Jump to content

Ascent of Mont Ventoux: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
added several additional references that April 26, 1336 is considered "birthday of alpinism"
additional references that April 26, 1336, is regarded as "Birthday of Alpinism"
Line 5: Line 5:
[[Image:Ventoux Nordseite Schnee unterhalb des Gipfels.jpg|Thumb|right|200px|Mount Ventoux]]
[[Image:Ventoux Nordseite Schnee unterhalb des Gipfels.jpg|Thumb|right|200px|Mount Ventoux]]


'''Birth of Alpinism''' (start of the concept of modern day mountain climbing for the sport) is considered as April 26, 1336.<ref>[http://www.localescapes.com/marketing/pages/Mountaineering-History-4511.html Mountaineering History]</ref> [[Francesco Petrarch]] is regarded as the "Father of Alpinism" <ref>[http://s24.realgolfonline.org/rockclimbingalabama/mountain-climbing.html Mountain Climbing News]</ref> because of his ascent of [[Mount Ventoux]].<ref>[http://www.sjr.mb.ca/ms/banner/2006/6JH/mc/history.htm Mountain Climbing History]</ref> This is a 6,200-foot peak near Petrarch's home in [[Carpentras]], France. A century later, a chapel dedicated to the [[Christian cross|Holy Cross]] was built on the top of the mountain. Today there is a steep road to the top of [[Mount Ventoux]] that is sometimes painfully incorporated into the [[Tour de France]]. Since this is the first time that such a mountain climb was done just for the sport,<ref>[http://www.intersites.co.uk/12364/ History of Mountaineering]</ref> Petrarch is considered as "Father of Alpinism"<ref>[http://www.provence-hideaway.com/213.html Provence-Hideaways]</ref>. Petrarch then was about 30 years of age.<ref>[http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/timeline.html Timeline of Petrarch's life.]</ref>
'''Birth of Alpinism''' (start of the concept of modern day mountain climbing for the sport)<ref>[http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=445 History of First Ascents]</ref> is considered as April 26, 1336.<ref>[http://www.localescapes.com/marketing/pages/Mountaineering-History-4511.html Mountaineering History]</ref>
<ref>[http://mo26.mcdadv.com/mountainrockclimbing.html Mountain Rock Climbing]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.lottery-news.net/dust6984-mountaineer_accessories.html Mountaineer Definitions and Statistics]</ref> [[Francesco Petrarch]] is regarded as the "Father of Alpinism" <ref>[http://s24.realgolfonline.org/rockclimbingalabama/mountain-climbing.html Mountain Climbing News]</ref> because of his ascent of [[Mount Ventoux]].<ref>[http://www.sjr.mb.ca/ms/banner/2006/6JH/mc/history.htm Mountain Climbing History]</ref>
<ref>Petrarch and Dante are considered the fathers of the Renaissance.[http://www.ped.muni.cz/weng/outline_of_english_fiction/terms/petrarch.html </ref> This is a 6,200-foot peak near Petrarch's home in [[Carpentras]], France. A century later, a chapel dedicated to the [[Christian cross|Holy Cross]] was built on the top of the mountain. Today there is a steep road to the top of [[Mount Ventoux]] that is sometimes painfully incorporated into the [[Tour de France]]. Since this is the first time that such a mountain climb was done just for the sport,<ref>[http://www.intersites.co.uk/12364/ History of Mountaineering]</ref> Petrarch is considered as "Father of Alpinism"<ref>[http://www.provence-hideaway.com/213.html Provence-Hideaways]</ref>. Petrarch then was about 30 years of age.<ref>[http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/timeline.html Timeline of Petrarch's life.]</ref>


