He was very well known across Europe in his lifetime so it is unlikely that his view on the shape of the earth was unknown or aberrant for the time. This plaque with that quote has been on open display in the British Library:īede was a well known Benedictine Monk, teacher and scholar in 7th and 8th century Northumbria, known as "the father of English history" for writing Ecclesiastical History of the English People. It is not circular like a shield or spread out like a wheel, but looks round, like a ball. The Earth is a sphere, set in the middle of the universe. In case the quotes from Aquinas seem too indirect, here is a far less indirect quote from a respected authority, Bede the Venerable, from more than 500 years earlier: You can see Aquinas - who lived in the 13th Century - referring to the sun lighting up the "hemisphere" at Question 67 of the Summa Theologica, which is evidence that it was a commonplace understanding that the Earth was a sphere at that time. Here is the link that Hannam is referring to. Weighty tome The Warfare of Science with Theology published in 1896. According to Jeffrey Burton Russell here, the invention of The scientists thought Columbus's voyage would fail, not because they thought the earth was flat, but rather because he would have to travel 20000 nautical miles, rather than 5000.Īccording to historian James Hannam, the trope that the people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat was created in the 19th Century.įrom his error. The rising of the high point of certain constellations as one travels further south.Lunar eclipses always throwing a circular shadow. ![]() ![]() The top of the mast being sighted before the rest of the ship.According to Dr Karl, it was known that the earth was a sphere as far back as Aristotle.
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