He was born at Senlis in northern France. He first studied law, then adopted the Reformed faith and became one of the pastors at Geneva in the Republic of Geneva (1566). He was called to Antwerp, to Orange, to Montpellier and to Nîmes as minister, and to Lausanne as professor; but remained at Geneva and became a citizen.

According to Scott Manetsch, Goulart was an "eloquent but controversial preacher, unafraid to speak out against the ills of society, whether they be promiscuous styles of clothing, miscarriages of public justice, or the hypocrisy of public officials."^[1] In 1595 he preached aggressively against Gabrielle d'Estrées, the favorite of Henry IV of France. He was put in prison by order of the Council of Geneva; after eight days he was released, although the French ambassador had demanded a more severe punishment.

When Theodore Beza died in 1605, Goulart took over as leader of the Company of Pastors.^[1] He died at Geneva.

He wrote a number of books on history and theology. He made additions to Jean Crespin's Histoire des Martyrs (Geneva, 1608); he wrote also Recueil contenant les choses les plus mémorables advenues sous la Ligue (6 vols., 1590–99), and Recueil des choses mémorables sous le régne de Henri IV (1598).

• https://archive.org/stream/newschaffherzog38haucgoog#page/n61/mode/2up

• Works by Simon Goulart at Post-Reformation Digital Library

Attribution

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "Goulart, Simon". New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.