Much of the geographical knowledge in the Middle Ages dated back to the classical Greeks with various later accounts added in. These would include those of the Vikings in northern seas and Marco Polo’s tale of travels in the Far East during the 13th century. Maps published before Christopher Columbus’ discoveries in 1492 remained essentially as shown. There was no suspicion amongst Europeans, Asians and Africans that there might be other continents. Map from 'Ridpath’s Cyclopedia,' 1885.