Here are the top four theses on Petrarch’s ‘Ascent of Mnt Ventoux’ according to the class.

1st #6     2nd #12     3rd #2     4th #11

1. Petrarch, and therefore the Humanists who follow in his path, believe that the self is more important than other things of the world.
2. Petrarch’s letter to his father provides the earliest example of the concept that earthly accomplishment can result in spiritual reflection via meditating on pagan classical texts, a core tenement of what was to be the Renaissance.
3. Through his self-reflection story about climbing Mt. Ventosum, Petrarch shows the importance of struggle in avoiding sin, and the importance of looking to classics as a guide to aid your struggle.
4. Petrarch’s letter to his father represents the worldly, self-aware Renaissance and establishes it as a movement in sharp contrast to the God-fearing and strictly pious Medieval ideology, a realization that St. Augustine’s city of God and city of man can be one.
5. Classics allow for a proper appreciation of the beauty of nature and the individual necessary for the city of God on earth despite the protestations of the fatalist faithful, says Petrarch.
6. Petrarch’s ascent of Mount Ventoux mirrors his philosophical transition from the valley of Medieval thought to the mountaintop of classical humanist thought, where individualism and “the inward eye” are paramount.
7. In his letter to his father, Petrarch comes to the realization that man’s search of unattainable divine meaning is almost pointless, when man can find benefits in the everyday would around him; Petrarch is the first to assert that the passion of the Dark Ages must be replaced with reason, going forward.
8. Petrarch is among the first to articulate the Romantic literary style, one that preaches a celebration of the individual and the importance of nature in self-revelation, through understanding or trying to understand the nature of nature.
9. Petrarch’s self-reflection upon his experiences in the world and his preoccupation with the perfectability of his own character, as expressed in the letter expounding his hiking excursion on Ventoux, clearly reveals a 13th-century intellectual consciously looking to separate himself from the current trends of his own society and recapture the essence of a long-buried civilization worthy of man’s consideration.
10. Petrarch’s study of the classics leads him to see his own self in the world around him, resulting in self-examination and righteous self-interest.
11. Petrarch’s recollection of his ascent of Ventoux reflects his instigation of a fundamental shift away from the Medieval mindset. Rather than attributing all this to God’s will, Petrarch suggests that the course of events is the product of the individuality and actions of the “many-sided” man.
12. Petrarch’s ‘Ascent of Mnt. Ventoux’ represents his philosophical transition from the Medival point of view to the ideal of the supremacy of the individual, which is sparked by a reemergence of the classics.