Early Christian Oceanography

A junk from the 13th century, Song Dynasty

Public Domain

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe fell behind the rest of the known world as it struggled through the Middle Ages and the rise of the Catholic Church. The only notable discoveries in the field of oceanography were by the Vikings to the north, and the Chinese to the east.

In this topic, you learned about the Vikings, a nomadic people better known for invading and pillaging, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean and were the first Europeans to set foot in the New World. Around the same time, the Chinese invented the magnetic compass and built fleets of large, sturdy ships to help them explore the globe.