"St Virgil has a curious nickname, Virgil the Geometrer. He was deeply
interested in geometry and believed held that the earth was round - a
position that enraged St Boniface who accused Virgil of being a heretic
(Boniface being an orthodox flat-earther). "
Wyn Thomas
This needs some correction. So far as we can tell, there were few "flat-earthers" in the Middle Ages. The Latin world had a dim second-hand knowledge of ancient science. Its conception of the earth is symbolized by the "orb," the piece of imperial regalia that symbolizes domination over the GLOBE.
Probably Virgil's main fault was being an Irishman. He may not have welcomed, or fit smoothly into, the ecclesiastical structure being built up by the newly arrived Englishman Wynfryth (Boniface is an added Roman name). And Boniface does not fault Virgil for believing that the earth is round--Boniface faults him for entertaining the possibility that there were people living on the lower half of the sphere. Believing in the antipodes was potentially heretical if you held that the torrid zones were impassible, inasmuch as, given that Christ died to save all people, this might be construed as an unbiblical claim that people existed to whom the Gospel could not be preached. As heresies go, this one seems rather petty. Observers might reasonably conclude that Boniface was less interested in abstract science than in marginalizing an "obnoxious" subordinate.
--John Howe
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