 DATE: Set in the late 15th Century during the reign of Louis XI the  Prudent, one of the old world versus new arguments portrayed is  the supposedly heretical suggestion that the world is not flat. This  was an accepted fact for more about 1400 years at the time that the  film takes place. The idea that that this superstition was still  dominant at the time of Columbuss conquests is pure myth  popularized by American author, Washington Irvings 19th century  biographies of Columbus, wherein Irving suggested that Columbus had  to overcome great ignorance to travel to the New World. The  argument between Frollo and Louis XI would not have taken place, as  the court of Ferdinand II of Aragon in Spain never rebuked any claim  of a round Earth.