Petrarch's Intention to Work until the Last

To Boccaccio.

... I certainly will not reject the praise you bestow upon me for having stimulated in many instances, not only in Italy but perhaps beyond its confines also, the pursuit of studies such as ours, which have suffered neglect for so many centuries; I am, indeed, almost the oldest of those among us who are engaged in the cultivation of these subjects. But I cannot accept the conclusion you draw from this, namely, that I should give place to younger minds, and, interrupting the plan of work on which I am engaged, give others an opportunity to write something, if they will, and not seem longer to desire to reserve everything for my own pen. How radically do our opinions differ, although, at bottom, our object is the same! I seem to you to have written everything, or at least a great deal, while to myself I appear to have produced almost nothing.

But let us admit that I have written much, and shall continue to write;—what better means have I of exhorting those who are following my example to continued perseverance? Example is often more potent than words. The aged veteran Camillus, going into battle like a young man, assuredly aroused more enthusiasm in the younger warriors than if, after drawing them up in line of battle and telling them what was to be done, he had left them and withdrawn to his tent. The fear you appear to harbour, that I shall cover the whole field and leave nothing for others to write, recalls the ridiculous apprehensions which Alexander of Macedon is reported to have entertained, lest his father, Philip, by conquering the whole world, should deprive him of any chance of military renown. Foolish boy! He little realised what wars still remained for him to fight, if he lived, even though the Orient were quite subjugated; he had, perhaps, never heard of Papirius Cursor, or the Marsian generals. Seneca has, however, delivered us from this anxiety, in a letter to Lucilius, where he says, "Much still remains to be done; much will always remain, and even a thousand years hence no one of our descendants need be denied the opportunity of adding his something."

You, my friend, by a strange confusion of arguments, try to dissuade me from continuing my chosen work by urging, on the one hand, the hopelessness of bringing my task to completion, and by dwelling, on the other, upon the glory which I have already acquired. Then, after asserting that I have filled the world with my writings, you ask me if I expect to equal the number of volumes written by Origen or Augustine. No one, it seems to me, can hope to equal Augustine. Who, nowadays, could hope to equal one who, in my judgment, was the greatest in an age fertile in great minds? As for Origen, you know that I am wont to value quality rather than quantity, and I should prefer to have produced a very few irreproachable works rather than numberless volumes such as those of Origen, which are filled with grave and intolerable errors. It is certainly impossible, as you say, for me to equal either of these, although for very different reasons in the two cases. And yet you contradict yourself, for, though your pen invites me to repose, you cite the names of certain active old men,—Socrates, Sophocles, and, among our own people, Cato the Censor,—as if you had some quite different end in view. How many more names you might have recalled, except that one does not consciously argue long against himself! Searching desperately for some excuse for your advice and my weakness, you urge that perhaps their temperaments differed from mine. I readily grant you this, although my constitution has sometimes been pronounced very vigorous by those who claim to be experienced in such matters; still, old age will triumph.

You assert, too, that I have sacrificed a great deal of time in the service of princes. But that you may no longer labour under a delusion in this matter, here is the truth. I have lived nominally with princes, in reality, the princes lived with me. I was present sometimes at their councils, and, very rarely, at their banquets. I should never have submitted to any conditions which would, in any degree, have interfered with my liberty or my studies. When everyone else sought the palace, I hied me to the woods, or spent my time quietly in my room, among my books. To say that I have never lost a day would be false. I have lost many days (please God, not all) through inertia, or sickness, or distress of mind,—evils which no one is so fortunate as to escape entirely. What time I have lost in the service of princes you shall hear, for, like Seneca, I keep an account of my outlays.

