Flattening the Medieval Earth: Seeking the Early Modern Origins of the Idea of an Historical Conflict between Science and Christianity
By Pablo de Felipe
Routledge
ISBN: 978-1-032-89306-8
When did the myth that medieval people believed the Earth was flat begin? This book explores how that idea emerged around the year 1600. To be clear, people in the Middle Ages did not believe the world was flat.
Excerpt:
From my undergraduate science years, I have been keenly interested in the history of science and its historical relationship with philosophy and religion. In the 1990s, I read extensively about the Copernican debates of the mid‑16th to 17th centuries and the religious controversy they provoked. It was in 1998 that I first read about an ancient debate regarding the shape of the Earth in 6th‑century Christian Alexandria. Therefore, it should not be surprising that when in the winter of 2001–2002 I read Jeffrey Burton Russell’s Inventing the Flat Earth (1991), I did it with great interest.
That book shifted my interest from the ancient and medieval debates on the shape of the Earth towards their modern (mis)reception, which has led to the erroneous view of ancient and medieval Christians as flat‑earthers who rejected ancient science. This erroneous depiction of history has been termed “flat error” by Russell, a term that I have retained throughout this book. Furthermore, this specific topic has influenced the broader topic of science and religion relations, which are often perceived to be at war.
Who is this book for?
The usual explanation for the rise of the flat-earth myth is that it was created in the early nineteenth century by writers seeking to discredit the Catholic Church. This book traces the idea back further, showing how it emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Almost by accident, early modern criticism of the ancient idea of the antipodes became tangled up with the notion of a flat earth.
Because the myth of the medieval flat earth still circulates widely in popular media, it is a subject medievalists should engage with. This book helps us better understand how that false idea took shape.
“We are indebted to Pablo de Felipe for his painstaking review of both modern scholarship and historical materials, primarily from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, enabling him to advance his central thesis that the ‘the origin of the flat error is much more complex and lies deeper in history’ than Russell maintains.” ~ review by Michael Fuller in Irish Theological Quarterly
The Author
Pablo de Felipe is the head of virology at the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS). When it comes to history, his research focuses on the interaction between Christianity and science. This work is based on his doctoral thesis at the University of Bristol.
Flattening the Medieval Earth: Seeking the Early Modern Origins of the Idea of an Historical Conflict between Science and Christianity
By Pablo de Felipe
Routledge
ISBN: 978-1-032-89306-8
When did the myth that medieval people believed the Earth was flat begin? This book explores how that idea emerged around the year 1600. To be clear, people in the Middle Ages did not believe the world was flat.
Excerpt:
From my undergraduate science years, I have been keenly interested in the history of science and its historical relationship with philosophy and religion. In the 1990s, I read extensively about the Copernican debates of the mid‑16th to 17th centuries and the religious controversy they provoked. It was in 1998 that I first read about an ancient debate regarding the shape of the Earth in 6th‑century Christian Alexandria. Therefore, it should not be surprising that when in the winter of 2001–2002 I read Jeffrey Burton Russell’s Inventing the Flat Earth (1991), I did it with great interest.
That book shifted my interest from the ancient and medieval debates on the shape of the Earth towards their modern (mis)reception, which has led to the erroneous view of ancient and medieval Christians as flat‑earthers who rejected ancient science. This erroneous depiction of history has been termed “flat error” by Russell, a term that I have retained throughout this book. Furthermore, this specific topic has influenced the broader topic of science and religion relations, which are often perceived to be at war.
Who is this book for?
The usual explanation for the rise of the flat-earth myth is that it was created in the early nineteenth century by writers seeking to discredit the Catholic Church. This book traces the idea back further, showing how it emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Almost by accident, early modern criticism of the ancient idea of the antipodes became tangled up with the notion of a flat earth.
Because the myth of the medieval flat earth still circulates widely in popular media, it is a subject medievalists should engage with. This book helps us better understand how that false idea took shape.
“We are indebted to Pablo de Felipe for his painstaking review of both modern scholarship and historical materials, primarily from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, enabling him to advance his central thesis that the ‘the origin of the flat error is much more complex and lies deeper in history’ than Russell maintains.” ~ review by Michael Fuller in Irish Theological Quarterly
The Author
Pablo de Felipe is the head of virology at the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS). When it comes to history, his research focuses on the interaction between Christianity and science. This work is based on his doctoral thesis at the University of Bristol.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
Subscribe to Medievalverse
Related Posts