Dante had defined true nobility to consist of personal excellence in a man or in his ancestors; he also called 'nobilta' sister of 'filosofia.' Poggio in his 'Dialogue De Nobilitate,' into which he introduces Niccolo Niccoli and Lorenzo de' Medici (Cosimo's brother), decides that only merit constitutes true nobility.

Hawking and hunting are far less noble occupations than agriculture; descent from a long line of historic criminals is no honor.

French and English castle-life, and the robber-knighthood of Germany, he argues, are barbarous.

Lorenzo pleads the authority of Aristotle in favor of noble blood; Poggio contests the passage quoted, and shows the superiority of the Latin word 'nobilitas' (distinction) over the Greek term [Greek: _eugeneia_] (good birth).
The several kinds of aristocracy in Italy are then discussed.

In Naples the nobles despise business and idle their time away.