Cerulean
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Petrarch
One of the things I came away with from Renaissance studies was the way Petrach redefined the concept of looking at history. Instead of presenting history as Augustine did, from the Biblical creation to his present time, he actually divided history into segments.
"He regarded Christianity's rejection of the classics of antiquity as the greatest failure of Christian scholars and the cause of what he saw as a great shadow over learning during the Middle Ages" is a quote from the link below.
In some eyes, the view of the "Dark Ages'" is from Petrach's slant when Roman Christianity did not accept classical literature as part of historical wisdom. This website history, a more conservative biography, suggests Petrach really didn't coin the phrase Dark Ages, but he was one of the original commentators who helped redefine historical contexts and laid foundation for more experimental Renaissance thinking:
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Dark_Ages
I noticed this background had better information about his early years a cleric of the church, (taking Holy Orders), which is sometimes not mentioned in histories regarding his courtly love poetry.
I've been trying to find online histories that give a more expanded view of his contributions to writing and Renaissance thinking...I don't know exactly if this is helpful, but his introduction of viewing periods in history was supposed to be very unusual. It may not have anything to do with his "Triumph of Time and Eternity" but I thought from a long ago class there was something important about his thinking...
(Also, the invented use of minutes in clocks came about around 1516? I have to dig up my notes when I return from a family funeral...Petarch's view of time keeps nagging at me)
One of the things I came away with from Renaissance studies was the way Petrach redefined the concept of looking at history. Instead of presenting history as Augustine did, from the Biblical creation to his present time, he actually divided history into segments.
"He regarded Christianity's rejection of the classics of antiquity as the greatest failure of Christian scholars and the cause of what he saw as a great shadow over learning during the Middle Ages" is a quote from the link below.
In some eyes, the view of the "Dark Ages'" is from Petrach's slant when Roman Christianity did not accept classical literature as part of historical wisdom. This website history, a more conservative biography, suggests Petrach really didn't coin the phrase Dark Ages, but he was one of the original commentators who helped redefine historical contexts and laid foundation for more experimental Renaissance thinking:
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Dark_Ages
I noticed this background had better information about his early years a cleric of the church, (taking Holy Orders), which is sometimes not mentioned in histories regarding his courtly love poetry.
I've been trying to find online histories that give a more expanded view of his contributions to writing and Renaissance thinking...I don't know exactly if this is helpful, but his introduction of viewing periods in history was supposed to be very unusual. It may not have anything to do with his "Triumph of Time and Eternity" but I thought from a long ago class there was something important about his thinking...
(Also, the invented use of minutes in clocks came about around 1516? I have to dig up my notes when I return from a family funeral...Petarch's view of time keeps nagging at me)