Thomas Wyatt
A year later, Wyatt was sent to the Vatican in Rome and Venice, Italy with Sir John Russell. It was probably during these trips that Wyatt became interested in French and Italian poetry. While Wyatt was in Venice, he was taken prisoner by Spanish troops. They wanted England to pay 3,000 ducats to set him free. Today that is close to 300,000 USD. Wyatt escaped before the money was paid.