Topic: 2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century)
Religious sacrifices across various cultures and contexts sparked widespread interest in Early Modern Europe. As Christianity expanded into regions inhabited by "infidels" and "pagans", Europeans encountered a diverse array of sacrificial customs, ranging from the Sati rituals in India to the Aztec sacrifices in the Americas. This cross-cultural exposure captivated a wide audience, including theologians, philosophers, political thinkers, antiquarians, orientalists, missionaries, poets, artists, and even the general public. These encounters broadened the European understanding of sacrifice and led to a critical reassessment of classical and biblical sacrificial rites. This section includes:
- Sources: A selection of early modern printed materials, which include descriptions of the Americas, Asia, and Africa, alongside antiquarian and philological studies on religious sacrifice in classical antiquity and beyond. It also presents early modern works of ethnological observations and the first attempts to compare different sacrificial practices in various traditions and contexts, laying the groundwork for disciplines like the history of religions and anthropology.
- Iconographic Representations: A rich collection of images from the 16th to 18th centuries, illustrating a range of sacrificial rituals and practices as seen in different cultural and geographical contexts.
- Related Bibliography: An extensive bibliography spanning scholarly works from the 19th to 21st centuries, providing contemporary analyses and interpretations of these early studies and observations.
Sacred Sacrifice: Ritual Paradigms in Vedic Religion and Early Christianity
New York: P. Lang, 1995.
in: L’accusa del sangue. Storia politica di un mito antisemita, pp.
Roma: Editori Riuniti, 2002.
Réflexions sur le sacrifice dans la religion traditionnelle des Bamoun (Cameroun)
in: Systèmes de Pensée en Afrique Noire, v. 4 (1979), issue : pp.117-129.
Conversion, circumcision, and ritual murder in medieval Europe
: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020.
Le chevillard et le sacrificateur: la viande halal entre logiques économiques, légales et religieuses
in: L'islam en France, pp. 537-545
Paris: PUF, 2008.
Il pasto scrificale nella storia comparata delle religioni
in: Il sacrificio : evento e rito, pp. 263-310
Padova: Messaggero, 1998.
Cross-Cultural Exchange: Saint George’s Day Customs as a Common Heritage of Balkan Nations
in: Anthropological Notebooks, v. 21 (2015), issue 2: pp.71-88.
Blood Libel. On the Trail of an Antisemitic Myth
: Harvard University Press, 2020.
The Sandomierz Paintings of Ritual Murderr as Lieux de Mémoire
in: Ritual Murder in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Beyond: New Histories of an Old Accusation, pp. 253-278
Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2017.
The Vedic and the Christian Concept of Sacrifice
Alwaye: Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy, 1985.
The Highest Altar : the Story of Human Sacrifice
London: Bloomsbury, 1989.
Protestantism, Modernity and the Power of Penetration: Saints and Sacrifice in 17th Century Lutheran Finland
in: Lived Religion and the Long Reformation in Northern Europe c. 1300–1700, pp. 75-103
Leiden: Brill, 2017.
Sacrifices dans la ville : le citadin chez le devin en Côte dʾIvoire
Abidjan - St. Maur: Sini, F. - Onida, P. P., 1990.