Francesco Petrarca

For Francesco Petrarca, a total of 6 epidemic events are known so far. It is a person. See also scribes and groups.

Table

Table

Page	DateStart date of the disease.	SummarySummary of the disease event	OriginalOriginal text	TranslationEnglish translation of the text	ReferenceReference(s) to literature	Reference translationReference(s) to the translation
1348-00-00-Méounes-lès-Montrieux	1348 JL	A report from Francesco Petrarca to the bishop of Padua about the actions of a Carthusian monk in Méounes-lès-Montrieux during the plague of 1348, who was against fleeing the plague and helped his friars dying of the plague without fear. He rebuilt his monastery after the severe plague wave.	Cum pestis hec que omnes terras ac maria pervagata est, ad vos ex ordine venisset et castra in quibus Cristo militas, invasisset, priorque tuus, vir alioquin, ut ipse novi, sancti ardentisque propositi, tamen inopino malo territus, hortaretur fugam, te illi cristiane simul ac philosophice respondisse acrius iret quo se dignum crederet, te in custodia tibi a Cristo credita permansurum; cumque iterum et iterum instaret et inter terrores alios sepulcrum quoque tibi defuturum minaretur, dixisse te illam tibi ex omnibus ultimam curam esse, neque enim tua interesse sed superstitum quali iaceas sepultura; illum postremo cessisse ad penates patrios nec ita multo post morte illuc eum insequente subtractum, te vero incolumem, Eo apud quem est fons vite protegente, mansisse; et cum diebus paucis mors quattuor et triginta qui illic erant, abstulisset, solum in (p. 2212) monasterio resedisse. Illud addebant te nullo morbi contagio deterritum, astitisse fratribus tuis expirantibus et suprema verba atque oscula excipientem et gelida corpora lavantem, sepe uno die tres plures ve tuis manibus indefesso pietatis obsequio sepelisse et exportasse tuis humeris, cum iam qui foderet aut qui iusta morientibus exhiberet, nemo esset; solum te ad ultimum cum cane unico remansisse, totis noctibus vigilantem, modica lucis parte necessarie quieti data, cum interim predones nocturni, quorum feracissima est regio, sepe per intempeste noctis silentia locum invadentes a te, imo a Cristo qui tecum erat, nunc pacificis nunc acrioribus verbis exclusi, nichil damni sacris edibus inferre potuerint; cum vero transisset estas illa terribilis, misisse et ad proxima servorum Cristi loca ut aliquis tibi loci tui custos mitteretur; quo facto ivisse Cartusiam et ab illo, religionis nunc cultore unico in terris, priore loci inter tres et octuaginta priores alienigenas te non priorem, singulari et insolito honore susceptum, obtinuisse ut tibi prior ac monachi darentur quos e diversis conventibus elegisses, quibus desertum morte tuorum monasterium reformares, teque hoc velut eximio triumpho letissimum rediisse.	When the plague that swept over all lands and seas inevitably reached you and invaded your camp, where you were fighting for Christ, your prior, otherwise of pious and ardent zeal, as I know myself, in horror at the unexpected destruction, advised to flee. Yet, you responded to him with Christian and philosophical wisdom, stating that his counsel would be welcome if there were any place impervious to death. Thereafter, he stressed the necessity of departure with no less urgency, to which you responded more firmly, telling him to go wherever he pleased, while you intended to remain steadfast at the post entrusted to you by Christi. And in response to his repeated entreaties, with which he threatened you with many horrors, including the lack of a proper burial, you replied that in the midst of all worries, your concern for how you would lie in the end was the least, for it was not your duty to worry about it; rather, it should concern the survivors. Following this, he finally left for the ancestral household gods, and not long afterward, Death, pursuing him, overtook him there, while you were spared, thanks to your protector, in whom 'the source of life' resides. Certainly, in a matter of a few days, Death claimed thirty-four occupants in that place, and you were the only one left in the monastery. They also added the following: You fearlessly provided aid to your dying brethren, accepting their last words and embraces, washing their lifeless bodies, often carrying three or more of