In the later middle ages, there were two main branches of the Accolti family, one in Arezzo and one in Florence; in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was the Florentine Accolti who were prominent in public life, whereas in the fifteenth century it was the Aretine line, that of Benedetto himself, which achieved renown. The Florentine Accolti were a Guelf mercantile family who rose to prominence during the political upheavals of the second half of the thirteenth century. One line of the Florentine Accolti descended from Spinello Accolti, who matriculated as a merchant in 1235 and was a resident of Borgo San Jacopo in the Sesto of Oltrarno. This branch of the family were members of the new regime which ruled Florence from 1250 to 1260, Maffio di Spinello having taken part in the battle of Montaperti in 1260 and his brother Accolto di Spinello having been a member of the general council of 1256. Maffio was a member of the general council of 1280, and it seems that Spinello had at least one other son, Bocca, who is recorded in 1273 as the purchaser of some land beyond the walls of the Oltrarno. Other Accolti then living in Oltrarno were Messer Amato di fu Accolto Accolti and Filippo Accolti. They may have been related to the famous banking family, the Bardi, who lived in Oltrarno too: one of Nepo di Messer Bardo de' Bardi's neighbours in 1269 was Guido Accolti, who, perhaps at this point called Guido Accolti de' Bardi, was elected podestà of Pistoia in 1297.