The drama Haeresis fulminata ('Lightning Strikes the Heretic') was performed at the Jesuit College in Ljubljana in 1651. It was written by the versatile Carniolan scholar Johann Ludwig Schönleben (1618–1681). The Latin text and the surviving sources testify that it was an ambitious production depicting the colourful religious and political events at the court of Byzantium. It depicts the cunning rise of Anastasius to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire. The intricate dramatic story is woven from the motifs of Anastasius' high-handedness, drunkenness and incompetent rule of Emperor Zeno, Ariadne's infatuation and, above all, heresy and cruelty of Anastasius, which brought him to an inglorious end: his earthly journey was ended by lightning and he was plunged into eternal damnation by divine judgement. With this drama, Schönleben paid tribute to the fame of the Auersperg family and the land of Carniola as victor over the Lutheran heresy.

This scholarly-critical edition contains a transcription of the Latin text of the play and its translation into Slovene as well as an extensive scholarly apparatus. The drama, which has now emerged from the privacy of the Auersperg family archive, lifts the veil on a long (1597–1773) but little-known chapter of Slovenian theatre history, which was shaped by the Jesuits and their plays.