Other Books by Jeffrey Burton Russell Dissent and Reform in the Early Middle Ages (1965) Medieval Civilization ( 1968) A History of Medieval Christianity: Prophecy and Order (1968) Religious Dissent in the Middle Ages ( 1970) Witchcraft in the Middle Ages ( 1972) The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity ( 1977) A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, Pagans ( 1980) Medieval Heresies: A Bibliography (with Carl Berkhout) (1981) Satan: The Early Christian Tradition ( 1981) Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (1984) Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (1986) The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History ( 1988) Ruga in aevis (with Madeleine I..:Engle and Kathleen Drake) (1990) INVENfiNG THEF LAT EARTH COLUMBUS AND MODERN HISTORIANS Jeffrey Burton R ll usse ForewboyDr advN iodb le New Yorl< Westport, Connecticut London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Inventing the flat earth : Columbus and modern historians Jeffrey Burton Russell : foreword by David Noble. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-275-93956-1 (alk. paper) 1. Columbus, Christopher-Influence. 2. Cosmography. 3. America­ Discovery and exploration-Spanish. I. Title. E112.R93 1991 91-67 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 1991 by Jeffrey Burton Russell All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-67 ISBN: 0-275-93956-1 First published in 1991 Praeger Publishers, One Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the United States of America @r The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39. 48-1984) . 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Sarah and Xoco: Sorori filiaeque Contents FowroerbdyD avNiodb le lX Praefce Xlll Chapt1. eTrh eW ell-RouPnldaende t Chap2te.Tr h eM edievBaalll 13 Chap3te.Fr l atttehnGeil nogb e 27 Chap4te.Tr h eW rongW ayR ound 51 Chap5te.Ar r outnhdCe o rner 69 Notes 79 SleecBtiebdla ipohyg r 103 Idnex 111 Illusftolrlaoptwai go5en0 s. Foreword JefferyB urtRouns swehlolh a,s pubelxitsiehvneesodln yt he intellectutahlme e hidiesvwtaoollrr dhy,a nsoo fwt urnheids attenttoti hioenn t ellheicsttouoftar hlyme o dewronlr d.I n­In venttihFnelt ga Eahrept rhe smeondtesr n readers with a marvel­ ouslsyt imulaanltayisonifgts hp eo wercfounelvn titohnaastr e usetdod efinteh dei frfeenbceet wetehmne e dviaealn dt he moderTnhe.g reiarto pnrye sienhn itas n laysiitssh aitt sub­ vertthsac to nvenutnidoenraslt anding. At tbheeg inonfih nibgso ohkeq uotfoerms curtreexntt­ boouksse idnA merigcraansd ceh soh,oi lhgs chso,aon ldc ol­ legwehsi icnhs tihsattth ewraesa c onseanmsounmsge dviael schofloramrA .sD 3. 0t0o 1 942t hatthe ea rwtahfs l .aT thiasl so watsh e thesiinsf loulhfe i nsttthioeDar ainaiBneo lo rswtriitn­ infgo arp opualuadri einnhc ies bToheoD ki,s ceor,vps eurb­ lishien1d 89 3R.u sesltlh eunes sh is dkeneopw lee odfg medviaeiln tellheiocsrtttyuo da elm onstthratatht ee opposite wast r.uI etwa s convweinstdiaoommno anblgo teha ralnyd- latei-emvetadhli ntkheatrthsw e o rwladrs o nud. Accortdowi hnagRt u seslcla ltlhmseo deFrlnEa atr Etrhr ,o r iwta tsh ceo augroeft hrea tioCnharliissttCo oplhuemrtb huast begtahnle i