Similarities: All of these three personalities are Italian nationals and famous poets of the middle ages. They are together called “the three fountains” and also “the three crowns”. All of them wrote poems on love due to falling in love with a lady of their time. Dante fell in love with Beatrice, Petrarch with Laura and Boccaccio with Catherine of Valois-Courtenay.
Differences: All of them had different family backgrounds. Dante is presumed to study at home in the early age however Petrarch studied law and Boccaccio got his early education from Mazzuoli who taught him about the work of Dante.
All of these three personalities have been considered as “the three fountains” which means that they were the source of knowledge and inspiration for the people. People have made various statues, paintings of all three of them and placed in museums in remembrance to their efforts for bringing awareness and knowledge based culture in the society during the middle ages. They all have left many publications and other of their work for the people to get benefited from their efforts. Even in the modern age of technology, the people in Italy as well as in rest of the Europe are inspired from them and embrace their efforts. People still read their poetry and many theatres like Opera in Italy organize plays based on these personalities.
When his love Beatrice died, Dante pounded himself into the Latin literature (Guy ,2009). The Convivo reveals that he had read Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae and Cicero's De Amicitia after which he started with philosophy in depth at religious institutions. He was an active member of formulating two primary mendicant orders (i-e Franciscan and Dominican) which were held in Florence, Italy. Dominican is based on explaining the philosophy of mystics and Saint Bonaventure.
Petrarch wrote his famous literature work known as “ascent of Mont Ventoux”. He mentions in this literary work that on April 26, 1336, he climbed the Mont Ventoux along with his brother. This achievement of his was for recreation purpose and not for fulfilling any requirements. Petrarch mentioned in a letter to his friend that he was inspired by the Philip V of Macedon who ascended of another mount known as Mount Heamo(Conrad ,1991).
The Decameron, which is also called Prince Galehaut, is a 14th-century medieval tale by Boccaccio, which is told as a structure tale comprising 100 tales by ten young people. Boccaccio started writing the Decameron in 1350, and completed it in either 1351 or 1353. He wrote this literary marvel as an inspiration to the life in 14th century and to his love named Catherine. The various stories in The Decameron have unique aspects from erotic to tragic, from wit to practical jokes and many life lessons.
A short biographical summary of each man
Durante was a renowned Italian philosopher, thinker, largely known for his literature, poetry and prose composition. He is famous worldwide for his Divine Comedy ranked as the greatest work of art in the record of literature. His exact date of birth is not on record but 1265 is mostly believed to be his birth time. His father was a White Guelph and was well know in florescence. His mother died when he was merely at the age of ten his father married again and he had two step siblings. He got married to Gemma under a contract marriage but was deeply in love with another women with the name Beatrice and that was the time he got so much in love that he started writing in the love of his beloved and wrote remarkable piece of writing .He remained a victim of black and white Guelph collision and passed many years in prison and finally in 1321 he died and was peacefully put to eternal abode at the church of san Francesco later his tomb was built in 1483 by Bernardo (Jesper ,2007).
Petrarch was eminent for his lyrical compositions and famous for his sonnets in whole Europe and deeply influenced poets for centuries. He was born in Italy in the year 1304 and later he moved with his family to France where he had to pursue law education .At the age of 23 he met a lady named Laura who completely changed his life .He fell in deep love with her though she was a married woman but her beauty inspired him so much that he came into poem writing field and wrote a tremendous series of poems .He was well known for his literary skills ,humanism and scholarships .He had traveled extensively in Europe and inspired people in imperial courts with his magnificent skills and wide knowledge. He revived the literature of ancient Greek and started to write songs, poems and sonnets in love of Laura .He also wrote about religion and biographies of prominent personalities .He continued to write and praise his beloved even after her death and his work was appreciated for its purity and for Italian language and thought reflection in it. After composing incredible literature throughout his life in the year 1374 he left this world for his final abode(Henry ,Hollway,1907)
Boccaccio spent his early years of life in Tuscany and his father was a merchant who commenced a commercial profession for him .Boccaccio began his writing career with short stories ,prose and verses .He fell in ultimate love with a lady named Fiammetta and produce a tremendous series of poems .He later became civil servant and an important public figure who emphasized on learning .His most popular work is Decameron, he made reflection of romantic and classical literature work of European in it. Many poets after him taken abstracts from his creation and its influences were visibly noticeable in England as well as France. He mainly lived a retirement life in last years of his life. Boccaccio died in 1375, within a year of Petrarch’s death (Kenneth,2011).
Their historical peers and influences
At age of 18 Dante met and formed friendship with Lapo Gianni, Guido Cavalcanti, Cino da Pistoia and leter with Brunetto Latini. They all became the founder of the Dolce Stil Novo. It is considered that after several unofficial instructions given to Charles of Valois a delegation which included Dante, was sent to Rome to determine the Pope's intentions. After meeting with Dante the Pope of that time named Boniface sent other delegate back and asked Dante to stay in Rome which clearly indicates the influence of Dante on the Pope.
Petrarch wrote many letters to his peers including bishop of Cavaillon, Philippe de Cabassoles, bishop of Padua, tribune of Rome and Niccolo di Capoccia. Petrarch is well known as the father of Renaissance.
Starting from 1350 Boccaccio became intimately concerned with humanism in Italy and got involved in the government of Florence. He went on various official missions including Romagna, Brandenburg, Avignon and Milan. He was a close friend as well as student of Petrarch.
References
Guy P. Raffa. (2009). The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Divine Comedy. Chicago.University of Chicago Press
Conrad H. Rawski. (1991). Petrarch's Remedies for Fortune Fair and Foul . Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana University Press
Jesper Hede. (2007). Reading Dante: The Pursuit of Meaning. Lanham, Maryland:Lexington Books
Henry Calthrop Hollway-Calthrop.(1907). Petrarch: his life and times.New York:NY. G.P. Putnam's sons
Kenneth R. Bartlett .(2011). The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook.Toronto.University of Toronto Press
