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De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia attacks the Venetian scholastic circle

In 1367 Petrarch wrote De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia after Venetian critics measured him against Aristotle. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

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In 1367 Petrarch wrote De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia after Venetian critics measured him against Aristotle. It is not Sine nomine’s Babylon and not a unique curriculum reform. Polarisation: humanism versus scholastic science as public insult.

Context

He was a guest in Venice’s world after Milan. Shared with the unnamed ‘many’. Medium confidence on harm to learning; high on the text. Distinct from physician-invective.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. De ignorantia is not Babylon-letters and not contra medicum. Mixed effects of De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia attacks the Venetian scholastic circle are separate paths.

Why it matters

Anti-scholastic invective is a polarisation path of medium confidence and modest weight. Mixed: it also defends moral wisdom against a certain Aristotle-cult.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Petrarch

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.24 · verified

    Named author of De ignorantia. Venetian Aristotelians were the targets. Direct on the invective-treatise.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactDe sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia attacks the Venetian scholastic circle
    2. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
    3. weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.25 · Effect from 1 January 1367 · verified

    A learned attack on a university circle polarises humanist Latin against scholastic method, a modest polarisation path.

    • Having a say in government

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.11 (weight 0.25 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.11 (weight 0.25 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Treccani — Francesco PetrarcaIstituto della Enciclopedia Italiana · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — PetrarchEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Treccani at https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-petrarca/ (opens in a new tab) lists De ignorantia. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch (opens in a new tab) independently frames later polemics. Latin Library neighbourhood at https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/petrarch.html (opens in a new tab).

Established: 1367 De ignorantia. Not established: a unique faculty split series. Distinct from Sine nomine. 1367 Venetian Aristotle quarrel, treatise on his own and many people’s ignorance, not Avignon Babylon. Official locator https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-petrarca/ (opens in a new tab) is not independent locator https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch (opens in a new tab).

Shared responsibility is part of De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia attacks the Venetian scholastic circle. Naming Petrarch does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1367-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorPetrarch
  2. contributed toFactDe sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia attacks the Venetian scholastic circle
  3. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). De sui ipsius et multorum ignorantia attacks the Venetian scholastic circle. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/pet-de-ignorantia

https://factrail.ai/facts/pet-de-ignorantia

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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