[1] He briefly left the ecclesiastical state, fighting alongside his brother Brunoro in the French army of Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours then invading Brescia.

[1] On 15 December 1527 he carried Cardinal Wolsey's letter to Pope Clement VII in which Wolsey secretly expressed his wish to be granted special powers allowing him to annul the marriage of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon, thus allowing the king to marry Anne Boleyn.

[1] During this period, Gambara traveled to Paris to attempt to raise military assistance to free the pontiff.

[1] On 8 May 1528 he was elected bishop of Tortona, coinciding with the pope naming him governor of Bologna, holding this post until 1533.

[1] He was present at the imperial coronation of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Bologna on 24 February 1530.

[1] He opted for the titular church of Sant'Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine on 15 February 1542 and then for San Crisogono on 17 October 1544.