First, I was sent to Venice to negotiate a peace between that city and Genoa, which occupied me for an entire winter month. Next I betook myself to the extreme confines of the land of the barbarians, and spent three summer months in arranging for peace in Liguria, with that Roman sovereign who fostered—or I had better say deferred,—the hope of restoring a sadly ruined Empire. Finally, I went to France to carry congratulations to King John on his deliverance from an English prison; here three more winter months were lost. Although during these three journeys I dwelt upon my usual subjects of thought, nevertheless, since I could neither write down my ideas nor impress them on my memory, I call those days lost. It is true that when I reached Italy, on my return from the last expedition, I dictated a voluminous letter on the variableness of fortune to a studious old man, Peter of Poitiers; it arrived too late, however, and found him dead. Here, then, are seven months lost in the service of princes; nor is this a trifling sacrifice, I admit, considering the shortness of life. Would that I need not fear a greater loss, incurred long ago by the vanity and frivolous employments of my youth!

You add, further, that possibly the measure of life was different in olden times from what it is in ours, and that nowadays we may regard men as old who were then looked upon as young. But I can only reply to you as I did recently to a certain lawyer in this university, who, as I learned, was accustomed to make that same assertion in his lectures, in order to depreciate the industry of the ancients, and excuse the sloth of our contemporaries. I sent by one of his students to warn him against repeating the statement, unless he wished to be considered an ignoramus by scholars. For more than two thousand years there has been no change in the length of human life. Aristotle lived sixty-three years. Cicero lived the same length of time; moreover, although he might have been spared longer had it pleased the heartless and drunken Antony, he had some time before his death written a great deal about his unhappy and premature decline, and had composed a treatise on Old Age, for the edification of himself and a friend. Ennius lived seventy years, Horace the same time, while Virgil died at fifty-two, a brief life even for our time. Plato, it is true, lived to be eighty-one; but this, it is said, was looked upon as a prodigy, and because he had attained the most perfect age the Magi decided to offer him a sacrifice, as if he were superior to the rest of mankind. Yet nowadays we frequently see in our cities those who have reached this age; octogenarians and nonagenarians are often to be met with, and no one is surprised, or offers sacrifices to them. If you recall Varro to me, or Cato, or others who reached their hundredth year, or Gorgias of Leontium who greatly exceeded that age, I have other modern instances to set off against them. But as the names are obscure I will mention only one, Romualdo of Ravenna, a very noted hermit, who recently reached the age of one hundred and twenty years, in spite of the greatest privations, suffered for the love of Christ, and in the performance of numerous vigils and fasts such as you are now doing all in your power to induce me to refrain from. I have said a good deal about this matter in order that you may neither believe nor assert that, with the exception of the patriarchs, who lived at the beginning of the world, and who, I am convinced, developed no literary activity whatever, any of our predecessors enjoyed greater longevity than ourselves. They could boast of greater activity, not of a longer life,—if, indeed, life without industry deserves to be called life at all, and not a slothful and useless delay.

By a few cautious words, however, you avoid the foregoing criticism, for you admit that it may not be a question of age after all, but that it may perhaps be temperament, or possibly climate, or diet, or some other cause, which precludes me from doing what the others were all able to do. I freely concede this, but I cannot accept the deduction you draw from it, and which you support with laboriously elaborate arguments; for some of your reasons are, in a certain sense, quite opposed to the thesis you would prove. You counsel me to be contented—I quote you literally—with having perhaps equalled Virgil in verse (as you assert) and Cicero in prose. Oh, that you had been induced by the truth, rather than seduced by friendship, in saying this! You add that, in virtue of a senatus consultum following the custom of our ancestors, I have received the most glorious of titles, and the rare honour of the Roman laurel. Your conclusion from all this is that, with the happy results of my studies, in which I rival the greatest, and with my labours honoured by the noblest of prizes, I should leave off importuning God and man, and rest content with my fate and the fulfilment of my fondest wishes. Certainly I could make no objection to this if what your affection for me has led you to believe were true, or were even accepted by the rest of the world; I should gladly acquiesce in the opinions of others, for I should always rather trust their judgment than my own. But your view is not shared by others, and least of all by myself, who am convinced that I have rivalled no one, except, perhaps, the common herd, and rather than be like it I should choose to remain entirely unknown.

