Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici passed much of their childhood at Cafaggiuolo; they were sent there when their grandfather Cosimo the Elder lay dying and the plague was ravaging Florence. The two boys wrote thence to their father: “Magnifice Pater, we arrived here yesterday morning in safety; at Tagliaferro we had a little rain, but all the rest of the journey could not have been pleasanter. On arrival we ordered that the family of Messer Zanobi should go on to Gagliano, and we made them understand that if any of them went to Florence or any other infected places they could not return. As to Pulci, who had been waiting two days in order to be with us, we cleverly sent him back to Chavallina,[11] and in all things till now we have observed your commands. Thus shall we continue to do. We commend ourselves to you and to Mona[12] Lucrezia. Your sons Laurentius et Giulianus de’ Medicis.” In the Medicean archives are many letters from the factor of Cafaggiuolo to Piero de’ Medici giving him news of his children and their grandmother. In April 1467 he reports: “Yesterday we went out fishing and they caught enough for their dinner and returned home at a reasonable hour; to-morrow, if they will, we go out riding after dinner and begin to show them the estate as you ordered.” Again in August the following year he writes: “Madonna Contessina and the boys are well, may God preserve them. Lorenzo wants to smooth the ground in front of Cafaggiuolo. Here we stand in need of wax and tallow candles. I told Madonna Contessina, and she said I was to take white Venetian ones; but they appear to me too honourable for Cafaggiuolo. If it seems so to you also tell Madonna Lucrezia to send us others, and at all events let tallow ones be sent for common use. Yestermorn Madonna Contessina, Lorenzo and Giuliano with the household went on horseback to the Friars of the Wood and heard High Mass. Madonna rode Lorenzo’s mule, and was astonished to find herself more agile than she had expected. As it seems to please her we shall go to Comugnole and about in the plain to have a little amusement, but always with two footmen at her stirrup, and we shall do what we can to save her all fatigue and trouble in the management of the house. The boys are having a happy time and go bird-catching and shooting and return at a reasonable hour; they enliven her and the neighbourhood.”