Bob Cox writes “http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/06/1081
Of all the world’s great writers, Francesco Petrarch is the best known for losing his head. On Good Friday in 1327, the then 23-year-old writer and scholar fell madly in love with a woman he saw in a church congregation.
His bad luck, to become enamoured of a woman who did not return his affections, was the rest of humanity’s good fortune. For, in seeking to express his feelings for the woman he called Laura, Petrarch gave definitive form to the sonnet and established himself as the first modern, Western poet.
Now, it seems, he has lost his head a second time.”
Expanded version
An expanded version of this story is available at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,36 04,1186597,00.html
Petrarch
Interestingly enough, in my DBs, I find a second first name for him (Francisco), and different dates for his first meeting with Laure de Noves. One date given is April 6th, and another derived date is April 10th (from a derived Easter sunday of April 12, 1327 Gregorian).
Anyone got clarifications?
— Ender, Duke_of_URL