What proof is there, that before Columbus, most or all people in europe thought the earth was flat?

church was responsible for such non sense

It was a myth. It's told to school children because evidently teachers (who are often little more educated) think it will keep their attention more than 'Columbus sailed west to find a shorter trade route to the East Indies in an effort to circumvent the Muslim traders who taxed trade in between Europe and India.' And they wonder why our kids are so stupid. The notion that King Ferdinand thought he would 'fall off' the earth is ridiculous. That is not true in the least.

As you noted, ancient and medieval people were aware of the spherical nature of the earth ever since Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth. Even a century before, Aristotle argued that the earth was round due to eclipses and the simple fact that the hull of a ship disappears on the horizon before the mast.

Romans were aware of this fact because they portrayed the world as a globe on images, such as Augustus standing on a globe representing his dominion of the entire earth. Medieval people were aware of this fact as well due to studying constellations. Whether peasants believed the earth was flat is irrelevant because they were illiterate anyway and had no education on any matters.

Columbus sought a trade route, nothing more.

Probably everyone here has heard about Christopher Columbus. In 1492 he sailed westward from Spain with 3 little ships, trying--so he said--to reach India, from which all sorts of valuable spices could be brought.

Before Columbus, everyone knew India was far to the east of Spain, but the way east over land was blocked by the Turks and Arabs, while the Portugese led in exploring the sea-route around Africa. Columbus argued that since the Earth was round, one could also reach India by sailing westward, and he proposed to do so, by crossing the ocean west of Spain. No one knew what was on the other side of that ocean, only some islands were known, fairly close to Europe.

In the end he sailed west with his 3 ships and discovered a "new world." The story is told that many people opposed the idea, and that only at the last moment Isabella and Ferdinand, queen and king of Spain, changed their minds and supported him. That seems true.

It is also told that Queen Isabella sold her jewels to finance the journey, and that is doubtful. And many people believe that those who opposed Columbus claimed his scheme would not work, because "everyone knew the Earth was flat" and that if he persisted sailing west, his ships may fall off the edge. It is a cute story, but is quite false.

The real story is longer and much more interesting. Even the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round, because they traveled widely by sea, and wherever they went, they observed that their view was limited by a horizon.

Who first suggested that if the Earth were round, one could reach India by sailing westward?

The Roman writer Strabo suggested India could be reached by sailing westward.

What information did Eratosthenes use to estimate the size of the Earth?

On the day when in Syene in southern Egypt, he observed the noontime Sun was directly overhead ("at zenith"), as evidenced by its reflection in a deep well. The Sun in Alexandria, some 500 miles to the north, was not overhead, as shown by the fact that a vertical column cast a shadow at noon.

The shadow of the column suggested that the displacement from zenith of the Sun in Alexandria was 1/50 of a circle.

Why did Spanish experts reject the proposal of Columbus, to sail west to India?

Because from what they knew about the size of the Earth, they felt the distance was too great.

It was accepted among educated people that the earth was spherical. Ordinary people probably did not think about it much, or accepted what the were told about it by the people they listened to.

Even today, there is a Flat Earth Society. Their numbers, as you can probably imagine, are small. They base their claims on some interesting fundamentalist interpretations of the old testament.

Oh yeah, well why do they say "the four corners of the earth" huh? And why can't you coast in your car from MO to FL if it's downhill all the way, huh? And why am I wasting space with this gibberish? 2 pts. Hey, I learned a lot. These were good answers so far. peace

i think that people in the old century thought that the point of the end of the world is behind the sea