1. Petrarch By Taylor Eastham

2. The Renaissance The Renaissance was a time of rebirth for Europe. The Renaissance brought new styles of art and new ways of thinking for the people of Europe. This is when the concepts of the “isms” Humanism, Individualism, Secularism, and Scientific Naturalism first came into the world. People became more educated during this period because of the printing press and ideas being able to be spread quickly because of this. It also brought a reform of the church.

3. Biography On July 20, 1304 Petrarch was born in the city of Arezzo with the name of Francesco Petrarca. He studied law in France then later Italy, but his real passion was for Latin literature and writing. He quit law in 1326 and served in a clerical position this gave him time to study literature and writing. In 1327 he met Laura de Noves a woman he obsessed about for the rest of his life although the love was not returned. He was well known throughout Europe, he was a celebrity of that time. He is known as “the first tourist” because he traveled widely for the pleasure of it. He is known as the “father of Humanism”. He died on July 19, 1374.

4. Petrarch influence on the Renaissance He studied the classics of the Greek and Roman and he was enlightened by the fact that humans could once again obtain that greatness and this is why he is looked upon as the “father of humanism”. Humanism is the biggest “ism” from the renaissance that was incorporated into his work. This is shown by his his classically written work including his sonnets to Laura. There are 366 of these sonnets they all profess his undying love for Laura, a woman he possibly never even talked to but simply admired from a far. He touches on secularism when talking about his love for Laura a materialistic thing. He didn’t touch on the subjects of individualism and scientific naturalism in his works.

5. Influences on the “isms” He influenced humanism by writing his works in an humanistic style then when his works became popular in Europe the concept of humanism was spread through people reading his works. His sonnets to Laura are seen as great works of this time period because he was one of the first to talk about the concepts of unrequited love. Seeing he is known as the “father of humanism” he barely if at all touched on the other “isms” in his works.