some of its predilections. Such are, for example, 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 virtues as the 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 demands placed on a Christian. It is to him that Petrarch's poetry owes its highest soars. The immediate sources of inspiration were unrequited love for Laura and admiration for the valor and virtues of the ancients, embodied mainly in the figure of Scipio Africanus the Elder. Petrarch considered Africa his main achievement, but his “miraculous monument” was the Canzoniere - 366 various Italian poems, mainly dedicated to Laura. The sublime lyricism of these poems cannot be explained solely by the influence on Petrarch of the poetry of the Provençal 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 into his “book of songs” a new, deeply personal and lyrical experience of love, putting it into a new artistic form. While he bows to the achievements of ancient heroes and thinkers, Petrarch at the same time views their achievements as a sign of a deep need for moral rebirth and redemption, a 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. This same refraction of pagan mythology in the prism of the Christian worldview is also present in Petrarch’s love lyrics, where as a result the theme of redemption is heard. 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 intractable conflict, the redemption, consists more 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. Thus, 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 the poetic tradition, which began with Andrei Capellan and ended with a “sweet new style,” nevertheless, neither love nor the beloved are something unearthly, transcendental for him. Admiring ancient authors, Petrarch developed a Latin style, which was much more perfect than the Latin of that time. He did not attach any importance to writings in Italian. Perhaps this is why some of Canzoniere's poems have purely formal merits: in them he is carried away by wordplay, striking contrasts and strained metaphors. Unfortunately, it was precisely these traits that Petrarch’s imitators most readily adopted (the so-called Petrarchism). The Petrarchan sonnet, one of the two typical sonnet forms (along with Shakespeare's), is distinguished by a two-part division into an initial eight-line (octave) with the rhyme abba abba and a final six-line (sextet) with the rhyme cde cde. In one form or another, Petrarchism appeared in most European countries. Having reached its peak in the 16th century, it was periodically revived until recently. At an early stage, they imitated mainly the works of Petrarch in Latin, later the Triumphas and, finally, the Canzoniere, whose influence turned out to be the most lasting. Among the famous poets and writers of the Renaissance, who were influenced to one degree or another by Petrarch, are G. 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; C. Marot, J. Du Bellay, M. Seve, P. Ronsard and F. Deporte in France; J. Chaucer, T. Wyeth, G. H. Sarri, 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, the most notable of them being U. Foscolo and G. Leopardi in Italy; A. Lamartine, A. Musset and V. Hugo in France; G. W. Longfellow, J. R. Lowell and W. Irving in America.
Petrarch
Petrarch
PETRARCA Francesco (Francesco Petrarca, 1304-1374) - famous Italian poet, head of the older generation of humanists (see). The son of the Florentine notary Petracco, 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) he entered the clergy, which gave him access to the papal court, and entered the service of Cardinal Colonna (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 solitude for 4 years (1337-1341), and subsequently often returned here for rest and creative work. Most of P.'s works were written or conceived in Vaucluse, including the epic in Latin. “Africa” (9 books, 1338-1342), glorifying the conquest of Carthage by the Roman commander Scipio. Even before its completion, “Africa” brought P. the glory of a great poet and coronation with a laurel wreath in Rome on the Capitol, like the great men of antiquity (1341). From this moment on, Petrarch becomes the intellectual leader of the entire cultural world. He lives alternately in Italy and Avignon; Italian and foreign sovereigns invite P. to their place, shower him with honors and gifts, and ask for his advice.
P. used his unparalleled position for a writer and scientist to influence political affairs. He convinced Popes Benedict XII (1336) and Clement VI (1342) to move their throne to Rome, calling on Emperor Charles IV to unite Italy (1351-1363), etc. But almost all of P.’s political activities were fruitless due to the lack of clarity and firmness in his political views. Being, like Dante, a passionate patriot, an ideologist of the national unity of Italy, P. entrusted the care of this unification to the popes, then to the emperor, then to the Neapolitan king Robert. Dreaming of reviving 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 propagated the idea of the Roman Empire.
P.'s colossal authority was based primarily on his scientific activities. P. was the first humanist in Europe, an expert on ancient culture, and the founder of classical philology. He devoted his entire life to searching for, 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 had an almost superstitious character. He learned not only the language. and style, but also the way of thinking of ancient authors, wrote letters to them as friends, quoted them at every step. 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 of a new secular bourgeois culture.
But this militant individualist, who brought his personality to the fore, admired its complexity and versatility, this convinced pagan, who looked everywhere for echoes of the antiquity he adored and sought to rebuild modern life in an ancient way, was deprived of ideological integrity and consistency, was unable to break the threads , connecting him with medieval culture. Under the shell of a humanist, a believing Catholic lived in P., carrying a heavy burden of monastic, ascetic views and prejudices. All of P.'s works are permeated with these contradictions and are marked by the desire to eclectically combine elements of feudal-church and bourgeois-humanistic culture.
