Polydore Vergil was born at Urbino, or…

Polydore Vergil was born at Urbino, or more probably at Fermignano, within the Duchy of Urbino.

His father, Giorgio di Antonio, owns a dispensary.

His grandfather, Antonio Virgili, "a man well skilled in medicine and astrology", had taught philosophy at the University of Paris; as does Polydore's own brother, Giovanni-Matteo Virgili, at Ferrara and Padua.

Another brother, Girolamo, is a merchant trading with England.

The niece of Polydore Vergil, Faustina, married Lorenzo Borgogelli, count of Fano, from whom descend the family of Borgogelli Virgili.

Educated at the University of Padua, and possibly at Bologna, Polydore had been urdained by 1496.

He was probably in the service of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, before 1498, as in the dedication of his Proverbiorum Libellus (April 1498) he styles himself Guido's client.

His second book, De Inventoribus Rerum, was dedicated to Guido's tutor, Lodovico Odassio, in August 1499.

At some point prior to 1502, Polydore had entered the service of Pope Alexander VI.

Vergil travels in 1502 to England as the deputy of Cardinal Adriano Castellesi in the office of Collector of Peter's Pence, and, in practice, the Cardinal's agent in a variety of affairs.