Petrarch
Also called: Francesco Petrarch · Topic: Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Changing Cultural Traditions"
Meaning
Francesco Petrarch (1304–78) was an Italian scholar and poet. He saw antiquity (the age of ancient Greece and Rome) as a separate civilisation of its own. He believed it could best be understood through the actual words of ancient Greek and Roman writers, so scholars should read those authors closely. He is a key early figure of humanism, the new learning based on ancient texts and on subjects not drawn from religion.
Example
In 1341 Petrarch was crowned Poet Laureate (an official honoured poet) in Rome. His stress on the original ancient texts shaped how later scholars studied history, poetry and philosophy.
Don't confuse with
- Dante Alighieri (1265–1321): an earlier Florentine poet who wrote on religious themes. Petrarch is remembered above all for the close study of ancient authors.