On the 9th of this month he obtained letters of legitimation for his son John, who might now be about ten years old.

John is entitled, in these letters, "a scholar of Florence." The Pope empowers him to possess any kind of benefice without being obliged, in future, to make mention of his illegitimate birth, or of the obtained dispensation.
It appears from these letters that the mother of John was not married.
He left his son at Verona under the tuition of Rinaldo di Villa Franca.
Before he had left Provence in this year, for the purpose of visiting Italy, he had announced his intention to the Pope, who wished to retain him as an honour to his court, and offered him his choice of several church preferments.

But our poet, whose only wish was to obtain some moderate benefice that would leave him independent and at liberty, declined his Holiness's _vague_ offers.

If we consider that Petrarch made no secret of his good wishes for Rienzo, it may seem surprisingly creditable to the Pontiff's liberality that he should have even _professed_ any interest in the poet's fortune; but in a letter to his friend Socrates, Petrarch gives us to understand that he thought the Pope's professions were merely verbal.

He says: "To hold out treasures to a man who demands a small sum is but a polite mode of refusal." In fact, the Pope offered him _some_ bishopric, knowing that he wanted only _some_ benefice that should be a sinecure.
If it be asked what determined him now to leave Avignon, the counter-question may be put, what detained him so long from Italy?
It appears that he had never parted with his house and garden at Parma; he hated everything in Avignon excepting Laura; and of the solitude of Vaucluse he was, in all probability, already weary.
Before he left Avignon, he went to take leave of Laura.