The year was 1370, and even the shimmering canals of Venice brought no joy to Francesco Petrarch. Over the last two decades, the world-renowned scholar and poet had travelled the length and breadth of Italy. But with every passing year, he found himself retreating more from social life, seeking to escape the "ignorance" of his age.

"I escape the city like an exile," he wrote, "and choose to live in a solitary small village, in a pretty little house… where I spend my days completely calm, away from the tumult, the noise, the chores, continuously reading and writing.