Trinkaus, Charles. The Poet as Philosopher: Petrarch and the
Formation of Renaissance Consciousness. New Haven, Conn.:
Yale University Press, 1979.
Whitfi eld, J. H. Petrarch and the Renascence. Oxford: Black-
well, 1943.
Wilkins, Ernest Hatch. The Making of the Canzoniere and Other
Petrarchan Studies. Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura,
1951.
——. Studies in the Life and Works of Petrarch. Cambridge,
Mass.: Medieval Academy of America, 1955.
——. Petrarch’s Eight Years in Milan. Cambridge, Mass.: Me-
dieval Academy of America, 1958.
——. Petrarch’s Later Years. Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Acad-
emy of America, 1959.
——. Life of Petrarch. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago
Press, 1961.
——. Studies on Petrarch and Boccaccio. Padua: Antenore,
1978.
Christopher Kleinhenz
PETRUS DE DACIA (ca. 1230–1289)
Petrus de Dacia is called Sweden’s fi rst author. While
studying at the studium generale of the Dominicans in
Cologne (1267–1269), Petrus visited the nearby village
of Stommeln, where he met the German beguine Chris-
tina of Stommeln in 1267. As Christina’s confessor,
he often witnessed her remarkable and even terrifying
experiences: ecstasies, stigmatizations, and visions
that convinced him that Christina was a saint capable
of showing him the right way to God. In 1269–1270,
when studying in Paris, Petrus began the correspondence
with Christina that continued until his death. In 1270,
he returned to Sweden, revisiting Stommeln on his way
home, and in 1271 he was appointed lector of the Do-
minican convent of Skanninge. Not earlier than 1277,
he was transferred to Västeräs, where he became lector
and then prior, until 1280, when he was made lector of
the convent of Visby in his native island of Gotland.
In 1279, while staying a month in Cologne, he again
paid several visits to Christina. Having become prior in
Visby, he was also appointed socius of the provincial
for the General Chapter at Bordeaux in summer 1287.
On his way home from Bordeaux, Petrus met Christina
at Stommeln for the last time. In a letter of September
9, 1289, Christina was informed that Petrus had died
during the Lent of that year.
Two literary works in Latin by Petrus are known,
both in the Codex Juliacensis from about 1300, now in
the Bischöfl iches Diözesanarchiv in Aachen. In the Vita
Christinae Stumbelensis (“Life of Christina of Stom-
meln”), Petrus describes his visits to Stommeln and
his strong emotional reactions to Christina’s mystical
experiences. The book also contains their correspon-
dence and a biography of Christina written by the par-
ish priest of Stommeln, who used to read and translate
Petrus’s letters to Christina and write down her letters.
Although Petrus was deeply attached to Christina, he
repeatedly emphasizes that their love is a spiritual one,
having Christ for its true object.
Petrus’s other known work is De gratia naturam
ditante sive De virtutibus Christinae Stumbelensis (“On
Grace Enriching Nature, or On the Virtues of Christina
of Stommeln”). It consists of a poem of forty-three
hexameters praising Christina’s virtues and a long theo-
logical treatise commenting on each word of the poem.
The greater part of this work is lost. Petrus exploits his
philosophical and theological learning to fi nd theoretical
explanations of Christina’s behavior. The work presents
few original thoughts, being mainly a compilation of the
ideas of Petrus’s masters in Cologne and Paris, Albertus
Magnus and Thomas Aquinas.Further Reading
Editions
Petrus de Dacia. Vita Christinae Stumbelensis. Ed. Johannes
Paulson. Scriptores Latini Medii Aeui Suecani, 1. fasc. 2.
Gothenburg: Wettergren & Kerber, 1896.
Petrus de Dacia. De gratianaturam ditante sive De virtutibus
Christinae Stumbelensis. Edition critique avec une introduc-
tion par Monika Asztalos. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis.
Studia Latina Stockholmiensia, 28. Stockholm: Almqvist &
Wiksell, 1982 [review by Eva Odelman in Archivum Lati-
nitatis Medii Aevi, 43 (1984), 166–76); [a new edition of
Petrus’s letters with a Swedish translation is being prepared
by Monika Asztalos].
Literature
Schück, Henrik. Vår förste författare. En själshistoria från me-
deltiden. Stockholm: Geber, 1916.
Lehmann, Paul. Skandinaviens Anteil an der lateinischen Lit-
eratur und Wissenschaft des Mittelalters. 1. Stück. Sitzungs-
berichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Philosophisch-historische Abteilung, jahrgang 1936, Heft 2.
Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1936,
pp. 44–47.
Gallén, jarl. La province de Dacie de l’ordre des Frères Prêch-
eurs. 1: Histoire générale jusqu’au grand schisme. Helsinki:
Söderström, 1946.
Olsen, T. D. “Petrus de Dacia.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1967, vol. 11, p. 247.
Lindroth. Sten. Svensk lärdomshistoria. 4 vols. Stockholm:
Norstedt, 1975–81. vol. 1, pp. 64–71.
Nieveler, Peter. Codex luliacensis. Christina von Stommeln und
Petrus von Dacien, ihr Leben und Nachleben in Geschichte.
Kunst und Literatur. Veröffentlichungen des Bischöfl ichen
Diözesanarchivs Aachen, 34. Mönchengladbach: Kühlen, 1975.
Asztalos, Monika. “Les lettres de direction et les sermons épis-
tolaires de Pierre de Dacie.” In The Editing of Theological
and Philosophical Texts from the Middle Ages: Acts of the
Conference Arranged by the Department of Classical Lan-
guages, University of Stockholm, 29–31 August 1984. Ada
Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Studia Latina Stockholmiensia,- Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1986, pp. 161–84.
Den Svenska Litteraturen. 1: Från fomüd till frihetsid 800–1718.
Stockholm: Bonnier, 1987, pp. 66–71.
Eva Odelman
PETRARCA, FRANCESCO