As for the laurel wreath, it encircled my brow when I was as immature in years and mind as were its leaves. Had I been of riper age I should not have desired it. The aged love what is practical, while impetuous youth longs only for what is dazzling. The laurel brought me no increase of learning or literary power, as you may well imagine, while it destroyed my peace by the infinite jealousy it aroused. I was punished for my youthful audacity and love of empty renown; for from that time well-nigh everyone sharpened his tongue and pen against me. It was necessary to be constantly on the alert with banners flying, ready to repel an attack, now on the left, now on the right; for jealousy had made enemies of my friends. I might narrate in this connection many occurrences which would fill you with astonishment. In a word, the laurel made me known only to be tormented; without it, I should have led that best of all lives, as many deem, a life of obscurity and peace.

You put the finishing touch to your argument, it seems to me, when you urge me to do all that I can to prolong my life as a joy to my friends, and first and foremost as a solace to you in your declining years, because, as you say, you desire when you depart hence to leave me still alive. Alas! our friend Simonides also expressed this wish—a wish but too speedily granted: if there were any order in human affairs, it is he who should have survived me. My own desires are, however, directly opposed to those which my friends—you in particular—harbour. I should prefer to die while you are all still alive, and leave those behind in whose memory and conversation I should still live, who would aid me by their prayers, and by whom I should continue to be loved and cherished. Except a pure conscience, I believe there is no solace so grateful to the dying as this.

If your counsels spring from the belief that I cling tenaciously to life, you are entirely mistaken. Why should I wish to prolong my existence among customs and manners which make me constantly deplore that I have fallen on such times? To omit more serious disorders, I am afflicted by the perverted and indecent clothing of a most frivolous set of men. I have already too often complained of them, both in speech and writing, but words are powerless to quiet my indignation and distress of mind. These fellows, who call themselves Italians, and were, indeed, born in Italy, do all they can to appear like barbarians. Would that they were barbarians, that my eyes and those of the true Italians might be delivered from so shameful a spectacle! May God Omnipotent confound them, living and dead! Not satisfied with sacrificing by their pusillanimity the virtues of our ancestors, the glory of war, and all the arts of peace, they dishonour in their frenzy the speech and dress of our country, so that we may consider our forefathers happy to have passed away in good time, and may envy even the blind, who are spared the sight of these things.

Finally, you ask me to pardon you for venturing to advise me and for prescribing a mode of life, namely, that I hereafter abstain from mental exertion and from my customary labours and vigils, and endeavour to restore, by complete rest and sleep, the ravages wrought by advancing years and prolonged study. I will not pardon you, but I thank you, well aware of the affection which makes you a physician for me, although you refuse to be one for yourself. I beg, however, that you will obey me, although I refuse to obey you, and will let me persuade you that, even if I were most tenacious of life, which I am not, I should assuredly only die the sooner if I followed your advice. Continued work and application form my soul's nourishment. So soon as I commenced to rest and relax I should cease to live. I know my own powers. I am not fitted for other kinds of work, but my reading and writing, which you would have me discontinue, are easy tasks, nay, they are a delightful rest, and relieve the burden of heavier anxieties. There is no lighter burden, nor more agreeable, than a pen. Other pleasures fail us, or wound us while they charm; but the pen we take up rejoicing and lay down with satisfaction, for it has the power to advantage not only its lord and master, but many others as well, even though they be far away,—sometimes, indeed, though they be not born for thousands of years to come. I believe that I speak but the strict truth when I claim that as there is none among earthly delights more noble than literature, so there is none so lasting, none gentler, or more faithful; there is none which accompanies its possessor through the vicissitudes of life at so small a cost of effort or anxiety.

