Visiting Scholar Dr. Lena Sadovski talks about religious hyperdiversity in early modern south-east Europe
On October 11, the Austria Centre Leiden teamed up with the Leiden Jewish Studies Association to welcome Dr. Lena Sadovski for a lunch time talk. Fifteen colleagues from across the university, including retirees and graduate students, attended Dr. Sadovski's fascinating lecture entitled “When religion did not(?) matter in the Balkans: Confessionalization in early modern Southeastern Europe.”
A recent PhD graduate from the University of Vienna, Dr. Sadovski joined the Leiden Institute for Area Studies and the Leiden University Center for the Study of Religion as a Visiting Scholar in May 2023. A polyglot researcher with an excellent command of archival documents from Vienna, Split, Venice and beyond, Dr. Sadovski introduced her audience to the hyper-diverse world of religious belonging in early modern south-eastern Europe using well-developed case studies. One of her case studies explored how a specific category of "Jewishness" persisted across centuries and became attached to individuals at precise historical moments despite their public connections to Christianity and evidence of conversions away from Judaism. Dr. Sadovski will remain in Leiden until November 2023 and continue to participate in Austria Centre and LIAS events.