Sonnets, Songs, and Triumphs

Giving himself over solely to his studies, he achieved such fame and goodwill among all illustrious men that his acquaintance was desired by princes, secular lords, cardinals, and popes. Among these, he was most especially summoned by the magnanimous and illustrious Galeazzo Visconti, then Duke of Milan Galeazzo II Visconti (c. 1320–1378), co-ruler of Milan and a major patron of the arts.. Petrarch lived there for some time under the title of his counselor, residing sometimes in Milan and sometimes in Parma, but for the most part his habitation was in Milan, at a villa four miles from the city in a place called Inferno Likely referring to Petrarch's villa at Linterno, which he affectionately nicknamed 'Inferno' or 'Linterno.'. There, the house he built with great moderation can still be seen. When he became very old, he settled in the parts near Padua to make his final home. Invited by the beauty of the place and the pleasantness of the Euganean Hills—together with a Paduan gentleman named Lombardo della Seta—he built a beautiful dwelling in the place called Arquà Arquà Petrarca, where the poet spent his final years., surrounded by olives and vines.

There, he spent his life honorably in continuous poetic and philosophical delights. Content with two servants and one scribe, he placed the care of his household and his person into the hands of a prudent man named Francesco da Brossano, his son-in-law, to whom he had given one of his illegitimate daughters in marriage. Persevering in this place despite the affliction of epilepsy, which greatly troubled him due to his age, he virtuously concluded the end of his life at the age of seventy.

Francesco Petrarch was a man of eminent stature, with a lively heart and excellent beauty. While not of great physical strength, he possessed the highest dexterity and singular eyesight even into his old age. By nature, he was most humane and an adversary to pride. Anger never took such a hold of him that it was directed at others. He was a very great despiser of all wealth—not because he did not value it, but because he hated the cares that are its inseparable companions. He was an enemy to all empty pomp, not only because he recognized it as wicked and opposed to humanity, but also because it is contrary to every quietude of the mind. In his youth, he was quite inclined to lust because of his age and temperament; nevertheless, he always held that life in loathing within his soul. After the age of fifty, while he still possessed much heat and strength, he cast away not only that obscene act but even the memory of it, as if he had never seen a woman.

He was always content with a modest life and domestic foods rather than delicate flavors. He avoided all banquets, finding nothing more pleasant or dear than being only with his friends; he never happily took a meal without a companion. He was slow to anger but most forgetful of injuries, mindful of favors, and a most eager and faithful preserver of honorable friendships. Fortunate even to the point of being envied for his intimacy with great lords, he was a lover of his own liberty and most fit for every good and healthy study. He possessed an elevated and subtle intellect and was curious about ancient histories; in his old age, he delighted no less in the sweetness of sacred letters. As we see, he was most clear in eloquence and prompt in both verse and prose, as much in Latin as in the vernacular. In this, he had a singular gift: his prose is graceful and polished, and his verse is refined and sonorous. In both styles, he composed many most noble works, as are included here below. For these, he deserves perpetual praise and immortal fame in this life; and so, may He who lives and reigns forever and ever have granted him a worthy place in eternal glory.

¶ He wrote eighteen volumes of books: On Illustrious Men original: "de uiri illustri"; On the Remedies for Both Good and Bad Fortune original: "de remedij de luna & l'altra fortuna"; On the Solitary Life; On Religious Leisure; The Secret Conflict Known as the 'Secretum,' a dialogue with Saint Augustine.; On His Solicitudes; On His Own Ignorance and That of Many Others; the Book Without a Name A collection of letters critical of the Papal court at Avignon.; two volumes of Letters; an Invective Against the French; an Invective Against a Beastly Physician; and a book On Memorable Things original: "libro de le cose di memoria"—these being in prose. In vernacular rhyme, two volumes: one of Sonnets and Songs and the other of Triumphs. In verse, three books: the Bucolics; the Letters to Barbato; and the Africa; and finally, the Seven Penitential Psalms. Here ends the Life of Master Francesco Petrarch.