The Cambridge Companion to Petrarch

An account of the life and works of Petrarch, scholar and poet, and his influence on European literature and culture.

Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca, 1304-74) was a scholar and poet who helped shape the literature of his time and influenced the development of Renaissance humanism. This Companion offers an account of his life and works, gathering the great themes and problems of the age around this charismatic, symptomatic and influential figure.

Chronology; Introduction Albert Russell Ascoli and Unn Falkeid; Part I. Lives of Petrarch: 1. Poetry in motion Theodore J. Cachey, Jr; 2. Petrarch and his friends Hannah Chapelle Wojciehowski; Part II. Petrarch's Works: Italian: 3. Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta: structure and narrative Peter Hainsworth; 4. Making the Rerum Vulgarium Fragmenta Luca Marcozzi; 5. Petrarch's Singular Love Lyric Ullrich Langer; 6. The Triumphi Zygmunt G. Baräski; Part III. Petrarch's Works: Latin: 7. The Latin hexameter works Ronald L. Martinez; 8. The defense of poetry in the Secretum Victoria Kahn; 9. De Vita Solitaria and De Otio Religioso: the perspective of the guest Unn Falkeid; 10. Epistolary Petrarch Albert Russell Ascoli; Part IV. Petrarch's Interlocutors: 11. Petrarch and the Ancients Gur Zak; 12. Petrarch and the vernacular Lyric past Olivia Holmes; 13. Petrarch's adversaries: the Invectives David Marsh; Part V. Petrarch's Afterlife: 14. Petrarch and the Humanists Timothy Kircher; 15. Bembo and Italian Petrarchism Stefano Jossa; 16. Female Petrarchists Ann Rosalind Jones; 17. Spanish, French, and English Petrarchism William J. Kennedy; Part VI. Conclusion: 18. Petrarch's confrontation with modernity Giuseppe Mazzotta; Guide to further reading.