Vita clarissimi viri D. Iosiae Simleri Tigurini, S. Theologiae in Schola Tigurina Professoris fidelissimi

that from the excellent literary monuments of our Simler himself, by which he earned great praise for himself among many, the extraordinary gifts of soul and talent in which he excelled can be very well known. Yet his parents, ancestors, upbringing, customs of private life, morals, death, and many other such things pertaining to his praise can by no means be fully perceived from his writings. What prevents these from being added as a heap to his remaining praises? Add to this that, since his writings have perhaps not yet been read by everyone, nor all of them, in this way perhaps those who either ignored them before or did not value them as much as they should have will be incited to read them.

Beyond these general causes I have mentioned, there are other, more special ones that impelled me, above all others, to this task of writing. These are the exhortations of certain learned men who are as dear to me as they were to him, and the fact that, because of the familiar acquaintance I had with him from boyhood, his life and habits were very well known to me. For I used him not only as a supporter of my studies, but also as an excellent and most faithful helper. Finally, God also joined me to him in the necessity and society of the same office, for which I believed I could by no means neglect this duty of a friend, however small it may be.

I do indeed grieve that I lack the faculty of splendid and ornate diction to paint his life with living colors, so to speak. But since the best ornament of speech and the most beautiful color is truth, whose style is wont to be simple, if I serve the truth in this description of mine—which I promise and pledge in good faith that I will do—I trust that the splendor and brilliance of the speech will not be sought after by fair readers. For since I will perhaps have many readers for what I am about to write, both present and fellow citizens, and absent ones and foreigners, who have at some time enjoyed his familiarity, company, and living together, I prefer to have them as witnesses of the truth—to which nothing is more primary and ancient to me—than of falsehood and lies, from which I shrink with my whole heart. Having thus mentioned the causes for which I was led to this writing, I will now approach the matter itself.

Iosias Simler was born at Capellis Kappel (a monastery of the Zurich jurisdiction, which was of the Cistercian family) in the year of our salvation 1530, on the sixth day of November, at the third hour of the afternoon, during the consulships of Diethelm Roest and Heinrich Walder of the Zurich Republic.