Matteo Bandello was born at Castelnuovo Scrivia

Castelnuovo Scrivia

Castelnuovo Scrivia is a comune in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 90 km east of Turin and about 20 km northeast of Alessandria.-History:...

, near Tortona

Tortona

Tortona is a comune of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines.-History:...

 (current Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

), c. 1480 or 1485. He received a good education, and entered the church, but does not seem to have been very interested in theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

. For many years he lived at Mantua

Mantua

Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...

, and superintended the education of the celebrated Lucrezia Gonzaga

Lucrezia Gonzaga

Lucrezia Gonzaga di Gazzuolo was an Italian noblewoman known for her literary talents, and her association with Matteo Bandello. Bandello taught her mathematics, astronomy, rhetoric and logic, and wrote poetry in her honour...

, in whose honour he composed a long poem. The decisive Battle of Pavia

Battle of Pavia

The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26.A Spanish-Imperial army under the nominal command of Charles de Lannoy attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I of France in the great hunting preserve...

, as a result of which Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 was taken by the emperor, compelled Bandello to flee; his house at Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 was burnt and his property confiscated.