Of great interest in this regard are P.’s moral and philosophical treatises, written in Latin. P. contradicts himself at every step. Thus, if in the treatise “On the Solitary Life” (De vita solitaria, 1346) he puts forward, under the guise of praise for solitude, a purely humanistic ideal of “secure 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 escape from its temptations; but, even glorifying monasticism, P. remains a humanist, because he sees its essence not in feats of piety, but in philosophical contemplation. The same contradictions permeate the treatise “On remedies against all fortune” (De remediis utriusque fortunae, 1358-1366), in which P. teaches, in the manner of medieval moralists, about the frailty of everything that exists and the fickleness of fate, holding back from the enjoyment of earthly goods , interfering with the achievement of heavenly ones, but at the same time shows 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 puts forward the goal of philosophy not to know God, but to self-knowledge, the study of man, which should provide a strong support for 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 the blessed one. Augustine, who was one of P.’s favorite writers, she with amazing power reveals the spiritual discord and oppressive melancholy (acidia) of P., his powerlessness to reconcile the old and new person in himself and at the same time his reluctance to renounce worldly thoughts, from the thirst for knowledge, love, wealth and fame. So. arr. in the duel with Augustine, who personifies the religious-ascetic worldview, P.’s humanistic worldview nevertheless wins, which undoubtedly plays a leading role in the contradictory complex of his aspirations.
Of P.'s Latin works, in addition to those mentioned, it is also necessary to name: 4 books of his letters, addressed either to real or to imaginary persons - a unique literary genre, inspired by the letters of Cicero and Seneca and enjoyed enormous success both due to their masterful Latin style and due to their diversity and topical content (letters “without an address” - sine titulo - are especially curious, filled with sharp satirical attacks against the depraved morals of the papal capital - this “new Babylon”); 3 books of poetic messages (epistolae) (especially famous is epistle 1.7, 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 is the speech delivered at P.’s crowning on the Capitol about the essence of poetry, in which he declares allegory to be the essence of poetry). Particular 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. An entire treatise in the second book of this work is devoted to the issue of witticisms and jokes, and numerous illustrations to this treatise allow us to recognize P. as the creator of the genre of a short novella-anecdote in Latin, which was further developed in Poggio’s “Facetius” (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 pilgrim is replaced by a bourgeois tourist.
If P.'s Latin works have more historical significance, then his world fame as a poet is based solely on his Italian poems. 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 ease a sorrowful heart.” Spontaneity, deep sincerity Italian. P.'s poems determined their enormous influence on contemporaries and later generations.
Like all his predecessors, Provençal and Italian, P. sees the task of poetry in glorifying 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 her praises for another 10 years, compiling a collection of sonnets and canzones dedicated to her ( usually 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 focus 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 ethereal 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 what is peculiar 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 the consciousness of its sinfulness. Petrarch masterfully depicts the struggle with his own feelings, his vain desire to suppress it. Thus, the ideological conflict that dominates P.’s consciousness 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 realization that the conflict is insoluble. In the second part of “Canzoniere,” dedicated to the dead Laura, complaints about the cruelty of her beloved are replaced by grief over her loss. The image of the beloved becomes more alive and touching. Laura sheds the guise of a “cruel” Madonna, which goes back to the courtly lyrics of the troubadours. Bourgeois spontaneity defeats the knightly pose. At the same time, the passionate struggle against feeling also ends, since this feeling is spiritualized, cleansed of everything earthly. This creates a new contradiction, which at times revives the old conflict. The poet realizes the sinfulness of his love for “Saint” Laura, who is enjoying 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 “Canzoniere”. Starting from the “dark” manner of “dolce stil nuovo”, P. creates canzones that amaze with their grace 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 elaborate antitheses, lush metaphors, plays with words and rhymes, which with their precision massiveness suppress the poet’s lyrical impulse. The images of “Canzoniere” are characterized by great prominence and concreteness, and at the same time their clear outlines sometimes blur in the stream of rhetorical affectation. In the 16th century (“Petrarchists”) and in the Baroque era, on the basis of a degenerating aristocratic culture, this second side of P.’s creativity gained particular popularity. However, she is not the presenter in “Canzoniere”. A 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 moral and allegorical poem in the manner of Dante and his imitators. In 1356, he begins a poem in terzas “Triumphs” (I trionfi), in which he tries to connect the apotheosis of Laura, the embodiment of purity and holiness, with the image of the destinies of humanity. But for the bourgeoisie of the second half of the 14th century. so learned and allegorical. poetry was a passed stage, and P.’s plan was not crowned with success.
