In fact, the belief in the spherical earth had currency more than a century before Columbus' famous voyage. 'For which cause men may well perceive that the land and the sea are of round shape and form, for the portion of the firmament that shows itself in one country does not show itself in another country. And men may well prove by experience and subtle exercise of wit that if a man should find routes by ship that would go to search the world, men might go by ship all about the world and around and beneath it....'