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.
Origines Hebrææ: the antiquities of the Hebrew republick: In four books. I. The origin of the Hebrews; their civil government; the constitution of the sanhedrim; forms of trial in courts of justice, &c. II. The ecclesiastical government; the consecration of the high-priests, priests, and levites. The revenue of the priesthood the sects among the Hebrews, pharisees, sadducees, essenes, &c. III. Places of worship. The use of high-places; a survey of the tabernacle, and the proseucha's of the Hebrews. A description of the first temple from the scriptures, and of the second from the rabbinical writings. The sacred utensils. The institution of synagogues, &c. IV. The religion of the hebrews. Their sacrifices; and their libations. The burning of the red heifer, and ceremonies of purification. Their sacraments, publick fasts and festivals, &c. Design'd as an explanation of every branch of the levitical law, and of all the ceremonies and usages of the Hebrews, both civil and sacred
London: Sam Illidge ; John Hooke, 1724.
A Sum or a brief collection of holy signes, sacrifices and sacraments, even since the beginning of the worlde: and the true originall of the sacrifice of the masse
London: Rouland Hall, 1563.
Itinerario, Voyage ofte schipvaert, van Jan Huygen van Linschoten naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien
Amsterdam: Cornelis Claesz. , 1596.
Figurarum, pro Missionum, Historiarum, Caeremoniarum, Victimarum, & Sacrificiorum, Ex Testamento vetere, Ad Christum Dei Filium, & Ecclesiam eius pertinentium Synaoroisis
Franc: Haered. Ch. Egen., 1560.
Philosophia antigua poetica del doctor Alonso Lopez Pinciano, medico cesareo. Dirigida al Conde Iohanes Keuehilerde Aichelberg, Conde de Frankemburg, Baron absoluto de Landtscron y de Wernsperg, Señor de Osteruiz y Carlsperg, Cavallerizo Mayor perpetuo y hereditario del Archiducado de Carinthia, Cavallero de la orden del Tuson del Rey nuestro señor, y del Consejo y de la Camara del Emperador, y su Embaxador en las Españas
Madrid: Thomas Iunti, 1596.
Discorso circa il stato de gl'Hebrei, et in particolar dimoranti nell'inclita citta di Venetia, di Simone Luzzatto rabbino hebreo, et e vn'appendice al Trattato dell'openioni e dogmi de gl'Hebrei dall'vniuersal non dissonanti, e de' riti loro più principali
Venezia: Gioanne Calleoni, 1638.
Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, earumque diversis statibus, conditionibus, moribus, ritibus ... necnon universis pene animalibus in Septentrione degentibus, eorumque natura (Book 3, Ch. 7, On the Geats’ Worship and Sacrifice, De sacrisi, et sacrificiis Gothorum)
Rome: Giovanni M. Viotto, 1555.
Holocauste in Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 8
Neuchâtel: Samuel Faulcher, 1565.
Sommaire recueil des signes sacrez, sacrifices et sacremens instituez de Dieu depuis la création du monde ; et De la vraye origine du sacrifice de la messe
[Caen]: [Pierre Philippe], 1561.
Riti e costumi degli ebrei descritti, e confutati dal dottore Paolo Medici sacerdote
Florence: Pietro Gaetano Viviani, 1736.
Mojecki, Przecław. Żydowskie okrucieństwa, mordy, y zabobony
Cracow: W Drukarni Jak. Sibeneychera, 1598.
De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld
Amsterdam: Jacob Meurs, 1671.