Andrea Acciaioli was an Italian noblewoman, as the Countess of

Altavilla Altavilla is a village and former municipality in the district of See in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland. History It was first recorded in 1340 as ''Alta villa''. It has also had the German name ''Altenfüllen'' and the French ''Hauteville ...

in the 14th century. Born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

she was a friend of Giovanni Boccaccio, and the person to whom he dedicated his book ''

On Famous Women ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...

''.

Life

Andrea was the sister of

Niccolò Acciaioli Niccolò Acciaioli or Acciaiuoli (1310 – 8 November 1365) was an Italian noble, a member of the Florentine banking family of the Acciaioli. He was the grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples and count of Melfi, Malta, and Gozo in the mid- ...

, the daughter of Acciaiolo, a wealthy Florentine merchant connected to the

Acciaioli The Acciaioli, Acciaiuoli, Accioly, Acciajuoli or Acioli was an important family of Florence. Family name is also written Acciaioli, Acciainoli, or Accioly, Accioli, Acioli and Acyoly in Portugal and Brazil, where there are branches of it. Descent ...

family of

. Her family was an important family of Italy from the twelfth century and associated with banking. She was a member of the court of Joanna, Queen of Naples. Her first husband was Carlo d'Arto, Count of Monteodorisio, who died in 1346. Sometime after 1358 and before 1362 she then married Bartolomeo II of

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

, Count of

. She was described as being of strong moral character, highly educated, and having elegant speech. Brown, ''op. cit'', page 1

Life

Sources

Further reading