Alfred Loisy as a comparative historian of religions. An investigation of Loisy's position within early 20th century and current comparative methodology

This project has the double aim of studying the methodological contribution to the early 20th century history of religions of Alfred Loisy (1857-1940) and of analyzing the impact of his work on current studies of the origins of Christianity. The research is based upon the analysis of published and unpublished correspondence between Loisy and other important historians of religions, such as Franz Cumont, Raffaele Pettazzoni and Salomon Reinach, and the link with the political world (salon of Marquise Arconati-Visconti).