The Lost Continent 遗失的大陆-4

（单词翻译）

The myth of Atlantis would be lost, disappearing into the shadows of the Dark Ages. It wouldn't be until European explorers inaugurated an age of discovery, that the search for a lost island paradise began with fervor¹, a search that would begin with a dogged pursuit of the mythical² isle³ by history's most famous explorer, Christopher Columbus.

The Holy Inquisition of Spain. Men of God scour⁴ the land, searching for any sign of deviation⁵ from the one true faith. In less than a decade, thousands have already perished, Jews and Moors⁶, lapsed⁷ Christians⁸ and social outcasts, all consumed by the cleansing⁹ fire of religious zeal¹⁰. In such an atmosphere of terror Spain would seem an unlikely starting point for Christopher Columbus's unprecedented¹¹ voyage of discovery. Yet it was the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, the very people who accepted the inquisition in motion, that Columbus would have to appeal to finance his bold plan to cross the ocean. Long neglected by the history books, the great navigator had a secret reason to undertake such a perilous¹² voyage. Columbus had heard of a lost island paradise of untold¹³ riches and wealth, a mythical land called Anthillia, a land that had replaced Atlantis in the Medieval imagination.

Since the collapse¹⁴ of the Roman Empire in the 6th century, much of the learning of antiquity¹⁵ had been forgotten. Suspicious of pagan wisdom, Christianity evolved a very different vision of the world, one defined by the battle between good and evil.

At the centre of this world was Jerusalem surrounded by the three known continents--Europe, Asia and Africa. Beyond these was another world, populated by people who were not descended¹⁶ from Adam and Eve, making them in the minds of many, children of the devil. But some like Columbus had radical¹⁷ ideas about the real geography of the world, ideas that had made them obvious figures of suspicion.
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inaugurate: v. 创新、开辟
cleanse:v. 纯净、清扫
deviation: n. 背离