Verne,
Here is a quote from Samuel Elliot Morrison, retired admiral, historian, and author of a biography of Columbus entitiled, "Admiral of the Ocean Sea."
" One present-day writer who deeply appreciates the
contributions made by Irving, but who nevertheless criticizes the
above statements as a glorified myth, is Samuel Eliot Morison
(Pulitzer Prize Winner). He writes,
"What becomes of the celebrated sessions of the
University of Salamanca, before whose professors of
mathematics, geography, and astronomy Columbus argued
his case, and was turned down because he could not
convince them that the world was round? That is pure
moonshine. Washington Irving ... took a fictitious
account of this non-existent university council
published 130 years after the event, elaborated on it,
and let his imagination go completely."(14)
He further comments,
"...the whole story is misleading and mischievous
nonsense. The University was not asked to decide....
The sphericity of the globe was not in question. The
issue was the width of the ocean; and therein the
opposition was right."(15)
The whole text can be found at
http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/geo/ODLCASE1.GEOThe flat earth is one issue, the geocentric solar system is a completely different issue.
Thomas Maddux