Pardon me then, my brother, pardon me. I am disposed to believe anything that you say, but I cannot accept your opinion in this matter. However you may describe me (and nothing is impossible to the pen of a learned and eloquent writer), I must still endeavour, if I am a nullity, to become something; if already of some account, to become a little more worthy; and if I were really great, which I am not, I should strive, so far as in me lay, to become greater, even the greatest. May I not be allowed to appropriate the magnificent reply of that fierce barbarian who, when urged to spare himself continued exertions, since he already enjoyed sufficient renown, responded, "The greater I am, the greater shall be my efforts"? Words worthy of another than a barbarian! They are graven on my heart, and the letter which follows this will show you how far I am from following your exhortations to idleness. Not satisfied with gigantic enterprises, for which this brief life of ours does not suffice, and would not if doubled in length, I am always on the alert for new and uncalled-for undertakings,—so distasteful to me is sleep and dreary repose. Do you not know that passage from Ecclesiasticus, "When man has finished his researches, he is but at the beginning, and when he rests, then doth he labour"? I seem to myself to have but begun; whatever you and others may think, this is my verdict. If in the meanwhile the end, which certainly cannot be far off, should come, I would that it might find me still young. But as I cannot, in the nature of things, hope for that, I desire that death find me reading and writing, or, if it please Christ, praying and in tears.

Farewell, and remember me. May you be happy and persevere manfully.

PADUA, April 28 (1373).

INDEX

Abelard, n.,
Acedia, sqq.
Æneid, allegorical significance of,
as viewed by Petrarch, sqq.,
Africa, Petrarch's epic, , sq.;
first conceived, ;
submitted and dedicated to Robert of Naples, ;
work resumed upon, and n., sqq.
"Age of despots," ,
Agrippa, Marcus,
Aix-la-Chapelle, sq.
Allegorical significance of the Æneid, sqq.,
Allegory, Petrarch's mediæval conceptions of, sq., sq., .
Ancient views of life,
Ancisa,
Annotations, Petrarch's, , ,
Anthony, St.,
Antidotes for Good and Evil Fortune, ;
dedicated to Azzo di Correggio,
Antiquity, Petrarch's love for,
Archia, Pro, Petrarch's discovery of,
Ardennes, Forest of,
Arezzo, , and n.
Aristotelians, Petrarch attacks, sq.
Aristotle, Ethics of, , ;
authority of, in Middle Ages, sq.;
works of, brought to Western Europe, ;
Petrarch's opinion of, sqq., sq., ;
on origin of poetry,
Arno,
Arnold, Matthew, his view of fame,
Arquà,
Astrologers, sq.
Augustine, St., , sq.;
interlocutor in Petrarch's Secret, , sqq., sqq.;
influence of his teaching, and n.;
Petrarch's spiritual guide, , sq.;
his opinion of Plato quoted,
Augustus, Cæsar, , ,
Autobiography, Petrarch's, sqq., , sqq.
Autograph-mongers,
Averroes, , sqq.,
Averroists, Petrarch's rencontre with, sqq., sqq., n.
Avignon, sq.;
seat of papal court, , sqq.;
Petrarch's removal to, ;
his dislike of, ;
description of, sq.;
removal from,
Azzo di Correggio, , sqq.,

Babylonish Captivity, sq., sq.
Basle edition of Petrarch's works, iv., n.,
Benedict, St.,
Benefices, sq., sq.
Bergamo, goldsmith of, sqq.;
Petrarch's visit to, sqq.;
Best Form of Government, The, Petrarch's,
Boccaccio, Giovanni, Petrarch's first meeting with, , sq.;
Petrarch's estimate of, sqq.;
his letters to Petrarch, ;
his library, sq.;
his complaints, sq.;
visits Petrarch at Venice, , n. 3;
embassy of, to Avignon, ;
burns his Italian verses, sqq.;
forewarned of approaching death, sqq.;
bidden to renounce literature, sqq.;
would persuade Petrarch to give up work, sqq.;
possible author of letter from shade of Homer, n.
Boëthius, , and notes 1, 2
Bologna, ;
Petrarch studies at, ;
one student of Homer at,
Bologna, Giovanni Andrea di, n.;
ignorance of, rebuked, sqq., , n. 1
Books, copying of, in the Middle Ages, sqq.
Bryce, James,
Burckhardt gives currency to idea of Renaissance, ,

