ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE 
kingdom from anarchy by his single exertions. We 
see him by turns successful as a general, eminent as 
a statesman, distinguished by an unalterable fidelity 
to his prince, splendid in his alms and foundations, 
the patron of learning, the friend of Petrarch. 
To this remarkable man the Certosa of Val d’Ema 
owes her existence. The whole story of her founda¬ 
tion is so closely connected with Niccolo’s fortunes, 
and forms so interesting an episode in his career, that 
a brief sketch of his life may not be out of place here. 
Originally steel workers driven from Brescia by the 
invasion of Barbarossa, the Acciaiuoli were already one 
of the most powerful of Florentine merchant-houses 
when in 1310 Niccolo was born at a villa on the hill of 
Montegufoni, in Val di Pesa, some miles to the west 
of Florence. His father, Acciaiuolo Acciaiuoli, married 
him to Margherita degli Spini at the age of eighteen, 
and three years afterwards sent him to Naples, where 
he had opened a house for the purpose of advancing 
loans to King Robert. Here the striking beauty of his 
person, his chivalrous accomplishments and ready wit, 
won general favour at court, and attracted the notice 
of Robert, who appointed him guardian of his nephews, 
the young sons of Catherine, the widowed princess of 
Taranto, and titular Empress of Constantinople. In 
1338 he led a successful expedition into Greece to 
recover the dominions of these princes from the 
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