generate questions: The caricature of the period is also reflected in some more specific notions. One misconception, first propagated in the 19th century and still very common, is that all people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat. This is untrue, as lecturers in the medieval universities commonly argued that evidence showed the Earth was a sphere. Lindberg and Ronald Numbers, another scholar of the period, state that there "was scarcely a Christian scholar of the Middle Ages who did not acknowledge [Earth's] sphericity and even know its approximate circumference". Other misconceptions such as "the Church prohibited autopsies and dissections during the Middle Ages", "the rise of Christianity killed off ancient science", or "the medieval Christian church suppressed the growth of natural philosophy", are all cited by Numbers as examples of widely popular myths that still pass as historical truth, although they are not supported by current historical research.
During what century was it first proposed that people in the Middle Ages thought the Earth was flat? {sep_token} Along with autopsies, what is it erroneously believed that the medieval Church forbade? {sep_token} According to a misconception, what did the rise of Christianity destroy? {sep_token} According to another misconception, what field of study was the medieval Church opposed to? {sep_token} Along with Lindberg, who is a notable scholar of the Middle Ages? {sep_token}