ABSTRACT
William Fowler's initial or perhaps ostensible motive for his voyage to London had been the need to secure payment of a sum of money owed by Mary, Queen of Scots to his late father. Possibly for this reason he contacted Michel de Castelnau, Seigneur de Mauvissière in Touraine, the French ambassador to London. This has prompted a number of speculations on Fowler's contacts with Italian and English humanists, scholars and spies. Founded in 1222, the University of Padua enjoyed an exceptional status since, self-governed as it was, it was protected but not interfered with by both religious and civic authorities. However small a detail, it may have significant implications: Ciotti, a bookseller and publisher, was part of vast networks of writers, thinkers, heretics and humanists operating in late sixteenth-century Europe. His regular visits to the Frankfurt book fair were often the means for Italian intellectuals to communicate with friends abroad without fear of censorship.
