Leggende e pratiche religiose tradizionali nel Salento di fine Seicento: "Antichità di Leuca" di Luigi Tasselli

Abstract

The figure of Luigi Tasselli, a Franciscan savant from Salento and author of the historical and chorographic work "Antichità di Leuca", has long been denigrated for the lack of historical criteria in his work. The work, however, today represents an important source for the reconstruction of legends, traditions and religious practices of the ancient Terra d'Otranto at the end of the seventeenth century, some of which are no longer known by the local population. In this work there are continuous references to elements of the landscape that are still significant for the inhabitants of Salento. We can also perceive the cultural physiognomy of Salento in the early modern age, a land of encounter between two cultures: the Latin West and the Byzantine East.