He had little formal training or teachers and can therefore be considered one of the most successful self-taught authors in Italian literature.

To be a literary man in his period meant living at court, having patrons, or else being left to one's own devices for financial purposes.

Croce was never a true literary man in the strictest sense of the word since he preferred laymen audiences to the court.

Later (1620), the abbot Adriano Banchieri wrote another sequel called Novella di Cacasenno, figliuolo del semplice Bertoldino.

The liberty of thought and action that Bertoldo had at court may show Croce's desire to live vicariously through his character by having a patron, like many of his counterparts, but without having to pay homage to them.