Francesco Petrarca

francesco petrarca, more commonly known as Petrarch, was an Italian man who wrote poetry in the 14th century. He was born in Arezzo, a town in central Italy, but did not spend much time there. During his childhood, his family followed the pope in a literal fashion, moving from Arezzo to Avignon to Carpentras (Plumb 161). In fact, francesco did not spend much time tied to any one place and is regarded by some as one of the first tourists to travel Europe (NSA 240). He also was one of the first people to use the phrase "Dark Ages" instead of "Middle Ages"

His father was a lawyer and because of this he wanted his sons to also be lawyers. Petrarch reluctantly studied law for seven years in the towns of Montpellier and Bologna.