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The Italian Renaissance produced many outstanding artists, writers, and thinkers and one of the greatest figures of this era was Francesco Petrarcha (1304-1374). He was a great poet, philosopher, and writer. The Italian was to profoundly impact the Renaissance's poetry of the Renaissance, not only in Italy but throughout Europe.

He was also one of the pioneers in the ‘humanist’ movement, which radically transformed Europeans' worldview worldviews and their culture and society. Moreover, the Italian can be said to have invented the Renaissance concept, which he defined as a return to classical values after the ‘Dark Ages’ of the Medieval World.

The 14th century was, in many ways, a time of disaster and darkness. It was marked by terrible wars, famines, and of course , the Black Death, the most lethal pandemic known in European history. However, despite these disasters, there were dramatic changes in European societies. There was an increase in long-distance trade and urbanization, and feudal society began to break down in many areas. The Catholic Church was dominant, and it influenced every aspect of life in Europe. However, it was corrupt and worldly and was riven by disputes. These problems lead many people to adopt a more secular worldview and reconsider key beliefs such as humanity's imperfectability.

The most advanced region of Europe at this time was Italy. It was a patchwork of city-states that had become centers of trade and industry. The peninsula was also the heir of the Roman Empire, and the wealthy urban elite increasingly became interested in the classical world. These led to dramatic cultural changes and new ways of looking at the world , and novel forms of artistic expression that soon spread beyond Italy by the 15th century.

Francesco Petrarch (in Italian Petrarca) was born in Arezzo in Northern Italy. His father was a lawyer and a member of the minor nobility. He spent some of his early childhood in a village near Florence, and his family later moved to Avignon in Southern France. His father followed the Pope's court , who moved to Avignon to escape the Rome's disorders and instability in Rome.

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. Some 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 a Roman general's life.

His fame continued to grow, and he was sent on a more diplomatic mission by the Church. The Italian was an early supporter of Cola Rienzi , who failed to resurrect the Roman Republic and restore a 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. He revised many of his earlier lyrics, especially Italian, and he collected these in his famous Il Canzoniere (Song Book).

While Petrarch wrote in both Latin and Italian, it is arguably his works, especially his poetry in his native tongue , that was most influential. Vernacular poetry had begun to flourish in the 13th and 14th centuries, and the works of Dante and the Sicilian School are still considered masterpieces of European literature.<ref> Burckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (London, Penguin Books, 1990), p 117</ref> Dante, one of the world’s greatest poets, was a friend of Petrarch’s father. The writer had a major impact on the development of poetry in the Renaissance. Petrarch is often credited as the sonnet's inventor, one of the most popular poetic forms in the western tradition. This is a fourteen-line poem in the meter known as iambic pentameter. However, he really only perfected the form, and he introduced innovations that allowed poets to use language in a very expressive way.

Petrarch's verse became the model for lyrical poets for many centuries. His sonnets, known as the Petrarchan Sonnet, were very popular in Elizabethan England. Shakespeare was The Italian clearly influenced by the ItalianShakespeare, and he developed his own style of the sonnet, known as the Shakespearian sonnet, based on Petrarch’s verse. The Italian wrote his poetry in the Tuscan dialect, as had Dante. This led it to become the standard form of literary expression in the Italian Peninsula, which had many regional dialects. The Italian was not only a great poet; he also was a great prose writer. He wrote the first autobiography since the classical era, and this was a landmark in the development of the genre and encouraged more writers to compose their memoirs and life-story. His dialogues, letters, and other works, in Latin, inspired many imitators in the Renaissance.

Petrarch initiated the move to the world's re-discovery after the Middle Ages and its focus on the life to come, which was a characteristic of the humanists. This ultimately led to the world's rational examination, which had dramatic consequences in fields as diverse as science, politics, and philosophy. Moreover, the poet in his writings was very much interested in a person's interior life and suggested that everyone had a rich inner life, a key tenet of humanism. He held that the individual was important, and this was radical for the time. <ref>Bishop, Morris Petrarch, and His World. (Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana University Press 1963), p 118</ref> However, Petrarch was conflicted, he was a very religious man, yet he admired the pagan classical world. He was ultimately able to resolve this by arguing that the classical and pagan world could help a person become more moral and achieve salvation. This did much to ensure that humanism and its love of the classical past were acceptable in an Italy and Europe that was still staunchly Christian.<ref>Bishop. p. 201</ref>

Petrarch was undoubtedly one of the most significant influences on the Renaissance, not only in Italy but throughout Europe. His poetry inspired other poets in the period and later to examine their interior life and emotions and celebrate the natural world and see love as something spiritual. His literary forms, such as the sonnet and autobiography, persuaded many writers to adopt a more personal style. Petrarch was also, if not the ‘Father of Humanism’ certainly one of its leading lights. For example, his works and scholarship did much to encourage an appreciation of the Graeco-Roman civilization. This was radical as it helped to counter the stifling influence of the Church and Papacy. His writings and philosophy promoted a more secular and rational worldview and promoted greater awareness of its importance. This had important repercussions and encouraged a belief that this world was important and not just salvation. This encouraged a rediscovery of the ancient world and a growing investigation of the world and society that led to a more modern outlook and one that was not wholly influenced by Christianity.