Europe’s geographical wordview and geographical horizon at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries

Abstract

From the perspective of the worldview, can the year 1492, Columbus’ voyage, be considered the Boundary between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age? The study lists numerous ecclesiastical and secular authors from the early Middle Ages to the end of the 15th century who unanimously supported the spherical shape of the Earth. So, regarding the shape of the Earth, it was not Columbus’ expedition that changed the worldview. The belief that the Equatorial region was uninhabitable due to extreme heat and even impossible to sail to was refuted by Portuguese discoveries in the 15th century. This undeniably resulted in a significant change in the European worldview, but of course only gradually, as a result of a slow process.