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.
Aqui se contiene una obra verdadera, muy digna de memoria [...] de como la Soltana fue bautizada en Berberia y de la orden y traza que tuvo ella y otras quatro renegadas y un renegado, y otros cautivos Christianos para venirse a España y de como se embarcaron en Argel y de como tomaron puerto en Denia. Compuesta por Francisco Pardo privado de la vista corporal; con dos letrillas al cabo de una en alabanza de la Madre de Dios, y la otra en alabanza de Sant Iacintho
Barcelona: Sebastian de Cormella, 1595.
Philosophia secreta: donde debaxo de historias fabulosas se contiene mucha doctrina prouechosa a todos estudios: con el origen de los idolos, o Dioses de la gentilidad
Çaragoça: Miguel Fortuño Sanchez, 1599.
De orbe nouo Petri Martyris ab Angleria Mediolanensis Protonotarij Cesaris senatoris decade
Compluti · Alcala de Henares: Egino, 1530.
A Comparison of the Institutions of Moses with Those of the Hindoos and Other Ancient Nations
Northumberland: Kennedy, 1799.
An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa
Amsterdam: Roger, 1704.
Delle navigationi et viaggi, 3 vols.
Venice: Lucantonio Giunti, 1550.
Tableaux sacrez des figures mystiques du tres-auguste sacrifice et sacrement de l'Eucharistie dediez a la tres chrestienne royne de France et de Nauarre Marie de Medicis
Paris: Laurens Sonnius, 1601.
A criticism upon modern notions of sacrifices being an examination of Dr. Taylor's scripture-doctrine of atonement examined, In Relation I. To Jewish Sacrifices. II. To the Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. To which is added an appendix, containing an examination of another notion of Jewish sacrifices, which is exhibited in an anonymous Piece
London: C. Henderson, T. Becket, P. A. de Hondt, 1761.