Ariosto critics usually underscored a positive and respectful rendition of the
Muslim enemy, interpreting Orlando Furioso as representing an openminded
and modern attitude towards Islam and Muslims in general, yet the presentation
in the poem of the conflicts between Christians and Muslims does articulate a
critical, albeit nuanced attitude towards Muslims. Interpretations should take the
context into account: Italy’s geo-political situation vis-à-vis the Ottoman
expansion – particularly in the Balkans, historical events and the huge amount
of humanistic and historiographical writings from the first decades of the 16th
century in which we find a similar complexity in the attitude towards the Turks.