Niklas von Wyle, one of the earliest German humanists, was responsible for introducing awareness of important Italian writers into Germany. He is remembered, above all, for his experimental theory of translation, which advocated close adherence to the Latin source so as to promote a gradual improvement in German style. This word-for-word approach distinguishes him sharply from his contemporaries Heinrich Steinhöwel and Albrecht von Eyb, who saw it as the translator's prime task to convey the sense, rather than the style, of a passage.

Niklas von Wyle was born at Bremgarten, Aargau, Switzerland, around 1415 (some authorities suggest 1410). He spent the years 1430 to 1433 studying at the University of Vienna, after which he taught and served as a notary in Zurich, where Felix Hemmerli was his mentor. He then became Stadtschreiber (town clerk) at Radolfzell on Lake Constance. In 1447 he held an appointment as clerk to the city council...