Filippo, the son of a destitute
Florentine nobleman, was born at
Tizzano, near
Florence. He is first mentioned in
Hungary around 1382, when he entered the service of Sigismund's
treasurer and was awarded the castle in
Simontornya (
Simonsthurm). Further services to the Crown, such as providing resources to fight the
Ottomans, led to his appointment as administrator of all gold mines in the kingdom. Present in
Bosnia, in the context of a Hungarian nobles' rebellion and
King Tvrtko I of Bosnia's death (1391), Pippo managed to subdue the main leaders of the revolt. He took part in the unfortunate anti-Ottoman final Crusade of September 1396 at
Nicopolis in
Bulgaria, and, unlike most on the Christian side, managed to flee after the defeat. He, the King, and a number of high dignitaries sailed a small boat up the
Danube, all the way to Hungarian and Croatian lands. He married Barbara, daughter and heir of Andrew of
Ozora, in 1398. During the new period of trouble with the claim to the throne of
Charles II's son
Ladislaus of Naples, Lo Scolari exposed acts of treason on the part of some noblemen. He was however forced to give in to most of their demands, as the King was taken prisoner in
Visegrád Castle (1401). After Sigismund reasserted control briefly, the nobles openly recognized Ladislaus as King. The forces of the
Kingdom of Naples took
Zadar in 1403, and Pippo had to retreat; the same year, he regained
Veszprém and, in September, took
Esztergom and again raided Bosnia - breaking up contacts between Sicilian and rebel armies and forcing the invaders to flee. He persuaded the rebels to seek Sigismund's pardon. While in
Vienna, Pippo was made Count of
Temesvár (Timișoara). In this capacity, he initiated the building of the Hungarian border castle system to contain the Ottoman aggression; immediately, Pippo started confronting the Turks, but also moving against the
Bosnian armies of
Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić that had been besieging the town of
Šibenik in Dalmatia, regaining parts of today's Croatia. ==In Italy==