Francesco de petrarca biography

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Who Was Petrarch?

Petrarch was a devoted classical scholar who is considered the "Father of Humanism," a philosophy that helped spark the Renaissance.

Petrarch's writing includes well-known odes to Laura, his idealized love. His writing was also used to shape the modern Italian language.

Early Life

Francesco Petrarca, whose anglicized name is Petrarch, was born on July 20, , in Arezzo, Tuscany (now Italy).

Francesco de petrarca biography

With his family, he moved to Avignon, France, as a child. In France, Petrarch studied law, as his father had wished. However, his passion was for literature, particularly that of ancient Greece and Rome. After his father's death in , Petrarch left law to focus on the classics.

Classics and Humanism

Petrarch became a cleric, making him eligible for ecclesiastical postings, which supported him as he pursued his interest in ancient literature.

Traveling as a diplomatic envoy for the Church, he was also able to search for forgotten classical texts. Th