Monads in Dialogue: Caterina da Siena and Francesco Petrarca

Abstract

The essay examines and compares key features of literary life, the circulation of works, and the epistolary dimension in Caterina da Siena and Petrarca. Although there is no direct dialogue or explicit mutual recognition between them, the two authors share a common cultural, political, and aesthetic horizon. The analysis focuses in particular on their relationship with the auctoritates and on the reformist aims (social, cultural, and political) that both seek to advance through their writings.