Though he was an Italian historian, Polyore Vergil is best known as the historian hired by England's King Henry VIII to document his reign and that of his father's, Henry VII. The younger Henry naturally wanted Polydore to paint him in a more successful, favorable light than his father. Recent scholarship suggests this was indeed the case and while Polydore's work is still regarded as important and often cited, it is done so with the understanding that a strong bias exists in the work.

Polydore was born in Urbino, Italy, probably educated at Bologna and working for Guido Ubaldo, Duke of Urbino in the late 1490s. For a short time afterthat he served as a chamberlain to Pope Alexander VI. Within a year he arrived in England, working for a cardinal there. Henry VII commissioned him to begin writing Historia Anglica in 1505, but it was not completed until 1533. By that time, Henry VII was dead and his son, Henry VIII was on the throne, and quite determined to distinguish himself from his father.

Polydore's writing reflects Henry's desire. Polydore began to make political enemies, and was apparently writing letters that cast the young king in a poor light. One of those letters was intercepted, and Polydore was imprisoned. However, he still had the support of Rome, and Pope Leo X himself wrote to Henry, asking that the historian be released from prison. He was shortly thereafter released and continued to write and publish.

In 1538 he left England for Italy, where he lived for some years. Some in England thought his continued absence strange, in light of the fact that he had become a naturalized British subject in 1510, owned property there, and had several profitable appointments. His excuse for not returning quickly was that he suffered from poor health. Thirteen years passed, and in 1551 he decided to return to his home city, Urbino. He probably died there in 1555.

His magnum opus, still cited today, was published first in 1534. An addendum, detailing Henry VIII's middle years and to the birth of Edward VI, was added to the third edition in 1555. Polydore was insistent that he included only the most accurate, detailed information available about both Henrys' reigns. His history remains an important primary source simply because so few kings during the medieval and Renaissance periods actually requested and commissioned that their biographical and political histories be committed to print. While Polydore's work demonstrates a decided bias favoring Henry VIII, it offers a rare glimpse into the life of one of the most memorable and infamous kings to sit the English throne.