Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the oldest museum in Milan, has in its collection a very special book. The book is Petrarch’s personal copy of the works of the Roman poet, Virgil. Hold on, there. Petrarch? Petrarch who? Petrarch: the first writer to emerge from the Dark Ages. You need to get to know him.
Who was Petrarch?
As mentioned last time, Petrarch, although Italian, was raised in Avignon, France, in the 14th century. Western civilization was just starting to emerge from centuries of “darkness” following the fall of the Roman Empire.
But things were happening in Avignon. The Pope had relocated there from Rome. Petrarch’s parents moved to Avignon to escape the constant fighting in Florence. They sent him to school there. Few people could read in those days, but Petrarch learned to read and write in multiple languages.
Petrarch wanted to make a living by writing, but that was tough in an age when hardly anyone knew how to read. There was no such thing as “publishing” in the 14th century. If you wanted more than one copy of a document, you had to make another copy by hand, or hire a scribe to do it. Perhaps if you made friends with the Pope, he might order his scribes to knock out a few copies in their spare time.
Maybe that’s why Petrarch ended up being pals with the Pope. Apparently he was an entertaining guy to have around. Petrarch became a welcome guest at royal palaces all over present-day Italy.
Petrarch – The First Tourist
Petrarch’s most popular writings were sonnets – poems with a certain rhyme and cadence. He wrote books comprised entirely of sonnets or other forms of verse. If I were writing in verse form, it might go something like this…
Avignon was Petrarch’s home
But he roamed from town to town
Making friends with kings and queens
Who liked having him around.
Greek classics were his passion,
But they’d been long forgotten.
Studying and learning weren’t in fashion,
Which Petrarch thought was rotten.
Petrarch liked to travel. He’d travel to someplace he’d never been for no other reason than just to go see it. Then he’d write about the trip and about what he saw. People just didn’t do that sort of thing back in the 14th century. Petrarch did, though. You could say he was the first tourist.
Head-Over-Heels in Love
But what Petrarch is most famous for is for being head-over-heels in love with a woman. Alas, she was married, and alas again, Petrarch was an upstanding guy, so he didn’t try anything. Or maybe he did, but she wasn’t having any of it. We don’t know for certain, but bad behavior doesn’t really fit Petrarch’s MO.
Furthermore, in the 14th century, if a married woman got caught messing around, the penalty was death. The trial, sentencing, and punishment would be taken care of quickly. If anyone had questions, they could ask them later.
She and Petrarch met and had long conversations, but always with her maids present. Other than that, he just loved her from afar, and wrote about it. No one did that back then, either. You don’t think he loved her? Here’s one of his sonnets describing his condition…
What do I feel if this is not love?
But if it is love, God, what thing is this?
If good, why this effect: bitter, mortal?
If bad, then why is every suffering sweet?
If I desire to burn, why the tears and grief?
If my state is evil, what’s the use of grieving?
O living death, O delightful evil,
how can you be in me so, if I do not consent?
He had it bad, alright. The poor guy was a mess. If you still have doubts, consider that this is sonnet #132 out of 366 sonnets making up one of Petrarch’s most famous works. And the whole thing was about her! Or at least about him being crazy about her. Poor Petrarch.
Petrarch – Poet Laureate
Petrarch was lovesick, alright, but other than that, he didn’t have it so bad. The king of Naples crowned him as the first “Poet Laureate” in the modern world. After that, the living was easy, or as easy as it could be in the 14th century.
Petrarch would secure an invitation to visit a count or king. They’d put him up in fine quarters for a year or so, all expenses paid, just so they could say, “Oh yeah… Petrarch? Yeah, we’re hangin’ out. He’s chillin’ at my place for awhile. We’re readin’ books ‘n stuff.”
But just when things were looking up for Petrarch, he received some bad news. Really bad news.
To be continued…
The portrait of Petrarch at the top of the post is by Giorgio Visari, 16th century. Credit: Sailko/Wikimedia Commons
