Mont Aiguille 1rst ascent was done in June 1492 by Antoine de Ville, lord of Domjulien, specialist of assaulting strongholds. The request was made by Charles VIII in late 1489 to Antoine de Ville, one of his captains after he had seen this impressive peak on a pilgrimage he made in the area. It will require 3 years to Antoine de Ville to succeed which says a lot of the determination of both the king and his captain.
The ascent was authentified by Yves Levy a solicitor staying at the bottom of the climb.
Antoine de Ville was assisted by Sébastien de Caret, an apostolic preacher, Reynaud Jubié, king's escalleur (échelleur - certainly the key man of the ascent, a specialist then for assaulting stronholds using ladders), Cathelin Servet, master quarier from the Sainte Croix of Montélimar Church, Pierre Arnaud master carpenter from Montélimar, Guillaume Sauvage, lackey, Jean Lobret, inhabitant from Die, François de Bosco, chaplain and probably several more 'specialists'. The ascent was made by this team of "spécialists" using ladders, ropes and grapnels .
They discovered "a beau pré (nice meadow) which would take 40 men to mow, with flowers of various colors and scents, and some chamois". Antoine de Ville and his companions stayed several days on the summit meadow, drank and ate, had masses given, baptised it mount 'Aiguille Fort', built 3 crosses and a small stone house.
Later Antoine de Ville will be joined by a number (maybe 20) of nobles from the region which means that his specialits had really built quite a route. The story mentions 1.5 km of ladders!
It could well be that after this ascent the property of 'Beaupré' from the 'pré' found at the top of Mont Aiguille, was added to Domjulien, as Antoine de Ville was also 'captain of Montelimar' a town in the area, the king may well have attributed it to him so pleased he was with this accomplishment considered as the first act of 'modern' climbing i.e. using hands, ropes, ladders and probably the first pegs to attach the ladders - but the exact route has never been acertained and how the 'chamois' when up either. But I doubt it as all his descendants were named after their main property Domjulien as were all French nobles, and a property which would not bring any revenue was considered as nonexistent.
The second ascent will only be done 400 years later in 1894 by Jean Liotard, a local sheperd.
thanks for the correction/addition. my source for the comment in my article was an admittedly somewhat sketchy book, The Early Mountaineers, by Francis Gribble, published in 1899.
ericvola - Nov 10, 2012 9:20 am - Voted 10/10
Mont Aiguille 1rst ascentA small correction and addition to your quote:
Mont Aiguille 1rst ascent was done in June 1492 by Antoine de Ville, lord of Domjulien, specialist of assaulting strongholds. The request was made by Charles VIII in late 1489 to Antoine de Ville, one of his captains after he had seen this impressive peak on a pilgrimage he made in the area. It will require 3 years to Antoine de Ville to succeed which says a lot of the determination of both the king and his captain.
The ascent was authentified by Yves Levy a solicitor staying at the bottom of the climb.
Antoine de Ville was assisted by Sébastien de Caret, an apostolic preacher, Reynaud Jubié, king's escalleur (échelleur - certainly the key man of the ascent, a specialist then for assaulting stronholds using ladders), Cathelin Servet, master quarier from the Sainte Croix of Montélimar Church, Pierre Arnaud master carpenter from Montélimar, Guillaume Sauvage, lackey, Jean Lobret, inhabitant from Die, François de Bosco, chaplain and probably several more 'specialists'. The ascent was made by this team of "spécialists" using ladders, ropes and grapnels .
They discovered "a beau pré (nice meadow) which would take 40 men to mow, with flowers of various colors and scents, and some chamois". Antoine de Ville and his companions stayed several days on the summit meadow, drank and ate, had masses given, baptised it mount 'Aiguille Fort', built 3 crosses and a small stone house.
Later Antoine de Ville will be joined by a number (maybe 20) of nobles from the region which means that his specialits had really built quite a route. The story mentions 1.5 km of ladders!
It could well be that after this ascent the property of 'Beaupré' from the 'pré' found at the top of Mont Aiguille, was added to Domjulien, as Antoine de Ville was also 'captain of Montelimar' a town in the area, the king may well have attributed it to him so pleased he was with this accomplishment considered as the first act of 'modern' climbing i.e. using hands, ropes, ladders and probably the first pegs to attach the ladders - but the exact route has never been acertained and how the 'chamois' when up either. But I doubt it as all his descendants were named after their main property Domjulien as were all French nobles, and a property which would not bring any revenue was considered as nonexistent.
The second ascent will only be done 400 years later in 1894 by Jean Liotard, a local sheperd.
jacobsmith - Nov 11, 2012 7:30 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Mont Aiguille 1rst ascentthanks for the correction/addition. my source for the comment in my article was an admittedly somewhat sketchy book, The Early Mountaineers, by Francis Gribble, published in 1899.