Flattening the Medieval Earth
Seeking the Early Modern Origins of the Idea of an Historical Conflict between Science and Christianity
Published on 8. August 2025
280 pages
978-1-040-40775-2 (ISBN)
Description
Flattening the Medieval Earth explores the origin of the 'flat error', i.e. the false accusation that ancient and medieval Christians believed in a flat Earth, and what this implies in terms of a conflict between science and Christianity. Engaging with scientific and religious debates, this book includes a reception study of two key figures of the 4th century AD, Lactantius and Augustine. This study demonstrates that the mistaken 'dark' image of medieval scholars as flat-earthers started very early, c. 1600, as an internal Christian debate in the context of new geographical and astronomical views. The author draws on extensive research including many primary and secondary sources from different countries and languages not previously put into conversation. Combining history of science, church history, science and religion, history of navigation, and historiography, this book gives the most updated explanation of the origin of the flat error, finding paradoxes and unexpected answers along the way to understand the past and to reflect on some current approaches in science and religion.
Reviews / Votes
"Flattening the Medieval Earth is an important study of two historical transformations: of terrestrial geography in Columbus's wake and of its later weaponisation in anti-religious rhetoric. Pablo de Felipe writes an engaging biography of a pervasive error -the belief that medieval Christendom had been flat-Earthbound."- John Hedley Brooke, Oxford University, UK
"Flattening the Medieval Earth is brilliant interdisciplinary research on how, in the 16th-17th centuries, several factors (including defending Copernicanism) led to the wrong idea of a medieval flat Earth, contributing to the prejudice of a permanent conflict between science and Christianity."
- Miguel A. Granada, University of Barcelona, Spain
"Flattening the Medieval Earth is a kaleidoscopic revelation of the richness of medieval discussions about the Earth's shape and population. With masterful command of the sources and keen analytical eye, Pablo de Felipe clarifies the origin of the Flat Error and much more."
- Henrique Leitao, University of Lisbon, Portugal
"Flattening the Medieval Earth is a ground-breaking study of the medieval debate around the shape of the Earth and the Antipodes. Pablo de Felipe convincingly demonstrates that it arose from within Christianity and not from a dichotomy between 'science and faith'."
- Karla Pollmann, University of Tuebingen, Germany
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
2 Tables, black and white; 9 Line drawings, black and white; 1 Halftones, black and white; 10 Illustrations, black and white
File size
3,76 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-40775-2 (9781040407752)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Pablo de Felipe
Flattening the Medieval Earth
Seeking the Early Modern Origins of the Idea of an Historical Conflict between Science and Christianity
Book
08/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€207.90
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Pablo de Felipe is a researcher and lecturer, with a focus on the relations between science and Christianity, at the Protestant Faculty of Theology SEUT in Madrid (Spain). In the same city he also lectures at the Xavier Zubiri Foundation and is part of the advisory board of the Science, Technology and Religion Chair at the Comillas Pontifical University. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and a PhD in Religion and Theology from the University of Bristol (UK). He works as Head of Service (Virology) at the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) in Madrid.
Content
Introduction: Columbus and the flat Earth; 1. Searching for the origins and causes of an error; 2. From the Greek discovery of the spherical Earth to the Medieval debate of the antipodes; 3. Revival and criticism of early Christians's geographical views in the Early Renaissance (14th and 15th centuries); 4. Old texts and the geographical challenge of the voyages (1434-1522); 5. The early Copernicans and the flat-earthers (1541-1616); General Conclusions: From the invention of the flat error to the idea of an historical conflict between science and Christianity.