them on your shoulders in unwavering devotion on a single day, and burying them with your own hands, as there was no one else to dig graves or attend to the dying. In the end, when you were alone with only a single dog, you spent whole nights awake and allowed yourself only a modest portion of bright daylight for necessary rest. By that time, nocturnal thieves, who found that area highly fertile, often assaulted that place in the still of the deepest night, but through you, or rather with the assistance of Christ, they were repelled, either by peaceful or sharp words, so that they could not harm the consecrated buildings. However, when that dreadful summer came to an end, you sent a request to the servants of Christ in nearby settlements, asking them to send a guardian for your monastery. Subsequently, you moved to the Chartreuse, where you were received by the prior, who was now the sole representative of the order in that region, and by eighty-three foreign priors, with exceptional and unique honors, even though you were a non-prior. You managed to secure a prior and monks from different convents to revitalize the empty monastery following the death of your brothers.	Template:Francesco Petrarca, Le Familiari XVI-XX, pp. 2212–2214	None
1348-05-11-Savona	11 May 1348 JL	Severe plague in Savona and Francesco Petrarca laments the death of his friend Francesco Albizzi, who presumably died there because of the plague in April 1348	Saona nocens atque impia [...] Pro quo quid aliud optem tibi? [..] (p. 982) Quicquid vel mortium vel morborum per omnes terras ac maria pestifer hic annus effudit, in te solam confluat; queque aliis annua, tibi pestis eterna sit.	Savona! Accursed, cruel place! [...] What else should I wish for you but this: [...] Whatever death and destruction this year of pestilence has poured over all lands and seas, let it flow only to you. And may the plague that was annual in other regions be eternal for you!	Francesco Petrarca, Le Familiari VI-X, pp. 980–982	None
1348-08-01-Italy	1 August 1348 JL	Dating in a letter of Francesco Petrarca refers to fear of plague in the north of Italy	Apud superos, in Gallia Cisalpina ad dexteram Padi ripam, Kalendis Sextilibus anno ab ortu Eius quem an tu rite noveris incertum habeo, MCCCXLVIII.	Among the living in this part of Gaul on the right bank of the Po, on the first of August in the year 1348.	Template:Francesco Petrarca, Le familiari XX-XXIV, p. 237	None
1349-06-00-Italy	June 1349 JL	Letter from Francesco Petrarca to his friend Ludwig van Kempen in Avignon about the plague in Italy in 1348 (mentioning an Earthquake	Heu michi, frater amantissime, quid dicam? unde ordiar? quonam vertar? undique dolor, terror undique. [...] Utinam, frater, aut nunquam natus aut prius extinctus forem! quodsi nunc optare cogor, quid dicturum putas si ad extremem senectutem venero? ad quam o utinam non venirem; sed veniam, timeo, non ut diutius vivam, sed ut diu moriar. Nosco etenim fatum meum, et sensim intelligo ad quid in hanc (p. 1124) erumnosam et infelicem vitam sim proiectus. Heu michi, frater optime! piget ex intimis ax miseret me mei. [...] (p. 1126) Qua in re benigno sub iudice forsan excuser, si ad examen venerit illud quoque, non leve aliquid, sed millesimum trecentesimum quadragesimum octavum sexte etatis annum esse quem lugeo, qui non solum nos amicis, sed mundum omnen gentibus spoliavit; cui siquid defuit, sequens ecce annus illius reliquias demetit, et quicquid (p. 1128) illi procelle superfuerat, mortifera falce persequitur. Quando hoc posteritas credet, fuisse tempus sine diluvio sine celi aut telluris incendio sine bellis aut alia clade visibili, quo non hec pars aut illa terrarum, sed universus fere orbis sine habitatore remanserit? quando unquam in annalibus lectum est, vacuas domos, derelictas urbes, squalida rura, arva cadaveribus angusta, horrendam vastamque toto orbe solitudinem? [...] (p. 1128) Ubi dulces nunc amici, ubi sunt amati vultus, ubi verba mulcentia, ubi mitis et iocunda conversatio? quod fulmen ista consumpsit, quid terre motus evertit, que tempestas demersit, que abyssus absorbuit? Stipati eramus, prope iam soli sumus. Nove amicitie contrahende sunt. UNde autem sive ad quid, humano genere pene extincto, et proximo, ut auguror, rerum fine? Sumus, frater, sumus - quid