Canzoniere, Petrarch's, editions of, sq.;
as an expression of Petrarch's thought, sq., .
See also Sonnets
Capitol, the, Petrarch's address upon, sq.
Capra, Henry,
Carpentras, Petrarch's schooling at, , sq.
Carrara, Giacomo of, and n., ;
invites Petrarch to Padua, sq.
Cato,
Charles IV., Emperor, his letter to Petrarch, ;
campaign of, in Italy, , and n.;
visits Italy, ;
retreat from Italy, sq.;
attitude of, toward Rienzo, ;
his relations with Petrarch, , , n.;
invites Petrarch to Prague, ;
Petrarch's letter to, urging him to hasten to Italy, sq.;
Petrarch's attitude toward, ;
Petrarch accompanies him beyond Piacenza, .
See also Emperor
Charles the Great,
Children of Petrarch, n.
Cicero, Petrarch's appreciation of, sqq., ;
Petrarch's views concerning character of, , sqq., sqq., sqq.;
concerning works of, , , , , , sqq., ;
influence of, on Petrarch, , , , ;
letters from Petrarch to, sqq., sqq.;
Petrarch discovers a portion of letters of, , n., n.;
copies a MS. of, sqq.;
defends from supposed attack of Sidonius, sqq.;
lost works of, ;
Old Age of,
Classics, copies of, not uncommon in thirteenth century, ;
neglect of, in Middle Ages, sq., ;
Petrarch's appreciation of, sqq.
Coins, Roman, presented to the Emperor by Petrarch, sq.
Cologne, Petrarch's visit to, sqq.;
literary spirits in, ;
cathedral of,
Colonna, see Colonnesi
Colonnesi, patrons of Petrarch, ;
Giacomo Colonna befriends Petrarch, , ;
takes him to Gascony, , ;
Petrarch's premonition of death of, sqq.;
Giovanni Colonna, Cardinal, , sq.;
Stephano Colonna,
Coluccio Salutati, letters of, to Petrarch,
Commensal chaplain, Petrarch's position as, , n. 3
Confessions, Petrarch's, , , sqq.
Confessions, of Augustine, sq.
Convennevole, sq.,
Copyists, ;
faithlessness of, sq.;
scarcity of, sq.
Coronation of Petrarch as poet, sqq., ;
importance of, sq.;
origin of custom, sq., sq.
Correggio, family of, ;
Azzo di, , sqq.;
Petrarch's friendship for,
Correspondence, obstacles in way of, in Middle Ages, sqq.
Correspondence, Petrarch's, divisions of, .
See also Letters
Critic, Petrarch recognised as a,
Critical editions of classics, absence of, in fourteenth century, sq.
Criticism, want of, in Middle Ages, sq.
Culex,

Dante, friend of Petracco, ;
political views of, sq.;
attitude toward Rome, sq.;
on result of personal acquaintance, n.;
on allegory, ;
Petrarch disclaims all jealousy of, sqq.;
eulogises, sqq.;
Petrarch's estimate of, sqq.,
Death, Petrarch's, , n.;
meditation on, sqq.
Decameron, sq.
Declamations of Seneca,
Defensor Pacis,
Despots, Petrarch's relations with, , sqq.;
as patrons of the Humanists, , sq.,
Dialectic, Petrarch's attitude toward, , sqq.
Dialecticians, , sqq.,
Diogenes,
Dionisio da Borgo San Sepolcro, n.
Diplomatic missions of Petrarch, sqq., sqq.
Disease of writing, sqq.
Display, Petrarch deprecates,
Divine Comedy, The, sqq., sqq.
See also Dante
Doctors fall to writing verses,
Dreams, Petrarch's view of, sqq.
Dress, Petrarch's love of, sq.;
indecent, of certain Italians,

Eclogues of Petrarch, ,
Editing of Petrarch's letters, sq.
See also Letters
Emperor, Petrarch's audience with, sqq.;
viewed as a patron of literature, sq.
See also Empire, and Charles IV.
Empire, the, Petrarch's conception of, , sq.,
350 sqq., and n. See also Rome
Ennius, ,
Epicurus,
Epistolæ, de Rebus Familiaribus, ;
de Rebus Senilibus, ;
sine Titulo, n., ;
Variæ, sq.
See also Letters
Erasmus, letters of,
Etymologies, mediæval, sq.
Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, ,
Eye-glasses, and n.

