* Latin was the language of scholarship and literature in his time, and he wrote many works in it, including his famous *Canzoniere* (which is a collection of poems in Italian), but also treatises on rhetoric, history, and ethics.
* Italian was the language of the common people, and Petrarch's use of it was significant because it helped to elevate the vernacular to a level of literary importance. His *Canzoniere* and other works in Italian contributed to the development of Italian literature.