International audienceWhile modern anthropology diverges, by virtue of its systematic methodology, from the practice of erudite writing, with its still uncertain status, its concerns are nevertheless present in humanist discourse, albeit within certain limits. The sixteenth century saw the emergence of the study of the religious phenomenon as a cultural one, as an elaborate and institutionalized technique. Legal humanism brought a conceptual framework to bear on the role of institutions and on the essential need to sanctify laws within each specific society.Si l'anthropologie moderne diverge, par la systématicité de sa méthodologie, de pratiques d'écriture érudites au statut encore erratique, ses préoccupations n'étaient pas absentes de la ...