One of the inaugurators of the European early modern era is Francesco Petrarca. Many authors draw on him in thematic, formal, aesthetic, poetic respects as well as in questions concerning history, art history, philosophical, social and cultural behaviour. European intellectuals refer to the 'Petrarchan paradigm'. One of many examples of this is the courtly elitist gesture of self-presentation in accordance with a socially compatible Petrarchan language of conceit. The present volume deals with the identity-forming influence that early modern Petrarchism had on the whole of Europe. It discusses aspects such as the self-conception of the modern European and the role of Petrarchan discourse in shaping it, but also medial, poetical, social, cultural and historical conditions and implications that suggest that Petrarchism can be seen as a founding myth for Europe.