The Sonnets, Triumphs, and Other Poems of Petrarch | Page 2

of
Parma. lix
1347. Revolution at Rome--Petrarch's connection with the
Tribune--takes his fifth journey to Italy--repairs?to Parma. lxiv
1348. Goes to Verona--death of Laura--he returns again
to Parma--his autograph memorandum in the?Milan copy of Virgil--visits Manfredi, Lord of?Carpi, and James Carrara at Padua. lxvii
1349. Goes from Parma to Mantua and Ferrara--returns
to Padua, and receives, probably in this year, a?canonicate in Padua. lxxiii
1350. Is raised to the Archdeaconry of Parma--writes to
the Emperor Charles IV.--goes to Rome, and, in?going and returning, stops at Florence. lxxiii
1351. Writes to Andrea Dandolo with a view to reconcile
the Venetians and Florentines--the Florentines?decree the restoration of his paternal property,?and send John Boccaccio to recall him to his?country--he returns, for the sixth time, to?Avignon--is consulted by the four Cardinals, who?had been deputed to reform the government of Rome. lxxx
1352. Writes to Clement VI. the letter which excites against
him the enmity of the medical tribe--begins?writing his treatise "De Vita Solitaria." lxxxvii
1353. Visits his brother in the Carthusian monastery of
Monte Rivo--writes his treatise "De Otio?Religiosorum"--returns to Italy--takes up his?abode with the Visconti--is sent by the Archbishop?Visconti to Venice, to negotiate a peace between the Venetians and Genoese. xc
1354. Visits the Emperor at Mantua. xcix
1355. His embassy to the Emperor--publishes his "Invective
against a Physician." xcix
1360. His embassy to John, King of France. cxii
1361. Leaves Milan and settles at Venice--gives his library
to the Venetians. cxiii
1364. Writes for Lucchino del Verme his treatise "De Officio
et Virtutibus Imperatoris." cxvii
1366. Writes to Urban V. imploring him to remove the
Papal residence to Rome--finishes his treatise?"De Remediis utriusque Fortun?." cxviii
1368. Quits Venice--four young Venetians, either in this
year or the preceding, promulgate a critical judgment against Petrarch--repairs to Pavia to negotiate?peace between the Pope's Legate and the?Visconti. cxix
1370. Sets out to visit the Pontiff--is taken ill at Ferrara--
retires to Arqu�� among the Euganean hills. cxxii
1371. Writes his "Invectiva contra Gallum," and his
"Epistle to Posterity." cxxiii
1372. Writes for Francesco da Carrara his essay "De Republica
optime administranda." cxxx
1373. Is sent to Venice by Francesco da Carrara. cxxx
1374. Translates the Griseldis of Boccaccio--dies on the
18th of July in the same year. cxxxi
THE LIFE OF PETRARCH.
The family of Petrarch was originally of Florence, where his ancestors held employments of trust and honour. Garzo, his great-grandfather, was a notary universally respected for his integrity and judgment. Though he had never devoted himself exclusively to letters, his literary opinion was consulted by men of learning. He lived to be a hundred and four years old, and died, like Plato, in the same bed in which he had been born.
Garzo left three sons, one of whom was the grandfather of Petrarch. Diminutives being customary to the Tuscan tongue, Pietro, the poet's father, was familiarly called Petracco, or little Peter. He, like his ancestors, was a notary, and not undistinguished for sagacity. He had several important commissions from government. At last, in the increasing conflicts between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines--or, as they now called themselves, the Blacks and the Whites--Petracco, like Dante, was obliged to fly from his native city, along with the other Florentines of the White party. He was unjustly accused of having officially issued a false deed, and was condemned, on the 20th of October, 1302, to pay a fine of one thousand lire, and to have his hand cut off, if that sum was not paid within ten days from the time he should be apprehended. Petracco fled, taking with him his wife, Eletta Canigiani, a lady of a distinguished family in Florence, several of whom had held the office of Gonfalonier.
Petracco and his wife first settled at Arezzo, a very ancient city of Tuscany. Hostilities did not cease between the Florentine factions till some years afterwards; and, in an attempt made by the Whites to take Florence by assault, Petracco was present with his party. They were repulsed. This action, which was fatal to their cause, took place in the night between the 19th and 20th days of July, 1304,--the precise date of the birth of Petrarch.
During our poet's infancy, his family had still to struggle with an adverse fate; for his proscribed and wandering father was obliged to separate himself from his wife and child, in order to have the means of supporting them.
As the pretext for banishing Petracco was purely personal, Eletta, his wife, was not included in the sentence. She removed to a small property of her husband's, at Ancisa, fourteen miles from Florence, and took the little poet along with her, in the seventh month of his age. In their passage thither, both mother and child, together with their guide, had a narrow escape from being drowned in the Arno. Eletta entrusted her precious charge to a robust peasant, who, for fear of hurting the child, wrapt it in a swaddling cloth, and suspended it over his shoulder, in the same manner as Metabus is described by Virgil, in the eleventh