In a letter dated April 26 of that year by the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch to Francesco Dionigi of Borgo San Sepolcro,<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/Mountaineering The famous letter that Petrarch composed on the evening of that day.]</ref> a close friend of Petrarch's who was an [[Augustinian]] [[monk]], he gives his account of the ascent.<ref>[http://www.couloirmag.com/articles/dynamic_articlepg.php?articleID=129 account of ascent of Mont Ventoux]</ref> This letter reads in part:<blockquote>"Today, I ascended the highest mountain in this region, which, not without cause, they call the Windy Peak. Nothing but the desire to see its conspicuous height was the reason for this undertaking."<ref>The Ascent of Mount Ventoux, a letter to Dionisio da Borgo San Sepolcro [http://history.hanover.edu/texts/petrarch/pet17.html - Familiar Letters]</ref>
In a letter dated April 26 of that year by the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch to Francesco Dionigi of Borgo San Sepolcro,<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/Mountaineering The famous letter that Petrarch composed on the evening of that day.]</ref> a close friend of Petrarch's who was an [[Augustinian]] [[monk]], he gives his account of the ascent.<ref>[http://www.couloirmag.com/articles/dynamic_articlepg.php?articleID=129 account of ascent of Mont Ventoux]</ref> This letter reads in part:<blockquote>"Today, I ascended the highest mountain in this region, which, not without cause, they call the Windy Peak. Nothing but the desire to see its conspicuous height was the reason for this undertaking."<ref>The Ascent of Mount Ventoux, a letter to Dionisio da Borgo San Sepolcro [http://history.hanover.edu/texts/petrarch/pet17.html - Familiar Letters]</ref>

Revision as of 13:57, 26 June 2007

Mount Ventoux
Mount Ventoux

Birth of Alpinism (start of the concept of modern day mountain climbing for the sport)[1] is considered as April 26, 1336.[2] [3] [4] Francesco Petrarch is regarded as the "Father of Alpinism" [5] because of his ascent of Mount Ventoux.[6] [7] This is a 6,200-foot peak near Petrarch's home in Carpentras, France. A century later, a chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross was built on the top of the mountain. Today there is a steep road to the top of Mount Ventoux that is sometimes painfully incorporated into the Tour de France. Since this is the first time that such a mountain climb was done just for the sport,[8] Petrarch is considered as "Father of Alpinism"[9]. Petrarch then was about 30 years of age.[10]

In a letter dated April 26 of that year by the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch to Francesco Dionigi of Borgo San Sepolcro,[11] a close friend of Petrarch's who was an Augustinian monk, he gives his account of the ascent.[12] This letter reads in part:

"Today, I ascended the highest mountain in this region, which, not without cause, they call the Windy Peak. Nothing but the desire to see its conspicuous height was the reason for this undertaking."[13]

InThe Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy Jacob Burkhardt describes Petrarch's ascent as the first time mountain climbing had been undertaken just for the sport of it.[14]

Famous First Facts: International Edition credits the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch for writing of the first account of mountain climbing of importance,

"In April 1336 'to see what so great an elevation had to ofer,' he climbed the peak of Mount Ventoux in Provence, France, which is 6,203 feet high (1,909 meters). In a letter to the Augustinian monk Dionisio da Borgo San Sep, he later wrote: 'I stood like one dazed, I beheld the clouds under our feet, and what I had read of Athos and Olympus seemed less incredible as I witnessed the same things from a mountain less famous.'[15]

Morris Bishop's book, Petrarch and His World, has a long chapter titled "The Ascent of Mont Ventoux" on the ascent Petrarch made to the top of Mont Ventoux. He says in this chapter,

"There is no clear record that anyone ever climbed a mountain for pleasure or mere curiosity from the time of King Philip of Macedonia to that of Petrarch. True, there is the case of King Peter of Aragon in the thirteenth century, who is said to have climbed Mount Canigou in the Pyrenees only to see what was on the summit. There he found a lake with monstrous hovering dragon, darkening the face of heaven with his breath. I think we may rule this out. We may rule out also the Alpine hermits, who sought their high retreats only to escape the world; and even Empedocles, who climbed Mount Etna in order to throw himself in the crater. Of course there were hunters, pursuing game to the upper fast-nesses, and shepherds seeking stray sheep or goats. However, Petrarch remains the first recorded Alpinist, the first to climb a mountain because it is there. ... Except for a nameless shepherd who will soon appear, Petrarch remains the first recorded Alpinist, the first to climb a mountain

because it is there....Probably by design, for Petrarch had a great sense of anniversaries, he planned the ascent for April 26, 1336, exactly ten years from the day he and Gherardo had left Bologna." [16]

Garrett Mattingly, a professor of European history at Columbia University, writes of Petrarch's ascent on Mount Ventoux in his book Renaissance Profiles (co-author John H. Plumb) and refers to him as being the Father of Alpinism.[17]

