Descended from Tegrimo Guidi, the family practised partible inheritance and in the thirteenth century began to split into separate cadet lineages.

[1] Since the 11th century, the Poppi Castle in Tuscany was the property and main residence of the noble family of the Conti Guidi.

In Pistoia the family owned a number of houses with a tower close to the city walls commanding the gateway.

Unlike his father, Guido was on good terms with the clergy and was influenced by the reform movement of Florence led by Giovanni Gualberto.

[2][4] Guido returned the gold and jewels looted from the Abbey of Florence by his father and paid for the construction of a hospital within the city.

By now the nearby city of Florence had increased tremendously in size and influence as a result of the conflict in Tuscany during the Investiture Controversy.

[2] Members of the Guidi family became political leaders and magistrates in the rural communities they ruled over, whilst others became military chiefs in the conflicts of central Italy.