Why is Petrarch called "the father of humanism"

Petrarch Petrarch proposed replacing "God's knowledge" with "human knowledge" and was called "the father of humanism".

Petrarch is a representative of Renaissance and humanism. He looked at the society at that time with the eyes of people, secular and secular. Petrarch, people call him "the father of humanism".

Francesco Petrarca (1304- 1374) was born in Florence. His father was a local notary and was exiled at the same time as Dante. Petrarch himself lived in Provence for many years in his early years and once roamed France, Flanders and the Rhine Valley. He likes to collect manuscripts of ancient Greek and Roman books and study the works of famous Roman writers, calling Cicero and Virgil "two eyes" of classical learning. 1374, Roman citizens revolted against the tyrannical rule of the nobility, and Petrarch wrote to Cora di Rienzo, the leader of the uprising, expressing his support. Most of Petrarch's works are written in Latin, such as his narrative poem Africa (1342). The poem praises the heroic deeds of Scipio who defeated Hannibal in ancient Rome. He hopes that this work will make him "immortal". But his best work is a collection of lyric poems written in Italian.

The song collection mainly praises his love for his girlfriend Laura, and also includes several political lyrics, praising the motherland, calling for peace and unity and exposing the corruption of the church. The Collection of Songs reflects the poet's inner contradiction: he loves life and nature, longs for human happiness and pursues love and honor, but he can't break with religious tradition and asceticism; Patriotic enthusiasm and national consciousness, but divorced from the people and despised the masses. These contradictions are exactly the contradictions of humanists in the transition from the Middle Ages to the new era. His lyric poems inherited the Provencal tradition and the "gentle new style" poetry school, overcame the abstract and obscure meaning, showed a new humanistic spirit, and made love poems close to life. The poet pinned his ideal and spiritual quality on Laura, and praised her physical beauty again and again. Petrarch is also very sensitive to the beauty of nature. Some poems combine the praise of Laura with the description of nature. The poem "Clear, Cool and Sweet Water" is a remarkable example. Petrarch is better at describing inner changes and expressing love experiences than previous poets. These poems all show humanists' love view centered on personal happiness. His collection of songs paved the way for European bourgeois lyric poetry in both content and form. Sonnets have reached artistic perfection in European poetry and become an important poetic style.