Fame, impossibility of acquiring, during one's lifetime, sqq.;
Petrarch's longing for, , , sqq., sqq.
"Fantastic," applied to Rienzo, , n. 1
Father, a, upbraids Petrarch for misleading his son, sq.
Finibus, De, Cicero's,
Florentines, Petrarch's estimate of, sq.;
Dante's view of, , n. 2;
offer Petrarch chair in their university, ;
admirers of Petrarch among, ;
students of Homer among,
Fountain of the Sorgue, , , ,
Fracassetti, Giuseppe, iv.,
France, Petrarch's visits to, , sq.,
Francesca, Petrarch's daughter, , n.
Francesco, Petrarch's grandson, , n.
Frederick II., his opinion of the Italians,
French popes, sq.

Gaspary,
German emperors in Italy,
Germany, Petrarch visits, , sq.
Ghent,
Gherardo, Petrarch's brother, sq.;
his religious admonitions, sqq.;
letter to, on the nature of poetry, sqq.
Ghibelline views,

Giovanni Andrea di Bologna, sqq., , n. 1
Giovanni, Petrarch's son, n., n.
Goldsmith of Bergamo, sqq.
Grammarian of Vicenza, sqq.
Grandes compagnies, , , n. 3
Greater Greece,
Greek literature, forgotten in Middle Ages, ;
Petrarch's slight knowledge of, , sq., ,
Greek studies in Petrarch's day, , n. 3
Greeks, Petrarch asserts inferiority of, to Latins, sq.
Gregory the Great, ;
condemns literature,
Griselda, story of, sqq.;
effects of the tale, sqq.
Guglielmo di Pastrengo, letters of, to Petrarch,

Hæmus, Mount,
Hannibal, , ,
Hellenic influences in modern education,
Henry VII.,
History, Petrarch's fondness for,
Holy Land, Petrarch describes the journey to, sq.
Holy Roman Empire, , sq., sqq., and n.
See also Rome
Homer, letter to, sqq.;
Latin translation of, sq.;
imitated by Virgil, sqq., ;
students of, in Italy in fourteenth century, sq.
Humanism, origin of, sq., ;
furthered by Petrarch, sq., sqq.
Humanistic conditions, general in fourteenth century, , sqq.,
259 sq., sq., sqq., sqq.
Humanists, means of support of,

Ideals, conflict of, in Petrarch's mind, sqq., sqq., sqq.
Illegitimate children of Petrarch, n.
Innocent VI.,
Isidore of Seville, ,
Isocrates, and n.
Itinerarium Syriacum, sq.
Italian language, Petrarch's opinion of, sq., , sqq., sq.;
Petrarch's reasons for giving up writing in, , sqq., sq.
Italian prose, none from Petrarch's pen, sq.
Italian verses of Petrarch, sqq.,
Italy, disorder in, sq., ;
Petrarch's love for,

Jacques de Vitry, and n.
Jerome, , ,
John, King of France, ,
John the Baptist, feast of, sqq.
John of Salisbury, , n., , , n.
Journeys, frequency of Petrarch's, .
See also Travels
Jubilee of 1350, sq.
Julius Cæsar,

