Peace dealings in Early Modern times resembled more business transactions than anything else, peopled by actors being influenced by their country's specific circumstances or sometimes by chance alone. The danger of misunderstandings, whether precipitated through false translations or false interpretations, was imminent in all such proccedings. But ignorance too played an active role in both the political and legal background of Early Modern times. This collection of articles is concerned with both the temporal and the thematic contexts of the phenomena of "misunderstanding" and "ignorance." It provides many insights into the architecture of premodern communication.

Contributions by: Cornelia Manegold, Maria Baramova, Ralf-Peter Fuchs, Martin Kintzinger, Michael Rohrschneider, Andrea Schmidt-Rösler, Thomas Gergen, Kay Peter Jankrift, Merio Scattola