Editing Gerardus Mercator (section)

===Antwerp, 1532–1534===
The normal progress for an able magister was to go on to further study in one of the four faculties at Leuven: Theology, Medicine, [[Canon Law]] and [[Roman Law]]. Gisbert might have hoped that Mercator would go further in theology and train for the priesthood, but Mercator did not: like many twenty-year-old young men, he was having his first serious doubts. The problem was the contradiction between the authority of Aristotle and his own biblical study and scientific observations, particularly in relation to the creation and description of the world. Such doubt was heresy at the university and it is quite possible that he had already said enough in classroom disputations to come to the notice of the authorities:{{efn| name=UniStat}} fortunately, he did not put his sentiments into print. He left Leuven for Antwerp,{{efn|There is uncertainty as to whether he was away in Antwerp for a single long period or whether he simply made a number of visits. See {{harvnb|Osley|1969|p=20|loc= footnote 2}} }} there to devote his time to contemplation of philosophy. This period of his life is clouded in uncertainty.{{efn|{{harvnb|Ghim|1595}} simply states that Mercator read philosophy privately for two years.}} He certainly read widely but succeeded only in uncovering more contradictions between the world of the Bible and the world of geography, a hiatus which would occupy him for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Horst|2011|p=49}} He certainly could not effect a reconciliation between his studies and the world of Aristotle.
[[File:Monachus 1527 globe map 05.png|left|thumb|upright=1.5|The Portuguese ([[Lusitania]]n) and Spanish hemispheres of the globe of [[Franciscus Monachus]], following the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] of 1494.]]
During this period Mercator was in contact with the [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] friar [[Franciscus Monachus]] who lived in the monastery of [[Mechelen]].{{sfn|Crane|2003|p=54}}{{sfn|Osley|1969|p=20|loc= footnote 2}} He was a controversial figure who, from time to time, was in conflict with the church authorities because of his humanist outlook and his break from Aristotelian views of the world: his own views of geography were based on investigation and observation. Mercator must have been impressed by Monachus, his map collection and the famous globe that he had prepared for [[Jean Carondelet]], the principal advisor of Charles V.{{efn|See {{harvnb|Horst|2011|p=49}}, {{harvnb|Crane|2003|p=58}} <!-- The original text is {{harvnb|Monachus|1526/7}}. (No such cite exists in the article)-->}} The globe was constructed by the Leuven goldsmith [[Gaspard van der Heyden|Gaspar van der Heyden]] (Gaspar a Myrica {{Circa|1496}}–{{Circa|1549}}) with whom Mercator would be apprenticed. These encounters may well have provided the stimulus to put aside his problems with theology and commit himself to geography. Later he would say, "Since my youth, geography has been for me the primary subject of study. I liked not only the description of the Earth but the structure of the whole machinery of the world."{{efn|From the dedication to the volume of Ptolemy Mercator published in 1578. See {{harvnb|Crane|2003|p=54 }} }}