The Sleepwalkers (40 page)

The
first
of
its
twelve
books
is
entitled
"Against
those
who,
while
wishing
to
profess
Christianity,
think
and
imagine
like
the
pagans
that
the
heaven
is
spherical".
The
Holy
Tabernacle,
described
in
Exodus,
was
rectangular
and
twice
as
long
as
it
was
wide;
hence
the
earth
has
the
same
shape,
placed
lengthwise
from
East
to
West
at
the
bottom
of
the
universe.
It
is
surrounded
by
the
ocean
–
as
the
table
of
shew-bread
is
surrounded
by
its
wavy
border;
and
the
ocean
is
surrounded
by
a
second
earth
which
was
the
seat
of
Paradise,
and
the
home
of
man
until
Noah
crossed
the
ocean,
but
is
now
uninhabited.
From
the
edges
of
this
deserted
outer
earth
rise
four
vertical
planes,
which
are
the
walls
of
the
universe.
Its
roof
is
a
half-cylinder
which
rests
on
the
north
and
south
walls,
making
the
universe
look
like
a
Nissen
hut
or
a
Victorian
travelling
trunk
with
a
curved
lid.

However,
the
floor,
that
is
the
earth,
is
not
flat
but
slants
from
North-West
to
South-East
–
for
it
is
written
in
Ecclesiastes
I,
5
that
"the
sun
goes
down,
and
hasteth
to
his
place
where
he
arose".
Accordingly,
rivers
like
the
Euphrates
and
Tigris
which
flow
southward,
have
a
faster
current
than
the
Nile
which
flows
"uphill";
and
ships
sail
faster
toward
the
South
and
East
than
those
which
must
"climb"
to
the
North
and
West;
the
latter
are
therefore
called
"lingerers".
The
stars
are
carried
round
the
space
under
the
roof
of
the
universe
by
angels,
and
are
hidden
when
they
pass
behind
the
uptilted
Northern
part
of
the
earth,
which
is
topped
by
a
huge
conical
mountain.
This
mountain
also
hides
the
sun
at
night,
the
sun
being
much
smaller
than
the
earth.

Cosmas
himself
was
not
a
high
ecclesiastical
authority,
but
his
ideas
are
all
derived
from
the
Fathers
of
the
preceding
two
centuries.
There
were
more
enlightened
men
among
them,
such
as
Isidore
of
Seville
(
sixth-seventh
century)
and
the
Venerable
Bede
(
seventh-eighth
century).
Yet
Cosmas'
Topographica
Christiana
is
typical
of
the
general
view
of
the
universe
prevailing
during
the
early
Middle
Ages.
Long
after
the
spherical
shape
of
the
earth
was
reinstated,
and
indeed
up
to
the
fourteenth
century,
maps
were
still
produced
representing
the
earth
either
as
rectangular,
after
the
shape
of
the
Tabernacle,
or
as
a
circular
disc
with
Jerusalem
as
its
centre,
because
Isaiah
had
spoken
of
the
"circuit
of
the
earth"
and
Ezekiel
had
stated
that
"God
had
set
Jerusalem
in
the
midst
of
the
nations
and
countries".
A
third
type
of
map
made
the
earth
oval-shaped,
as
a
compromise
between
the
tabernacular
and
circuitous
view;
the
Far
East
was
usually
occupied
by
Paradise.

Once
again
we
are
impelled
to
ask
ourselves:
Did
they
really
believe
in
all
this?
And
again
the
answer
must
be
both
yes
and
no
–
depending
on
which
compartment
of
the
split
mind
was
involved.
For
the
Middle
Ages
were
the
era
of
the
split
mind
par
excellence
;
I
shall
return
to
the
subject
at
the
end
of
this
chapter.

4.
The Earth is Round Again

The
first
medieval
churchman
to
state
unequivocally
that
the
earth
is
a
sphere,
was
the
English
monk
Bede,
who
rediscovered
Pliny,
as
it
were,
and
often
quoted
him
verbatim;
yet
he
still
clung
to
the
notion
of
the
super-celestial
waters
and
denied
that
there
were
people
living
in
the
antipodal
regions;
for
those
regions
being
inaccessible
on
account
of
the
vast
ocean,
its
supposed
inhabitants
could
neither
have
descended
from
Adam,
nor
be
redeemed
by
Christ.

A
few
years
after
Bede's
death,
a
curious
incident
took
place.
A
certain
Irish
ecclesiastic
by
name
of
Fergil
or
Virgil,
who
lived
as
an
abbot
at
Salzburg,
became
involved
in
a
quarrel
with
his
superior,
Boniface,
who
denounced
Virgil
to
Pope
Zacharias
on
the
grounds
that
the
Irishman
taught
the
existence
"of
another
world
and
other
people
under
the
earth"
–
meaning
the
antipodes.
The
Pope
replied
that
Boniface
should
call
a
council
and
expel
Virgil
from
the
Church
for
his
scandalous
teaching.
But
nothing
happened
–
except
that
Virgil
in
due
time
became
Bishop
of
Salzburg
and
held
that
see
till
his
death.
The
episode
reminds
one
of
the
futile
denunciation
of
Aristarchus
by
Cleanthes;
it
seems
to
indicate
that
even
in
this
period
of
benightedness,
orthodoxy
in
matters
of
natural
philosophy
(as
distinct
from
matters
theological)
was
maintained
less
by
threats
than
by
inner
compulsion.
At
least
I
am
not
aware
of
any
recorded
instance
of
a
cleric
or
layman
being
indicted
for
heresy
in
this
heresy-ridden
age
because
of
his
cosmological
views.