from 1503, the living of Church Langton, Leicestershire; from 1508 prebends in Lincoln and Hereford Cathedrals; and from 1513 the prebend of Oxgate in St Paul's Cathedral. As an established author, and a representative of Italian humanist learning, Vergil was received in England as a minor celebrity, and was welcomed at court by King Henry VII. It was at the King's behest that he began work on his Anglica Historia, a new history of England, probably as early as 1505. On 22 October 1510, he was naturalised English. Early in 1515 – through the intrigues of Andrea Ammonio, who sought the subcollectorship for himself – an ill-judged letter from Vergil was intercepted by the authorities. It contained what was read as implied criticism of both Thomas Wolsey and Henry VIII, and as a result Vergil was imprisoned in April in the Tower of London. His supporters and advocates included Pope Leo X, who wrote to the King on his behalf. From prison Vergil wrote to Wolsey, begging that the approaching Christmas season – a time which witnessed the restitution of a world – might also see his pardon: his letter's tone has been described as "almost blasphemous". He was released before Christmas 1515, but never regained his subcollectorship. Return visits to Italy and death Although Vergil lived predominantly in England from 1502 onwards, he paid several return visits to Urbino, in 1513–14, 1516–17 and 1533–34. In 1534, Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino, in recognition of his literary achievements, admitted Vergil and his family to the ranks of the nobility. In 1546 Vergil resigned the Archdeaconry of Wells to the Crown, perhaps in anticipation of his retirement to Italy. He was licensed to return to Urbino in 1550, and probably left England for the last time in the summer of 1553. He died in Urbino on 18 April 1555. Works Perotti's Cornucopiae Vergil published his first work in 1496. This was an edition of Niccolò Perotti’s Cornucopiae latinae linguae, a commentary on Martial's Epigrams. Proverbiorum Libellus (Adagia) Vergil's Proverbiorum Libellus (Venice, 1498), retitled in later editions as Adagiorum Liber, and often known as the Adagia, was a collection of Latin proverbs. It was the first such collection printed, preceding the similar Adagia of Erasmus by two years. The initial controversy between the two authors that arose from their rival claims for priority (Erasmus still believed as late as 1533 that his