The introduction outlines the strategy of allowing the Mediterranean ‘to speak with many voices’, drawing upon early modern texts in many languages, mainly from about 1530 to 1670. It considers various definitions of the Mediterrean and questions related to its unity or multiplicity, and emphasises the notion of frontier zones where people of different religions, cultures and social position interacted, developing a frontier consciousness that took into account how the ‘others’ thought and acted. It also delves into issues relating to ‘truths’ – or falsehoods – produced by fictional or non-fictional genres, and presents Mediterranean frontier narrative as an identifiable genre, along with corresponding theatrical works, widely practised in different languages during the early modern era. The introduction closes with an overview of the remaining chapters.