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→The life and works of Petrarch
Petrarch was a diplomat, and he had a very cosmopolitan outlook, which was very rare in the 14th century. One day while attending mass in 1327 he saw a lady, at mass, called Laura whom he fell in love with at first sight, and she became his muse and inspired most of his greatest poetry. During his travels on diplomatic missions, he would write poetry in praise of Laura. There are those who have argued that Laura was fictional a poetic device, but most believe she was a real historical figure. She was probably the wife of a local count and died in 1348. Petrarch became famous throughout Europe after the circulation of his Epic in Latin, Africa, based on the life of a Roman general.
In 1341, he was invited to Rome and was crowned as Poet Laureate, only the second poet to be honored in this way, since the fall of the Empire. <ref> Larner, John. Italy in the Age of Dante and Petrarch, 1216-1380. Vol. 2 (London, Longman Publishing Group, 1980), p 118</ref>. He also became friendly with many of the greatest writers of his time, such as Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), the author of the Decameron. The Italian was a great letter-writer and was in correspondence with the leading thinkers of his time. Sometime in 1346, it seems that Petrarch had a spiritual crisis and he became more religious. But he did not abandon his love of the classics and the classical world.<ref>Larner, Vol I, p 201</ref>
His fame continued to grow, and he was sent on the more diplomatic mission by the Church. The Italian was an early supporter of Cola Rienzi who failed in a bid to resurrect the Roman Republic and restore popular government in Rome. This made him very unpopular with some of the leading Church figures of the day and possibly harmed his diplomatic career. After 1350 he traveled less and began to dedicate himself more to poetry, and he revised many of his earlier lyrics, especially those in Italian, and he collected these in his famous Il Canzoniere (Song Book).