"Lælius," , n. 2,
Lapo da Castiglionchio, letter to, sqq.
Latin literature, renewed interest in, sq.;
not unknown in Middle Ages,
Latin works of Petrarch, sqq., ;
editions of, ;
well-nigh forgotten, sq.
Laura, sq. and n., sqq., , n., and n.;
want of knowledge of, and n. 2;
death of, ;
genuineness of Petrarch's love for, sqq., sqq.
Laurel crown, the, Petrarch's desire for, sq., sq.;
his praise of, ; invitations to receive, sq., sqq.,
offered by King Robert, ; received at Rome, , sq.
Law, Petrarch's study of, , ; his attitude toward, , ;
his use of, sq.
Lawyers turn to writing verses, ; conceit of,
Letters, Petrarch's character of, , ; influence of, sq.;
number of, and n.; style of, sqq., sqq.,
230 sq.; editing of, , , sq., sq.,
146 sq., sqq., sqq., ;
classes of, sq.; to be kept secret, ; destined
for publication, sq.; often lost, sq.;
opened on the way, ; to be read with attention,
"Letters to Dead Authors," Petrarch's, , sqq.,
, sq., sq.,
Letters of Familiar Intercourse, , , sq.
Letters of Old Age, , sq.
Letters to Petrarch, sq.
Letter to Posterity, sqq.; importance of,
Letter-writing, , ; Petrarch's view of, sq., ;
he resolves to desist from, sqq.
Library, Petrarch's, sqq.; contents of, sq.;
fate of, sq.; pledged to Venice, , , n. 3
Liège,
Life of Solitude, The, Petrarch's, , sq.
Life, human, no longer in ancient times, sq.
Literature, not inimical to religion, sqq., sqq.
Lives of Famous Men, Petrarch's, sq.
Livy, Petrarch's appreciation of,
Logic, Petrarch's attitude toward, sqq.
Logicians, Petrarch's answer to, sqq.
Love, secular and monastic conceptions of, contrasted, , sq.;
Petrarch's discussion and defence of, sqq., sqq., sqq.
Lucan,
Ludovico. See "Socrates"
Luther,
Lyons, sq.

Malaucène, ,
Mankind, waywardness of, sq.
Marsiglio of Padua, ,
Mediæval conception of life contrasted with that of Petrarch, ,
Mediæval natural science, Petrarch's attitude toward,
Mediæval traits of Petrarch, sq.
Messengers, want of,
Metamorphoses of Ovid,
Milan, Petrarch's residence at, sq.
See also Visconti
Miscellaneous Letters of Petrarch, ,
Monastic ideals, sqq., sqq.
Monasticism, sqq.
Montpellier,
Mussato,

Name, Petrarch changes his,
Naples, Petrarch visits, sq., ; condition of,
Nature, Petrarch's love of, sq.,
Nelli, Francesco, , sq., n.
Nolhac, Pierre de, viii., x.;
reconstructs catalogue of Petrarch's books, sqq.

Orders, Petrarch takes,
Otio Religiosorum, De, Petrarch's, n.

Padua, Petrarch's residence in,
Paganism, tendency toward, of Humanists,
Pagan writers, propriety of reading, sqq.
Papal secretaryship avoided by Petrarch,
Parents, Petrarch's,
Paris, , ; University of,
Parma, sq.;
Petrarch's residence in, , sq.
Patrimony, Petrarch's loss of,
Patriotism of Petrarch, ,
Pavia, description of, sqq.
Penitential Psalms, Petrarch's,
Penmanship in fourteenth century, and n.
See also Copyists
Pergamum, sq.
Peter of Sienna, messages of, to Boccaccio, sqq.
Peter Lombard, , n.
Petracco, Petrarch's father, character of, sq.;
exiled, , ; friend of Dante, , ; name changed by Petrarch,
Petrarch, Francesco, cosmopolitan representative of the Renaissance, ;
origin and birth of, , , ; changes his name, ;
bodily and mental characteristics, , , , n.;
moral decline of, sq.; moral progress of, sq.;
humour of, , n.; travels of, , sqq.;
materials for life of, sq.; foreign recognition of, sq.;
the father of humanism, sqq.; his style, , n.;
influenced by Seneca, ; more deeply by Cicero, ;
as a poet, sqq.; patriotism of, , ;
his method of study, ; understanding of literary art, sqq.;
self analysis of, sqq.
Philip, Bishop of Cavaillon,
Philologist, Petrarch as a, ,
Pierre Dubois,
Pilatus, Leo, and his version of Homer, , n. 5, , n. 2
Pisa, ,
Plagiarism, and n.
Plague of 1348, ,
Plato, sq.,
Pliny's letters unknown to Petrarch, n.
Poetry, Petrarch's conception of, , sqq.;
his defence of, ; profaned by the multitude, sqq., sq.;
mediæval, and n. 3
Policraticus of John of Salisbury, n.
Political activity, Petrarch's, sq.
Political opinions of Petrarch, sqq., sqq., sqq.
Popes, court of, at Avignon,
Popularity of Petrarch,
Portraits of Petrarch, vii. sq., n.
Prague, Petrarch's visit to, sq.,
Preface to Letters of Familiar Intercourse, sqq.
Priest, Petrarch not a, and n.
Pro Archia, Petrarch's discovery of,
Psychological analysis, Petrarch's love of, , sqq.
Public library, Petrarch hopes to found a, sqq.

