Monsignor della Casa Country Resort is situated in Mugello, the green heart of Tuscany, only 27 km from Florence on the road towards Faenza. This land extends along the valley of Sieve river and at the slopes of the Appennines which mark border between Tuscany and Romagna. Mugello is rich in villages and castles, during the Middle Ages it was overrated by the Ubaldini, but it’s in the Renaissance, as well as Florence, this land saw its light thanks to the Medici’Family, whose origins are in here
Nowadays it is possible to look at some real masterpieces of famous architects as Michelozzo, called in 1428 to design and modify some castles in order to let them be comfortable houses: like Cafaggiolo Villa, ordered by Cosimo de’ Medici, and  Trebbio Castle with its high tower and Italian garden, once Giovanni dalle Bande Nere’house.

Even Giovanni della Casa was born in Mugello, his family took his name from the property where today there is our Country Resort. The first settlements of Villa La Casa go back to 1300, as Malaspini’ fortress.
Giovanni was born in 1503 from Pandolfo della Casa,  Giovanni and Marietta Rucellai’ son,  and froma Lisabetta, Lorenzo de’ Medici cousin.
Giovanni della Casa studied law in Bologna, in Florence got the rectory in Saint Niccolò Church; in Rome won the favour of illustrious  personalities, as Cardinal Alessandro Farnese who gave him the office of Apostolic Chief in Florence. In 1555 with Pope Paul IV Carafa, under Cardinal Alessandro Farnese suggestion, Giovanni della Casa was appointed Secretary of State for the Holy See. He died in Rome in November 1556.
 
“Galateo overo de’ costumi”, written in 1552, is his masterpiece: a treaty on the right behaviour which was translated in 13 languages and became the handbook of good manners for ladies in the Court of Elisabeth I.

“…E queste parole di signoria e di servitù e le altre a queste somiglianti, come io di sopra ti dissi, hanno perduta gran parte della loro amarezza; e, sì come alcune erbe nell'acqua, si sono quasi macerate e rammorbidite dimorando nelle bocche degli uomini…”

Courtesy doesn’t eliminate but soften servants and lordship, making them more livable, as water softens some herbs. This is the philosophy of the book.