Niccolò Acciaioli or Acciaiuoli (1310 – 8 November 1365) was an Italian noble, a member of the Florentine banking family of 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 ...

. He was the grand seneschal of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

and count of Melfi,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After ...

in the mid-fourteenth century. He was the son of Acciaiolo, a wealthy Florentine merchant. He had a sister by the name of Andrea Acciaioli.

Life

Niccolò was sent to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

by his father in 1331 to direct the family's banking interests and here, he rose in influence and power under King Robert and the exiled Empress Catherine II of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. The king made him a knight and gave him the title of Grand Seneschal. Likewise, Catherine and her children granted him and his family many estates in the

Morea The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...

. It was said openly that Catherine and he were lovers. In 1345 the Acciaioli Bank collapsed and Niccolo's father Acciaiolo died shortly after. He assisted Catherine's son Louis of Taranto in reconquering the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom ...

and, on 23 April 1358, he was appointed lord and

castellan of Corinth A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

and eight other fiefs in the remnant of the Latin Empire in Greece by the emperor Robert II. He was present at the marriage between Robert's daughter, Joan I, and Louis and after the latter's death (1362), he struggled against the rebellious barons who sought to overthrow Joan and supported

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...

. A lover of art and letters, he was a friend and protector of

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

and

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was some ...

. In 1362, the latter was his guest at Naples. In a preserved letter he defended himself against the charges levelled at him by his opponents, giving unique insight into his character and that of 14th-century Italian politics. He left four sons: Lorenzino, Angelo, Lorenzo, and

Benedetto Benedetto is a common Italian name, the equivalent of the English name Benedict. Notable people named Benedetto include: People with the given name * Benedetto Accolti (disambiguation), several people * Benedetto Aloi (1935–2011), American mo ...

. He was succeeded in his titles and holdings by his son Angelo, who made his cousins vicars of his Greek estates. He was buried in the

Certosa del Galluzzo Certosa is an Italian word meaning Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse. It may refer to: * Certosa di Bologna, a former monastery which was turned into a monumental cemetery * Certosa di Farneta, near Lucca in Tuscany * Certosa di Ferrara * Cert ...

which he himself had built in Florence. The famous Florentine writer and historian

Matteo Palmieri Matteo di Marco Palmieri (1406–1475) was a Florentine humanist and historian who is best known for his work ''Della vita civile'' ("On Civic Life"; printed 1528) which advocated civic humanism, and his influence in refining the Tuscan vernacul ...

wrote a biography of him, which was translated into Italian by Donato Acciaioli.

Notes

Sources

* * 1310 births 1365 deaths 14th-century people of the Republic of Florence Niccolo Baillis of the Principality of Achaea 14th-century Italian businesspeople Counts of Malta Court of Joanna I of Naples Golden Rose {{italy-noble-stub