No, the earth was not flat in the Middle Ages!

Yes, in the Middle Ages, and especially within the Church, the idea, going back to antiquity, that the Earth is spherical, was defended. Historian Violin Giacomoto Charra, co-author of the article “La Terre plat. Genealogy of a Misconception”, takes a look at the Enlightenment-built ‘garlic’.

It’s an “infox” the size of an XXL, a mistake passed down from generations of historians, politicians, film directors, and most importantly textbooks: these various sources scientifically say that the Middle Ages believed the Earth was flat, and in that the origin of this appalling obscurantism was the Catholic Church. In a fascinating essay on clarity and brevity, Violin Giacomoto Charra, professor of the history of knowledge at Bordeaux Montaigne University, and Sylvie Noni, professor of physical sciences and researcher, debunk this myth: Not everyone knew just to say that the Earth was round in the Middle Ages Flat Earth. Genealogy of misunderstanding, But the church…that taught her! Where did the legend come from? Who do you benefit from? Why do textbooks persevere in error? Violaine Giacomotto-Charra reopens the files.

What did we know about the shape of the Earth in circles acquired in the Middle Ages?
We must first ask the question of this “person”: it was mainly the clergy, not the nobles or the people (the nobles are not the most educated). In the Middle Ages, the Church was of the first order, transmitting knowledge, and in this environment we have no doubt that the Earth is spherical, nor do we even discuss it. Many treaties attest to this, such as from all over the world (In the Globe World), by Sacrobosco, the real Lagarde and Michard in astronomy from the thirteenth century^e a century. It should be noted in passing that the sphericity of our planet is not immediately apparent to the senses: we do not perceive its shape or motion for that matter when walking in the street. However, medieval science, in Aristotle’s dynasty, was founded on the experience of the senses. So we take care to prove the sphericality of the Earth through other experiments, in particular the experience of settling on the shore to see little by little the boat “sink” as it moves away, and the top of the mast disappears. body.