Early Life
He was born in Bury St Edmunds, but the date of his birth is suspect. His father is known to have been William Gardner, a substantial cloth merchant of the town where he was born, who took care to give him a good education. His mother, Helen, was an illegitimate daughter of Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford.
In 1511 Gardiner, still a boy, met Erasmus in Paris. He had probably already begun his studies at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in the classics, especially in Greek. He then devoted himself to canon and civil law, in which subjects he attained so great a proficiency that no one could dispute his pre-eminence. He received the degree of doctor of civil law in 1520, and of canon law in the following year.
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