First published in 1970, this book takes a close look at the frequently identified 'rhetorical' features of German Baroque literature in terms of their historical foundations. The perspective is European throughout. The theoretical grounding in Antiquity and humanism (rhetoric, poetics) has already been closely analyzed, so the emphasis here is more on roots of the phenomenon in the 17th century educational system: Protestant schools of a scholarly bent, Jesuit colleges, aristocratic upbringing, teaching at universities. A specific social and educational frame of reference is thus reconstructed, aiding the interpretation of 'rhetorical' Baroque texts, be they plays and poems or sermons and novels.