In a University of Illinois paper of 1995 presented at the Phi Alpha Theta Regional Conference reference is made of Petrarch undertaking his climb of Mount Ventoux in April of 1336 after his reading of Livy's account of how Philip of Macedon climbed Mount Hermus and refers to Morris Bishop calling Petrarch as being "the first modern mountain-climber."[18]

In another online article called "What is Mountaineering" they mention Petrarch as being known as the Father of Alpinism.[19]

In an online article called Provence-Hideaways (sights and flavours of the Provence) about Mont Ventoux it talks much about Petrarch's ascent to the top. In the lead of the article it says,

Petrarch, the famous poet, who lived in Avignon and Carpentras from 1333 to 1349, recorded his ascent in 1336 from Malaucène to the top. He did it just out of curiosity and in order to see the sun rise. More importantly he wrote about it; hence he is considered to be the father of alpinism. Many have followed him; Mont Ventoux has retained his fascination for most of us. [20]

In an article of December 2006 Quadrant Magazine says,

"One small episode in late medieval history is often singled out for special mention by historians, especially those with an interest in environmental history. This concerns the ascent of Mt Ventoux in France by Petrarch in 1336. Kenneth Clark, the noted art historian, supposes that Petrarch "was, as everybody knows, the first to climb a mountain for its own sake, and to enjoy the view from the top" (Landscape into Art, 1949). Many other historians quote this same event as providing the earliest example of the new humanistic, Renaissance spirit where nature was enjoyed for its own sake. I have come across this assertion in several history books and commentaries on the man-in-nature question." [21]

Notes and References

  1. ^ History of First Ascents
  2. ^ Mountaineering History
  3. ^ Mountain Rock Climbing
  4. ^ Mountaineer Definitions and Statistics
  5. ^ Mountain Climbing News
  6. ^ Mountain Climbing History
  7. ^ Petrarch and Dante are considered the fathers of the Renaissance.[http://www.ped.muni.cz/weng/outline_of_english_fiction/terms/petrarch.html
  8. ^ History of Mountaineering
  9. ^ Provence-Hideaways
  10. ^ Timeline of Petrarch's life.
  11. ^ The famous letter that Petrarch composed on the evening of that day.
  12. ^ account of ascent of Mont Ventoux
  13. ^ The Ascent of Mount Ventoux, a letter to Dionisio da Borgo San Sepolcro - Familiar Letters
  14. ^ Burkhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, translated by Middlemore.
  15. ^ Famous First Facts International, H.W. Wilson, New York 2000, ISBN 0-8242-0958-3, page 414, item 5726.
  16. ^ Petrarch and His World. by Morris Bishop; Bloomington, Indiana. Indiana University Press 1963, page 104.
  17. ^ Renaisssance Profiles by Garrett Mattingly, pages 1-17, New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-131162-6.
  18. ^ Petrarch: Books and the Life of the Mind
  19. ^ What is Mountaineering?
  20. ^ Petrarch's ascent to the top of Mont Ventoux -Provence-Hideaways (sights and flavours of the Provence)
  21. ^ Quadrant article "Petrarch and the Mountain"by B.J. Coman, December 2006 - Volume L Number 12.
  • "Petrarch at the Peak of Fame" by Lyell Asher describes him as "the first recorded Alpinist." and April 26, 1336 as a "most notorious date on the calender of his impieties."
  • Article explaining Petrarch was the first person on April 26, 1336, to climb a mountain just because it was there.
  • Petrarch was the first self-consciously literate educated person to climb a mountain just for the vista.
  • April 26, 1336, considered a turning point in Western civilization and a milestone in human history.
  • Article explaining that Petrarch with his brother went past a shepard on the ascent.
  • Article analyzing the letter dated April 26, 1336, and its significance.
  • Mountain Climbing history.

Bibliography

  • The Renaissance philosophy of man, translation selections by Ernst Cassirer; Paul Oskar Kristeller; John Herman Randall, University of Chicago Press, 1956 (OCLC: 71231567), 1971
  • Petrarch Letter to Francesco Dionigi de'Roberti, 26 April 1336 (The Ascent of Mount Ventoux). Translated by Hans Nachod in The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. Ernst Cassirer et al., pages 36-46. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1948. ISBN 0-226-09604-1
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ascent_of_Mont_Ventoux&oldid=140740806"