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.
Fanatisme in Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 6
Paris: Briasson; David; Le Breton; Durand, 1756.
Moloch in Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 10
Neuchâtel: Samuel Faulcher, 1765.
Los seis libros de S. Juan Chrysostomo sobre el Sacerdocio. Traducidos en lengua vulgar, ilustrados con notas criticas, y corregidos en esta segunda impresion por [...] Phelipe Scio de San Miguel de las Escuelas Pías
Madrid: Pedro Marín, 1776.
The unbloody sacrifice, and altar, unvail'd and supported. : In which the nature of the eucharist is explain'd according to the Sentiments of the Christian Church in the Four First Centuries. Part the second. Shewing, The Agreement and Disagreement of the Eucharist with the Sacrifices of the Antients, and the Excellency of the former. The great Moment of the Eucharist both as a Feast, and Sacrifice. The Necessity of frequent Communion. The Unity of the Eucharist. The Nature of Excommunication. And the Primitive Method of Preparation. With Devotions for the Altar. I deny not, but that the Fathers do, and that with great reason, very much magnity the wonderful Mystery, and Efficacy of this Sacrament, and frequently speak of a great Supernatural Change made by the Divine Benediction ; which we also readily acknowledge. Archbishop Tillotson, in his Discourse of Transubstantiation, Pag. 291. of his Works in Folio, publish'd in his Life-Time. By John Johnson, A.M.
London: Robert Knaplock, [1718].
Histoire critique des dogmes et des cultes
Amsterdam: Honoré, 1704.
Obelisci aegyptiaci nuper inter Isaei Romani rudera effossi interpretatio hieroglyphica
Romae: Ex typographia Varesij, 1666.
The Appellation of Iohn Knoxe from the Cruell and Most Iniust Sentence Pronounced Against Him by the False Bishoppes and Clergie of Scotland, With His Supplication and Exhortation to the Nobilitie, Estates, ad Comunaltie of the Same Realme
Gèneve: s.n., 1558.
De diuinis Scripturis, quauis passim lingua, non legendis, simul et de sacrificio Missae, caeterisque officijs in Ecclesia Christi, hebraea tantum, graeca, aut latina lingua celebrandis, aduersus nostrae aetatis haereticos liber unus
Cologne: Calenius & Quentel, 1574.
Moeurs des sauvages amériquains comparées aux moeurs des premiers temps
Paris: Charles Estienne Hochereau, 1624.
Moeurs des sauvages amériquains comparées aux moeurs des premiers temps
Paris: Saugrain l'aîné, 1724.
De Russorum, Moscovitarum et Tartarorum religione, sacrificiis, nuptiarum, funerum ritu
Speyer: Bernardus D'Albinus, 1582.
De docta simplicitate primae ecclesiae, et de usu calicis in Synaxi, et de Eucharistico sacrificio, adversus petulantem insultationem Iacobi Andreae, Pastoris Göppingensis Barth. Latomi Responsio
Cologne: Maternus Cholinus, 1559.
Iphigenie. Tragedie
Paris: Olivier de Varennes, 1676.
A new and exact account of Jamaica. Wherein the antient and present state of the colony, its importance to Great Britain, laws, trade, manners and religion, together with the most remarkable and curious animals, plants, trees, &c. are described: with a particular account of the sacrifices, libations, &c. At this day in use among the Negroes
Edinburgh: Fleming, 1739.
A vindication of the right reverend the Ld. Bishop of Norwich: from the undeserved reflections of Mr. John Johnson, in his book The unbloody sacrifice and altar unvailed and supported
London: John Morphew, 1714.