In 1611 he was imprisoned by the inquisition but was rescued by the English ambassador Sir Dudley Carleton who threatened a diplomatic incident if an execution of a servant of the king was authorised.

He went back to England to escape "the furious bite of the cruel and pitiless Roman inquisition".

[3] In 1574 he befriended Sir Roger North of Kirtling on a 1574 visit to England and accompanied his son John on an educational tour in Italy.

In 1592 he was appointed Italian tutor and secretary to King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark.

[5] King James later mentioned to the Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini that Castelvetro had served him in Scotland for a few years and was well-liked.

He was apparently shocked by the English partiality for meat, lack of green vegetables and sugar-rich diet.

Castelvetro's enthusiasm for a diverse diet preceded John Evelyn's treatise produced in 1699 which equally urged the English to eat more salad vegetables.

He mentions children learning to swim in the Brenta whilst attached to huge pumpkins as a means to stay afloat; German wenches, Venetian ladies and intimate conversations with Scandinavian royalty.