The Fragmenta's Timeline Models for Reconstructing and Interpreting the Text

For decades, scholars and editors have attempted to reconstruct the chronologies of Francesco Petrarca’s life and works, simultaneously presenting historical facts and conjectures. The present study discusses a new method for investigating and representing the history of the Rerum vulgarium fragmenta, proposed in the creation of a digital interactive Timeline for the Petrarchive project. While the indistinct coexistence of certainty and assumption has often influenced and ultimately altered the way we interpret Petrarch’s work, the core principle of this new digital approach is transparency in sources and results, aiming at creating clear distinctions between what is clearly dated, what is datable with a fair amount of certainty, and what can only be conjectured. The drastic change of perspective proposed allows for a new and more authentic rethinking of Petrarch’s methods and times of work in the compilation of his songbook Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. It is crucial in creating a timeline of Petrarch’s life and works to start with basic methodological questions: how to build the timeline; what kind of data to include and how to interpret and organize this data; what forms of geographical referencing to reasonably rely upon for placing Petrarch’s activities and production. First of all, to answer these questions, it is necessary to “clear the ground.” Our perception of Petrarch and his work has been heavily influenced by centuries of studies, biographies, and editions presenting