The historical significance of P.'s lyrics boils down to the liberation of Italian poetry from mysticism, abstraction and allegorism (dolce stil nuovo). For the first time, P.'s love lyrics became an objective justification and glorification of real, earthly passion. Because of this, it played a colossal role in the dissemination and establishment of the bourgeois-humanistic worldview with its hedonism, individualism and rehabilitation of earthly ties, causing imitations 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 nations.” His canzones “Italia mia” and “Spirito gentil” became for many centuries the symbol of faith of all Italian patriots, fighters for the unification of Italy. In our days, the fascists also included P. among their forerunners, demagogically speculating on P.’s nationalism, which in his era was a deeply progressive fact, but in our days 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 of Russian writers, St. Petersburg, 1898 (“Russian classroom library” by A. N. Chudinov); Autobiography - Confession - Sonnets, trans. M. Gershenzon and Vyach. Ivanova, ed. M. and S. Sabashnikov, M., 1915; P.'s works in Italian. and Latin language have a very large number of publications. Complete collection works: 1554, 1581 (and earlier); national edition: 1926 et seq. Letters of P.: Petrarchae epistolae de rebus familiaribus et variae, ed. G. Fracassetti, 3 vv., Firenze, 1859-1863; in Italian language, 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 (the 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, World Outlook by F. Petrarch, 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, “Bulletin of Europe”, 1904, XI; His same, 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 “Collected. composition." A. N. Veselovsky, volume IV, issue I, St. Petersburg, 1909 (the best Russian work on Petrarch); Nekrasov A.I., Love lyrics of F. Petrarch, Warsaw, 1912; Charsky E., Petrarch (Humanist Poet), edition "Grani", Berlin, 1923; Zumbini V., Studi sul Petrarca, Napoli, 1878; The 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, 6-a ed., Napoli, 1927; Croce V., Sulla poesia del Petrarca, in collection. “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, 2-a 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 bibliography to Art. "Renaissance".
Literary encyclopedia. - At 11 t.; M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Fritsche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .
Petrarch
(Petrarca) Francesco (real name Petracco; 1304, Arezzo - 1374, Arqua, near Padua), Italian poet. Born into the family of Dante's political ally, who was simultaneously expelled from Florence. 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 papal throne was located at that time.
According to the legend that the poet himself composed, 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 is partly reminiscent of Dante's love story for Beatrice, so some researchers doubt that Laura really existed and consider her, like Beatrice, to be philosophical symbol. The book of poems, which the author wrote for about half a century (1327-70) and which he divided into two parts - “On the Life of Madonna Laura” and “On the Death of Madonna Laura” - is usually called “Canzoniere” (“Book of Songs”). This is the poet's most famous work, and it consists of 317 sonnets, 29 canzon, 9 sextin, 7 ballads and 4 madrigals.
If “Canzoniere” and the allegorical poem “Triumphs” (published in 1470) were written in Italian, then the rest of the poet’s works are written in Latin: the treatises “On Glorious Men” (started in 1337), “On Memorable Things” (started in 1342 -43), “On the 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 “Bucolics” (1345-47), “Poetic epistoles” (started in 1345).
Petrarch's work is varied, but it was the sonnets that brought the author all-Italian fame during his lifetime: in 1341 he was recognized as poet laureate and crowned in Rome with a laurel wreath (one of the meanings of the name Laura is “laurel,” an emblem of glory). It was the sonnets that brought him posthumous European fame: the Italian sonnet form, popularized and improved by Petrarch, is today called “Petrarchan” in his honor.
Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .
I. Lileeva
The greatest poet, he himself valued only the poetry of the ancients. Francesco Petrarch was known to his contemporaries as a brilliant expert on antiquity. Then, in the 14th century, the Renaissance began in Italy. 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 towards life and man.
Petrarch devoted all his time to the study of ancient culture, searched for, deciphered, translated, interpreted the manuscripts of the authors of Ancient Rome, and he himself brilliantly wrote poems in Latin. Particularly interesting is his treatise “On Contempt for the World” - a kind of confession of a restless soul. And for his Latin poem “Africa,” which describes 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 court of descendants very often differs from the court of contemporaries. The poem “Africa” has long been forgotten, but Petrarch’s immortal fame was brought to him by his poems in Italian, written “On the Life of Madonna Laura” and “On the Death of 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 St. Clare, an Italian young monk, who was in the retinue of the powerful Cardinal Colonna, saw the young woman Laura for the first time. Laura's beauty made an irresistible impression on Francesco Petrarca, and although he only saw her from afar a few times, her image sank deeply into the poet's heart. For twenty-one years, until Laura's death, Petrarch lived with love for her, dreams of his ideal beloved, and then mourned her death for a long time. The image of Laura was always with him: both in his travels through France and Italy, and in his solitude in the mountain town of Vaucluse, where he lived for four years, indulging in philosophical reflection. Petrarch wrote these poems for himself and did not attach much importance to them. 
The most interesting thing in “Canzoniere” is the image of the poet himself, whose feelings, thoughts, mental turmoil, experiences, “outbursts of a sorrowful heart” constitute the content of most of the poems. Petrarch reveals with amazing depth the diverse, complex and contradictory world of human love experiences. This brought him fame as a classic 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:
The stern Dante did not despise the sonnet;
Petrarch poured out the heat of love in him.
In addition to sonnets, “Canzoniere” also contains songs (canzones). In the famous canzone “My Italy,” the voice of Petrarch is heard - a citizen, a patriot: he mourns the fragmentation of Italy, is indignant at the incessant 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 personality, a singer of love, a poet who created poems with amazing depth of insight into the inner world of man, Petrarch has long been known and loved by Russian readers.