<P> In contrast, Petrarch's thought and style are relatively uniform throughout his life--he spent much of it revising the songs and sonnets of the Canzoniere rather than moving to new subjects or poetry . Here, poetry alone provides a consolation for personal grief, much less philosophy or politics (as in Dante), for Petrarch fights within himself (sensuality versus mysticism, profane versus Christian literature), not against anything outside of himself . The strong moral and political convictions which had inspired Dante belong to the Middle Ages and the libertarian spirit of the commune; Petrarch's moral dilemmas, his refusal to take a stand in politics, his reclusive life point to a different direction, or time . The free commune, the place that had made Dante an eminent politician and scholar, was being dismantled: the signoria was taking its place . Humanism and its spirit of empirical inquiry, however, were making progress--but the papacy (especially after Avignon) and the empire (Henry VII, the last hope of the white Guelphs, died near Siena in 1313) had lost much of their original prestige . </P> <P> Petrarch polished and perfected the sonnet form inherited from Giacomo da Lentini and which Dante widely used in his Vita nuova to popularise the new courtly love of the Dolce Stil Novo . The tercet benefits from Dante's terza rima (compare the Divina Commedia), the quatrains prefer the ABBA - ABBA to the ABAB - ABAB scheme of the Sicilians . The imperfect rhymes of u with closed o and i with closed e (inherited from Guittone's mistaken rendering of Sicilian verse) are excluded, but the rhyme of open and closed o is kept . Finally, Petrarch's enjambment creates longer semantic units by connecting one line to the following . The vast majority (317) of Petrarch's 366 poems collected in the Canzoniere (dedicated to Laura) were sonnets, and the Petrarchan sonnet still bears his name . </P> <P> Petrarch is traditionally called the father of Humanism and considered by many to be the "father of the Renaissance ." In his work Secretum meum he points out that secular achievements did not necessarily preclude an authentic relationship with God . Petrarch argued instead that God had given humans their vast intellectual and creative potential to be used to their fullest . He inspired humanist philosophy which led to the intellectual flowering of the Renaissance . He believed in the immense moral and practical value of the study of ancient history and literature--that is, the study of human thought and action . Petrarch was a devout Catholic and did not see a conflict between realizing humanity's potential and having religious faith . </P> <P> A highly introspective man, he shaped the nascent humanist movement a great deal because many of the internal conflicts and musings expressed in his writings were seized upon by Renaissance humanist philosophers and argued continually for the next 200 years . For example, Petrarch struggled with the proper relation between the active and contemplative life, and tended to emphasize the importance of solitude and study . In a clear disagreement with Dante, in 1346 Petrarch argued in his De vita solitaria that Pope Celestine V's refusal of the papacy in 1294 was as a virtuous example of solitary life . Later the politician and thinker Leonardo Bruni (1370 - 1444) argued for the active life, or "civic humanism". As a result, a number of political, military, and religious leaders during the Renaissance were inculcated with the notion that their pursuit of personal fulfillment should be grounded in classical example and philosophical contemplation . </P>

Who is known as the father of humanism