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

Acciaioli The Acciaioli family, also spelled Acciaiuoli, Accioly, Aciole, Acciajuoli or Acioli was an important Italian nobility, Italian noble family from Florence, whose members were the ruling Duchy of Athens, Dukes of Athens. History Family name is a ...

. He was the grand seneschal of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially 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 established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

and count of

Melfi Melfi ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,768. Geography On a ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, and

Gozo Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...

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 ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

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 Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

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

. 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 Louis I (Italian: ''Luigi'', ''Aloisio'', or ''Ludovico'' ; 1320 – 26 May 1362), also known as Louis of Taranto, was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou who reigned as King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier, and Prince of Tar ...

in reconquering the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the 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 of Thes ...

and, on 23 April 1358, he was appointed lord and castellan of Corinth 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 (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...

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

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

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 s ...

. 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. 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 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 vernacu ...

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

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acciaioli, Niccolo 1310 births 1365 deaths 14th-century people from the Republic of Florence Niccolo 1 Baillis of the Principality of Achaea 14th-century Italian businesspeople 14th-century Italian nobility Counts of Malta Court of Joanna I of Naples Golden Rose