The long route up the mountain: aspects of the reception of classical and biblical mountain writing and medieval mountain ascents, seen through the ascents of Egeria, Willibald and Petrarch

In recent years scholarship has assumed that human interest in climbing mountains for any reason other than necessity began only in the eighteenth century, and that prior to this period humans avoided mountains as vile and dangerous places. This thesis seeks to contest these opinions by exploring the representation of mountains in classical and biblical texts and their influence on the mountain ascents of Egeria in the fourth century, of Saint Willibald in the eighth century and of Petrarch in the fourteenth century. Analysis of these ascents will allow for nuance and qualification of the received narrative regarding pre-Petrarchan perceptions of mountains.
The introduction will examine what a mountain is and means, followed by a focus on the perception of mountains in classical literature. By attending to the representation of mountains in their classical texts, the chapter will show how a mountain could provide a positive framework of order, stability and safety; or portray aspects of disorder, chaos and danger. The chapter will show how imitation and emulation shaped mountain descriptions and perceptions. The next chapter will shift to perceptions of mountains in the Old Testament, mountains of theophany, covenant and homeland; the chapter will show how Egeria relied on the Bible for her travels in the Holy Land; and it will explore stories of Jesus on mountains in the New Testament, and the treatment of these stories by different authors, showing the significance of earlier writings for the shaping of perceptions of mountains. The thesis will then turn to Hugeburc’s account of Willibald’s climb of Mount Vulcano, and will examine his climb and her account in relation to earlier perceptions of mountains. The concluding chapter will use Petrarch’s ascent of Mont Ventoux as a point from which to look back at the discussion of mountains within the thesis.