Birth of Petrarch

Petrarch was born on 20 July 1304 in Arezzo. An Italian scholar and poet, Petrarch was born in Arezzo and grew up in Avignon, where the papacy resided. He studied law but devoted himself to classical literature, collecting and copying ancient manuscripts, and is considered the father of Renaissance humanism. His Canzoniere, a collection of poems largely addressed to a woman called Laura, perfected the sonnet form later called Petrarchan and inspired generations of poets across Europe. In 1341 he was crowned poet laureate on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. He also wrote a Latin epic, Africa, and treatises on moral philosophy. He spent his last years in the village of Arquà near Padua.

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