Born around 1451 or 1452 in Vicenza, under the rule of Venice since 1404, Angiolello left Venice in 1468, took part in the defense of Negroponte, besieged by the Ottoman emperor Mehmed II. Enslaved by the Turks, he was taken to Constantinople where he first served the heir apparent, Prince Mustafa, and then the Grand Seraglio. He was with the Ottoman armies in Persia, in the Balkan Peninsula and Asia (1472-1481).