Theme:
5. Theories and methods in archaeology: interactions between disciplines
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
CANCELLED The Archaeology of Baptism in Early Modern Europe
Content:
Baptism is a sacrament of critical importance within the main Christian denominations. Within the early Christian church it was considered essential to cleanse a person of Original Sin, the sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and subsequently inherited by humankind ever since. If baptism did not occur, however, then the sin remained in place and, as such, the unbaptized were condemned to Hell. A strong advocate for this position in the early church was St Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430) who believed that all infants should be baptised as soon as possible after their birth in order to avoid potential eternal damnation should they die unbaptised. This harsh doctrine was later modified by moderate theologians within the Medieval church who advocated the existence of Limbo. By the late 16th century, however, baptism had become a contentious issue between the Catholic Church and the Reformed Churches, and also within Counter-Reformation Catholicism with certain theologians placing extreme importance on the teaching of St Augustine and his views on what happened to the souls of the unbaptised after death and their burial in unconsecrated ground.
It is the intention that this session will provide new insights and challenge existing paradigms on baptism across Early Modern Europe through the integration of theological, historical, architectural and archaeological perspectives. Papers are invited to cover issues such as burial rites and practices for the unbaptised (e.g. children’s burial grounds in Ireland), the material culture associated with baptism (e.g. religious objects and clothing), and the architectural expression of baptism (e.g. sanctuaires à répit [respite sanctuaries], shrines, and baptismal fonts).
Keywords:
Unbaptised, Unconsecrated ground, Sanctuaires à répit, Shrines, Counter-Reformation, Reformation
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
No
Main organiser:
Eileen Murphy (United Kingdom) 1
Co-organisers:
Mark Guillon (France) 2
Colm Donnelly (United Kingdom) 1
Émilie Portat (France) 3
Affiliations:
1. Archaeology & Palaeoecology, School of Natural & Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast
2. Inrap & PACEA UMR 5199 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux
3. Direction de l'archéologie, Chartres Métropole UMR - CNRS 7041 ArScAn, TranSphères
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT