Career
Foreign other individuals named "Giovanni Castiglione", see here. A humanist reformer, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1556 by Elizabeth"s sister, Mary I. Later, he carried Elizabeth"s letters when she herself was imprisoned in the Tower. Castiglione was born at Gassino, near Torino, in the Piedmont, son of Captain Piero Castiglione, of Mantua.
He served in the Army of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, at Landrecies and Boulogne.
He was appointed to young Elizabeth"s Court as Master of the Italian Tongue in November 1544, and when Elizabeth became Queen he was made Groom of her Privy Chamber, which post he held until shortly before his death. He was granted by her the Manor of Benham Valence, in Berkshire and he was buried in the nearby church of Street Mary, Speen.