Niccolò Acciaioli

He was the grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples and count of Melfi, Malta, and Gozo in the mid-fourteenth century.

Niccolò was sent to Naples 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.

He assisted Catherine's son Louis of Taranto in reconquering the Principality of Achaea 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.

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.

The famous Florentine writer and historian Matteo Palmieri wrote a biography of him, which was translated into Italian by Donato Acciaioli.