Synopsis of Events from the Creation of the World

...was swallowed completing the thought from the previous page: "once he had tasted a small morsel... it was swallowed"; to the great joy of all, this was immediately seen as a better omen and taken—though prematurely—as a sign of returning health.

And now he began to desire more familiar conversation. But indeed, he was about to bid his final farewell to the world and its inhabitants. For from that time on, he considered nothing of the sort; nor did he wish to take any further medicines or restoratives confortativa: strengthening tonics or cordials meant to revive the spirits and physical strength. Without a doubt, he had shaken off the desire for life—which, according to the philosopher Seneca, is a shameful thing in an old man original: "Turpis... seni est." Besold, a scholar, here aligns his death with Stoic and Christian ideals—and looking toward death, he resigned himself entirely to the Divine will.

Throughout the entire time he was bedridden, he displayed great examples of virtue. With these, he overcame the bitter envy of the heretics the Protestant critics who had attacked Besold after his conversion to Catholicism in 1635, and through his pious patience, he frustrated their long-circulated slanders—which had even spread to foreign shores—aimed at attacking his spotless reputation and the purity of his life.

He showed an absolute, extreme obedience toward his Spiritual Father his confessor or spiritual advisor, never resisting by so much as a gesture anything the Father had advised. His devotion was truly Catholic and religious. His patience was of a rare kind, and his resolve could be imitated by few. His constancy was beyond what is human: he was not moved by the pains of his illness, nor by the tidings of death, nor even by the unrestrained wailing of his wife and daughter as they threw themselves across his bed. He remained unbroken in spirit, his expression entirely unchanged, and...