Editing Thomas Cromwell (section)

====France, Italy and the Low Countries====
Cromwell acknowledged to [[Thomas Cranmer]], the Archbishop of Canterbury, that he had been a "ruffian ... in his young days".{{sfn|Leithead|2008}} Around the turn of the century, for reasons which remain unclear, he left his family in Putney and crossed the Channel to continental Europe, allegedly{{efn|The claim that he spent time in prison was made by [[Eustace Chapuys]].{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=22}}}} after spending some time in prison.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|p=22}} Accounts of his activities in [[Kingdom of France#Renaissance and Reformation|France]], [[History of early modern Italy#16th to 18th centuries|Italy]] and the [[Habsburg Netherlands|Low Countries]] are problematic.{{sfn|Leithead|2008}} The tradition that he quickly became a [[Mercenary#15th and 16th centuries|mercenary]] and marched with the French army to Italy, where in 1503 he fought in the [[Battle of Garigliano (1503)|Battle of Garigliano]], stems from a [[novella]] by the contemporary Italian writer [[Matteo Bandello]] in which Cromwell is portrayed as a page to a foot-soldier, carrying his pike and helmet.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Payne |editor1-first=John |title=The Novels of Matteo Bandello Bishop of Agen |date=1890 |publisher=Villon Society |location=London |oclc=4476645 |page=107 |volume=4|editor1-link=John Payne (poet)}}</ref> This account was treated as fact by many later writers, including [[John Foxe]] in his ''[[Foxe's Book of Martyrs|Actes and Monuments]]'' of 1563.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foxe |first1=John |author-link1=John Foxe |editor1-last=Cattley |editor1-first=Stephen Reed |title=The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe |volume=V|date=1563 |oclc=1073899544 |page=392 |edition=1838|publisher=R.B. Seeley and W. Burnside|location=London}}</ref> Despite the obvious exaggerations contained in Bandello's novella, MacCulloch points out that the "[[picaresque]]" narrative provides the best available clues to shine some light on the obscurity of Cromwell's first Italian trip.{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|pp=22–23}}

While in Italy, Cromwell seems to have entered service in the household of the [[Frescobaldi]] family of [[Republic of Florence|Florentine]] bankers (Bandello has an implausibly young Francesco Frescobaldi graciously saving him from starvation on the streets of Florence).{{sfn|MacCulloch|2018|pp=22–23}} It appears that he later worked as a [[cloth merchant]] in the Low Countries, where his frequentation of English [[Company of Merchant Adventurers of London|Merchant Adventurers]]{{sfn|Coby|2009|p=46}} allowed him to develop useful contacts and gain familiarity with several languages.{{sfn|Leithead|2008}} Cromwell, who was known to have a prodigious memory,{{sfn|Coby|2009|p=47}} was probably already fluent in [[French language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]], as well as being proficient in [[Latin]], with some knowledge also of [[Ancient Greek]].{{sfn|Bindoff|1982}}