How common would flat Earth beliefe be in a medieval fantasy setting?

>>52077745
Depends on how much traveling people do.

I mean, irl people know the Earth is round.

>>52077745
I would say in general, it would be the only belief in earth. Just look at how long it took for the world to consider Galileos studies.
On a deeper level though it would depend on the nation's of your setting. If a nation values astronomy and the study of stars, there could possibly be a split in those who believe in a spherical earth and those that believe in a flat one.

I would say that those who live mainland within great cities and those just preoccupied with surviving in general would unanimously accept the flat earth. To that contrary could be those who built their culture around navigation at sea and those who live at elevations might be able to distinguish the curvature of the earth.

>>52077877
>Just look at how long it took for the world to consider Galileos studies.

You do realize ancient Greeks had already done the math to know the world was round right? That the entire world isn't medieval Italy right?

>>52077877

Most of the educated world throughout history knew the Earth was round. IIRC the only civilization where that wasn't really the case was China and they changed their tune comparatively quickly.

The great scientific debate wasn't whether the Earth was round, it was if the Sun revolved around it or vice versa.

>>52077877
>Galileo discovered the Earth was spherical

Whatever shit school you went to owes you an apology.

>>52077745
Common among uneducated peasants, uncommon among anyone with an education, assuming that the world has had a functional knowledge of geometry for awhile (including back to their not!Greece days, although I don't think the Greeks were the first to figure it out).

>>52077967
Yeah, basically this. Although there was also some debate as to exactly how big it was; i.e., Columbus argued (based on some incorrect translations of the length of Arabic miles) that the world was smaller than was generally accepted, and thus a ship sailing west could reach Asia long before it ran out of supplies, while the prevailing theory was that the world was way too fuckhuge and that any ship that tried to cross the Ocean-Sea would run out of supplies.

The prevailing theory was, of course, the correct one, it's just that no one had any idea that the Americas were there. Columbus went to his grave convinced he was right and had found India, though.

For the record, I was born and raised in America, so I better not hear anything in this thread about American education being subpar.

>>52077992
Also possibly hung, drawn, and quartered.

>>52078098

>For the record, I was born and raised in America, so I better not hear anything in this thread about American education being subpar.

Same here. In elementary school I got the "Columbus wanted to prove the Earth was round!" speech but around junior high I learned that wasn't the case.

>>52077932
>>52077967
True enough. I misspoke. I only knew about Indians studying spherical earth. Good to know

>>52077992
Also, good to know /tg/ is still full of assholes that prefer to insult each other instead of discussing. You'll find good company in /pol/

>>52078098
>no one had any idea that the Americas were there.
Greenland did.
Iceland did.
The Cabot brothers and other Basque fishermen did.

Also an Eskimo turned up in Scotland in the 1460s so we were pretty sure there was something out there.

To say nothing about the tanned skinned people with the excellent cheek bones.

And possibly St Brandon the Navigator.

>>52078098
>hung
You mean "hanged", you stupid burgerfat.

t. fellow burgerfat

>>52077745
If its actually round anyone who has seen a tall ship come over the horizon could tell because they'd see the mast first.

>>52077745
I know that educated people had long known that the world was round, but I'm not sure what sort of beliefs might have been common within the "ignorant masses". Would a random illiterate peasant have known the truth? I don't know.

>>52078447

It wasn't something that most people even thought about.

Most people now don't know that our sun is actually green. Well, it's a spectrum of light that peaks in the green frequencies, and other stars can either shift down and become red, or shift up and become blue. Hence, no "green stars", because we see them as white.

To most people, it wasn't something they thought about, much like msot people today don't think about the colour fo the sun.

Also, the prevailing thought at the time was that the earth was pear-shaped. Actual flat earth stuff was quite rare.

>>52077745

Wasn't there a Nordic or Germanic belief that the Earth was bowl-shaped?
Or is my brain just making up shit again?

>>52077745
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egg

>>52078781
I thought it was shaped like a tree?