dissimulem? - vere soli; (p. 1134)	Woe is me, dearest brother, what shall I say, what shall I do, where shall I turn? Pain is everywhere, terror is everywhere! [...] Would that I, brother, had never been born or had been snuffed out earlier! If I am compelled to wish for this already, what will I say when I have reached the highest old age one day? And may I not even reach that day! But I will reach it, I fear, but not to live longer, rather to die longer. I know my fate, and gradually I understand why I was thrust into this sorrowful and luckless life. Woe is me, dearest brother, I am sickened to my core, and I mourn my [...] (p. 433) Perhaps I will at least be excused by a merciful judge in this matter, if he takes into account that I am not complaining about something trivial but about the year 1348 in the sixth age! It has not only (p. 434) deprived us of our friends, but the whole world of its peoples. And if anything escaped this year, behold, the new year is now mowing down the rest. And if something withstood the storms of the old year, it is now being overtaken by the deadly sickle. Will posterity ever believe that in a time free from flood and world conflagration, wars, and indeed from any visible disaster, nearly the entire globe, not just this or that region, was depopulated? When has such a thing ever been seen or heard through rumors? In which annals was such to be read? There are empty houses, deserted cities, fallow fields, fields covered with corpses, and a horrifying, boundless desolation everywhere in the world! [...] (p. 435) Where are the familiar friends now, where are the beloved faces, where are the charming conversations? Where is the cheerful and intimate companionship with them? What lightning bolt has removed all of this? What earthquake has overturned it? What storm has drowned it, and what abyss has swallowed it? We were surrounded by friends; now we are almost alone. We would have to form new friendships! But where and for what purpose? Since the human race is almost extinct, and, I fear, the end of the world is near. We are, my brother, we are – what should I suppress it! – truly alone!	Template: Francesco Petrarca, Le Familiari VI-X, pp. 1124-1134	None
1349-09-00-Carpi	September 1349 JL	Letter from Francesco Petrarca to his friend Ludwig van Kempen in which he mentions the plague breaking out again in Carpi	Sicut enim quid cupiam scio, sic nescio quid sperem; quo fit ut mira michi in animo rebellantium cogitationum turba consurgat; ad omnem enim vite mee modum non leve momentum mors aut vita tua est; et vite quidem tue spem michi prestat etas modestia valitudo; terrent morbi contagia renascentis et celum apud vos, ut memorant, rursus infame.	I know what I wish for, but I do not know what I may hope for. Thus, it happens that within me, a peculiar heap of conflicting thoughts rises up. For every aspect of my life, your death and your life are of significant importance to me. Your youth, temperance, and robust nature provide hope that you are alive, while the reemerging plague and the infamous weather conditions reportedly occurring among you terrify me.	Template:Francesco Petrarca, Le Familiari VI-X, p. 1366	None
1360-10-26-Milan	26 October 1360 JL	Francesco Petrarca does not want to leave Milan, where a severe plague was raging, as he writes to a doctor friend	Illud autem quod ex hox aere semper hactenus laudato, nunc nescio cur infami, me ad patriam tuam saluberrimasque Alpium radices anxius atque solicitus vocas [...] (p. 132) Ut ergo pestem fugiam, que hactenus urbem hanc terruit potiusquam invasit, quot sunt alia, quam diversa mortis spicula, quibus assequitur fugientes et quorum forte plurimis subductum uni caput obicio!	That you are summoning me from this region, which was always praised but is now inexplicably vilified, to your homeland and the splendidly healthy valley floor of the Alps, demonstrates, as always, your faithfulness. [...] (p. 548) How can I escape the plague that has hitherto 'terrified this city more than conquest'? The number of deadly arrows with which it pursues the fleeing is vast, so should I expose my head, which may have barely escaped the multitude, to perhaps just one?	Francesco Petrarca, Le familiari XX-XXIV, pp. 132–133	None

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