"I know not," says the poet, "whether my eyes were filled with tears, but my heart was tenderly touched." The Carthusians, at last discovering who Petrarch was, saluted him with congratulations.

Petrarch gives an account of this interview in a letter to his brother himself.
Padua was too near to Venice for Petrarch not to visit now and then that city which he called the wonder of the world.

He there made acquaintance with Andrea Dandolo, who was made Doge in 1343, though he was only thirty-six years of age, an extraordinary elevation for so young a man; but he possessed extraordinary merit.

His mind was cultivated; he loved literature, and easily became, as far as mutual demonstrations went, the personal friend of Petrarch; though the Doge, as we shall see, excluded this personal friendship from all influence on his political conduct.
The commerce of the Venetians made great progress under the Dogeship of Andrea Dandolo.

It was then that they began to trade with Egypt and Syria, whence they brought silk, pearls, the spices, and other products of the East.