ABSTRACT
The brief embassy to Venice in 1527 of Thomas Wyatt and Sir John Russell illustrates the complex political challenges and extreme personal dangers faced by English diplomats in Italy at this period. The family’s residence at Allington Castle, Kent, brought them into close contact with the Boleyns who lived at nearby Hever Castle. John Russell, first Earl of Bedford, was fluent in both French and Italian, and possibly Spanish, and may have lived abroad during his youth. He became intimate with Henry VIII through their shared interest in jousting and court tournaments. In 1514 he was sent to Paris as one of the English observers of the marriage of Henry’s sister, Princess Mary Tudor, to Louis XII of France. On 7 January 1527 Thomas Wyatt was sent with Sir John Russell to Italy to attend the court of Pope Clement VII at Rome.
