THE CERTOSA OF FLORENCE 
Turks, on which occasion he first displayed his mili¬ 
tary and administrative talents. Having conquered 
the Morea, and obtained the recognition of Catherine’s 
eldest son Robert as Prince of Achaia, at the end of 
three years Niccolo returned to Naples, where he was 
received with great honour, and sent as ambassador 
to Florence. 
It was during this visit to his native city that he 
founded the Certosa. Already, as he took farewell 
of his wife and children when starting on his perilous 
expedition against the Turks, the wish to build a 
convent near Florence had arisen in his mind, as 
we know from the will he left behind him—a curious 
and elaborate document, of which the original Italian 
version is still preserved in the archives of the Certosa. 
After providing for his wife and children, and direct¬ 
ing alms to be given and masses to be said not only 
for his own soul, but for every member of his family 
with the most scrupulous care, he proceeds to set 
apart a portion of his revenue for the endowment of 
this Certosa to be erected on a site chosen by a certain 
Carthusian monk, Frate Amico, under the patronage 
of his four favourite saints, Messer Michele Agnolo, 
Messer Niccolb, Lorenzo, and Benedetto. “ And I 
beg of you, Acciaiuolo, my father,” he adds, “ to 
execute faithfully my will in this respect, and to have 
more care of my soul and yours than of my sons, for 
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