Abstract The study of early modern diplomatic relations between the Central European Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire has a robust tradition based on the analysis of a rich body of primary sources preserved mostly in the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv of the Austrian State Archives. This introduction provides a brief overview of the historiography, the place of the present articles in this tradition, and suggests several directions for future research.
Schiller’s hunch was correct: spoken drama must overcome history in order to produce the effect of history (when portrayed monumentally) originally had. But the historical drama should not be antiquarian at any price; Shakespeare was correct to let his Romans appear on stage as Englishmen. […] However, one should not measure it according to the highest artistic expectations; we should make out of drama a rhetorical work of art. 1
