Final answer:
Before the Age of Exploration, many Europeans held a linear view of the world's history influenced by Christian beliefs, some were uncertain about the Earth's size and the existence of the Americas, while the educated knew Earth was round. Norse explorations predated Columbus by centuries.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before the Age of Exploration, people's beliefs about the world were vastly different from those after this period. Many Europeans, influenced by Christian doctrine, perceived the world and its history as linear, with a clear beginning and an end. Although it wasn't a universally held belief, some Europeans were unclear on the Earth's actual size and the existence of the Americas and the Pacific Ocean. However, educated individuals knew the Earth was round, with philosophers such as Pythagoras suggesting a spherical Earth due to the perfection of circles and spheres. The Norse, including Leif Erikson, had already explored and settled in parts of North America around 1000 CE, hundreds of years before Columbus set sail, which challenges the myth that Europeans of the time believed the world was flat. Nonetheless, the Age of Exploration significantly altered European perceptions of the world and its diversity.