The Acciaioli, Acciaiuoli, Accioly, Acciajuoli or Acioli was an important family of

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 ...

. Family name is also written Acciaioli, Acciainoli, or Accioly, Accioli, Acioli and Acyoly in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where there are branches of it. Descent can be traced in an unbroken line from one Gugliarello Acciaioli in the 12th century; family legend says that Gugliarello (a name possibly derived from It. ''guglia'', needle) migrated from

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

to Florence in 1160 because they were

Guelphs The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

and fled

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Un ...

's invasion of Northern Italy. The Acciaioli founded a powerful bank in the 13th century (Compagna di Ser Leone degli Acciaioli e de' suoi consorti) which had branches from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

to Western Europe until the bank collapsed in 1345.Jace Stuckey, ''The Eastern Mediterranean Frontier of Latin Christendom'' Bishop Angiolo Acciaioli briefly ruled Florence in the mid-14th century after the deposition of Gauthier de Brienne. Later they associated themselves to the

Albizzi The Albizzi family () was a Florentine family originally based in Arezzo, who were rivals of the Medici and Alberti families. They were at the centre of Florentine oligarchy from 1382, in the reaction that followed the Ciompi revolt, to the ris ...

and then to the elder

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

in the 15th century. From about 1390 to 1460 they ruled the

Duchy of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

and kept close ties with the younger branch of the

through the marriage of Laudomia Acciaioli to

Pierfrancesco de' Medici Pierfrancesco de' Medici the Elder (1430 – 19 July 1476) was an Italian nobleman, banker, diplomat, and a member of the House of Medici of Florence. Biography Born in Florence, he was the son of Lorenzo the Elder and Ginevra Cavalcanti, thus a ...

, from which the later Grand Dukes of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

are descended, as well as several royal houses. In Florence, the Lungarno degli Acciaioli borders the

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

from the Ponte Vecchio to the Ponte Santa Trinita. Simone di Zanobi Acciaioli migrated before 1512 to the island of Madeira where he represented the family's commercial interests. The Portuguese and Brazilian Accioly, Accioli or Acioli family is descended from him.

Family members

* Angelo Acciaioli I (1298–1357), bishop * Angelo Acciaioli II (1349–1408), cardinal *

Angelo Acciaioli di Cassano Agnolo Acciaioli or Acciaiuoli (also called di Cassano; died after 1467) was a Florentine ambassador and politician, a member of the Acciaioli family. He had inherited his title of Baron of Cassano by his grandfather Donato, but his fiefs in th ...

(died 1467), diplomat * Antonio I Acciaioli (died 1435), Duke of Athens * Antonio II Acciaioli (died 1445), Duke of Athens *

Donato Acciaioli Donato Acciaioli (15 March 142828 August 1478) was an Italian scholar and statesman. He was known for his learning, especially in Greek and mathematics, and for his services to his native state. Biography He was born in Florence, Italy. He was educ ...

(1428–1478), scholar *

Francesco I Acciaioli Francis or Francesco I Acciaioli was the son of Nerio II Acciaioli by his second wife Chiara Zorzi. He succeeded on his father's death in 1451 to the Duchy of Athens under his mother's regency. His mother married the Venetian Bartolomeo Contarini ...

(floruit 1451–1453), Duke of Athens *

Francesco II Acciaioli Francesco II Acciaioli (died 1460), called Franco, was the last Duke of Athens. He was the son of Duke Antonio II Acciaioli and Maria Zorzi but had only ruled for two years (1455–1456) when the Turkish army under Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey arri ...

(died 1460), last Duke of Athens * Giovanni Acciaioli (floruit 1422), archbishop of Thebes *

Nerio I Acciaioli Nerio I Acciaioli or Acciajuoli (full name Rainerio; died 25 September 1394) was the actual ruler of the Duchy of Athens from 1385. Born to a family of Florentine bankers, he became the principal agent of his influential kinsman, Niccolò Acciaio ...

(died 1394), first Acciaioli Duke of Athens *

Nerio II Acciaioli Nerio II Acciaioli (1416–1451) was the Duke of Athens on two separate occasions from 1435 to 1439 and again from 1441 to 1451. He was a member of the Acciaioli family of Florence, the son of Francesco Lord of Sykaminon, who was cousin to Antoni ...

(1416–1451), twice Duke of Athens *

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- ...

(1310–1365), soldier and statesman *

Zanobi Acciaioli Zanobi Acciaioli (25 May 1461 – 27 July 1519) was an Italian Dominican friar, a member of the Acciaioli family of Florence. He was Librarian of the Vatican under Leo X. He joined the Dominican convent on 8 December 1495. He learned Greek and He ...

(1461–1519), Dominican friar and scholar

References

Sources

* * * {{Authority control Families of Florence Banking families Italian bankers Medieval banking Republic of Florence