An early mention in literature was Ludvig Holberg's comedy "Erasmus Montanus" (1723). A great many people disagree with Erasmus Montanus when he claims the Earth is round, since all the peasants believe it is flat. He is not allowed to marry his fiancée until he cries "The earth is flat as a pancake". In Rudyard Kipling's "The Village that Voted the Earth was Flat", the main characters spread the rumor that a Parish Council meeting had voted in favor of a flat Earth.