Theological Origins of Modernity

Cola di Rienzo to revive the Roman Republic, and when this eff ort failed,
he repeatedly sought to convince the emperors Ludwig IV and Charles IV
to return to Rome. He also urged a series of popes to reestablish the papacy
in Rome. Because of his intellectual standing, he also served on a number
of diplomatic missions aimed at mediating between warring states in
keeping with his larger goal of Italian reunifi cation and an elimination of
foreign intervention in Italian aff airs. Already by the 1340s, he had become
the most famous private man in Europe and was sought aft er by popes,
emperors, and various princes and tyrants. Petrarch, however, was determined
to maintain his freedom and privacy, declining all off ers of courtly
life. In this way he set the model for the independent intellectual life that
became central to the humanist tradition and that continues to play an
important role today.
petrarch’s view of the world
and the human condition
petrarch and the invention of individuality 49
Petrarch remarks at the beginning of the second volume of the Remedies
that there is nothing more deeply imprinted in his mind than Heraclitus’s
saying that everything exists by strife. Everything, he continues, attests
to it, for “Mother Nature has created nothing without strife and hatred.” 12
Petrarch sees continual change everywhere, beginning with inanimate
things and extending through the entire spiritual sphere. 13 War, he asserts,
is universal: “From the fi rstmost of the angels to the smallest and least of
the worms—the battle is unceasing and relentless.” 14
Human life is particularly beset by strife. 15 One cause of this lies in the
nature of things, according to Petrarch, but far greater is the war that takes
place within our souls. 16 It is thus not only nature or fortune that threatens
man but man himself. In the fi rst instance, this is the result of the struggle
for preeminence that characterizes human life, driven by a desire for fame
and the contrary workings of envy and resentment. 17 As a result, “the affairs
of man never stand still and . . . the one who sits highest on the slippery
wheel is closest to his downfall.” 18 Indeed, “no power on this earth
is stable,” for war hides under the guise of peace. 19 And even in times of
peace, we are still beset by our own passions, by “invisible masters in [our]
mind,” born of “a hidden poison [that] lurks in the very origin of man.” 20
Th e companions of peace are thus license and lust. 21 In order to attain and
maintain his freedom, man thus must forever battle temptation. 22
Petrarch was convinced that the religious institutions of his time were
not only incapable of resolving this problem but actually exacerbated it.