Quintilian, sq., and n.,

Ravenna, the old man of, and n.; a youth of, , sqq.
Religion not inimical to literature, sqq.
Religious views of Petrarch, sqq., sq., sqq.
Remediis Utriusque Fortunæ, De, sq.,
Renaissance, character of, sq.;

obstacles to, sq.
Repose, Petrarch's dislike of, sqq.
Republica optime administranda, De, of Petrarch, n.
Rienzo, Cola di, sqq.;
achievements of, , , ;
popular interest in, sqq.;
believed to be a poet, sqq.;
trial of, sqq.;
sources for life of, , n. 4;
letter of, to Petrarch. ;
Petrarch's sympathy for, and relations with, , sq., sqq., sqq.
Robert, King of Naples, sq., sq., , n., sq.
Roman Empire, at Rome, sqq.;
endless, and n.
See also Empire
Roman literature. See Latin
Roman people, Petrarch's letter to, sqq.
Rome, , , sqq., sq., ;
divine origin and supremacy of, sq., , sqq.;
constitution for, ;
genius of, sqq.

Sade, De, n.
Sanctis, De,
Scholarship, Petrarch's, , sqq., sq., sqq.
Schoolmen, Petrarch's neglect of,
Scientific investigation, diverse effects of, on religious beliefs,
Scipio, ,
Seclusion, Petrarch's love of, , sq.
Secret, Petrarch's, , , sqq.
Self-consciousness of Petrarch, , sqq.
Selva Piana,
Seneca, style of, , , , , , ;
his Octavia, and n. 4, n.
Seneca, the Rhetor, n.
Sicilian poetry,
Sidonius Apollinaris, sqq.
Silius Italicus, his metrical abridgment of the Iliad, , n. 1
"Simonides." See Nelli
"Socrates," , n. 2, , n. 1, , ,
Solitude, Petrarch's love of, , sq.
Solitude, The Life of, Petrarch's, sq.
Sonnets, Petrarch's, sqq.
See Italian language
Sorgue, Fountain of, , , ,
Spectacles, and n.
Statius,
Stephen of Bourbon, and n.
Style, Petrarch's, , sq., n.
Suiipsius et Aliorum Ignorantia, De, Petrarch's, , n. 3
Superstition, Petrarch's freedom from, sqq.
Symonds, J. A., sq.

Theology, poetical elements in,
Three Kings, the,
Ticino, , sq.
Ticinum,
Travels of Petrarch, , sqq., sqq.
Trials of a man of letters in fourteenth century, sqq.
Trionfi, Petrarch's,
True Wisdom, Petrarch's,
Tuscany,

Universities attended by Petrarch, , and n.
Urban V., and n. 2,

Varro,
Vaucluse, , ,
Venice, , sq., ;
Petrarch offers his library to, sqq.;
Petrarch's house in, , n. 3
Ventoux, Mt., ascent of, sqq.;
view from, sq.,
Vicenza, grammarian of, Petrarch's discussion with, sqq.
Virgil, , sq.;
as interpreted by Petrarch, sqq., sqq., ;
his imitation of Homer, sqq., ;
regarded as a magician, ;
Petrarch's copy of,
Visconti, Petrarch's relations with, sq.;
estimate of, sq.;
Bishop Giovanni, sq., ;
Galeazzo, sq., ;
Gian Galeazzo, ;
Luchino,
Voigt defines Petrarch's historic greatness, sq.
Voltaire,
Vulgati Eloquioy, De, Dante's,

Work, Petrarch's ardour for, sqq., sqq., sqq.
Writing, passion for, contagious, sq.