beroafmt oidoenpr eno pfolrmet hseu persotfi tions the CacthhuorlHciihcvs. o yaign1e 94 2s upposdeetdsrloyy ed thier ratmiyotnhaolol fot ghDyea rAkg ebsye mpiridceaml-ly X FOREWORD onstrtahtatithnw ego rwladsr ounndo,ft l .aA tlthoiuwtg ahs Europepaanrst iciipnta htReie nnga isasnadRn ecfoer mation whoi nventtheed t ihdatetha e wraeas t housyaenaodrfd s a rk­ nebsest wtehecenl acsawsloi ralndad n ewm odewronr lRdu,s ­ seblell itehvtaethsF e l aEta rEtrhr orn odti db eacm oomdee rn orthoudnotxtiyhln e i netceeenny.tt Huhe rfi ndsb eigtisn ning int hwer itionfg stA hmeer icWaans hingItrovnia nngdt he FrenchAmnatno ineL-eJteraoBnnu nitebt .e cawmied espread convenwtiisodnfoaormlm 1 780t o1 290a s reas ouf"l tthw ea r betwesecni eanncdre e ligwihoenfnro; m 'a niyn tellienc tuals Euorpaen tdh Uen ited aSlrtlea ltiebgsei coansm yen onymous witshu persatnisdtc iioebnne cceat mheoe n llye gitsiomuartcee oft ruItwtha .ds uritnhlgea yseta orfts h nei netceeennttuhr y and etahreyl eya orfts h tew entcieentyth,tu hretnh,at thv eo y­ agoefC olumbbeucsa mea w siudceehsa psdry mbooftl h feut il­ itoyft hree ligiimoaugsi naantdti holeni berpaotwieonrfg scienetmipificiric.s m Thef ruther froiR ruosenslyil ts h aatss ooanst hmeo dern mytohfC olumabstu hspe i onweheopr r ovtehdee r roofmr e ­ deivamly tholboegcya me ooxrytt,hh heoi dstowrhiowa enrse studytihmene gd viaewlo rdludr itnh1ge2 9 0bse gtaonp resent empireivciadlef nrotc hefe as liotfyt hmeo deFrlna Eta rth mythS.oo tnh eem erginogf t hfheii esltdoo fsr cyi epnrcoe­ vidfeurdt heevri detnhcametei devtahli n,kl eirtkshece l assical thinkbeefrostr hee mbe,il evtehde ewaarsrt ohu nBdu.ta s Russpeolilno tustt ,he ev idepnrcees ebnytm eeddv iaehli sto­ riaannshd i stoorfsi cainefsnro tc hee last sheavnseo ntt y years undermtihnpeee dra ssuipvoew oefrt hmeo demrynt h mteh­at diveatlh inbkeelvreistde h eea rwtahfs l .aT thee xplanoaft ion thpiast tferorR nu ssetlhlat thiFe sl aEtar Etrhr iopsra rta of muclha rmgoerd efriant ihnp roegs.rs "Oduert ermitnoa tion belitehFvele Ea rtr ;oh're w rit"easr,io suoetfcs o ntefmrotp hte pasatn odu r nteoe db eliesvuep eirnio ofttr hhpieert eys "e nt. Russeblolo'ks sbheor uelaiddnc ojnunctwiiotanhn other newb ookA,n thoKneym pT'hseE satnregmefnrmto thPeas t (1991.)K empi sc oncerwniethdho wm odepren ophlaev e FOREWORD xi fuond meainnti inmogen cteh erjyee tcetdh mee diaelsv ense of untiyH.e s harReuss sbeellli'sew fh ettnhi amitecs o nceiinv ed disconttienr,umi ostbu esc omneesc ersyts oba elveii enp ro­ grsesto e scatphteee rorfaow ro rwlidt hmoeuatn iAnsRg u.s ­ sesloel l oquheanwstr liyt "tTehnte,e rorfom re anlisensgn,e ss offla lionftgfh eed ego fk nowleie gsdr geattheatrnh i em agined faero ff allinogft fh eed ego ft heea r.tA hnd wseop reerft o beliaef vaeim liearrrt ohra tno s,eu anrccehalsyti,hn dega rk­ nesTsh!i'ts h,e ints,h ger ecahta lloefRn ugseesl blo'soH ke. asktsh awtem oderrena dsetrosp conosuiwrdo erralisdsn ug­ peritooor t hheurm acno mmunitiheasvee x tihsoatrtwe idl l exiOsntl.ay h isrtioawnh oi si nc ommaonftd h ien tellectual histoofrb ioettshh mee dviaealn dm odewronr lcdosu wlrdi te sucahp rovocaantdpi evresi uvbaeos ok. 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