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| House of Grimaldi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Genoa,Monaco, France |
| Place of origin | Genoa, Italy |
| Founded | 1160; 865 years ago (1160) |
| Founder | Grimaldo Canella |
| Current head | Albert II, Prince of Monaco |
| Titles | |
| Style(s) | Most Serene Highness |
| Estate | Prince's Palace of Monaco |
| Cadet branches | Grimaldi de Puget |
TheHouse of Grimaldi is thereigning house of thePrincipality of Monaco. The house was founded in 1160 byGrimaldo Canella inGenoa and became the ruling house of Monaco whenFrancesco Grimaldi captured Monaco in 1297.
EveryPrince of Monaco has been a member of the House of Grimaldi. Since the 18th century, the princes have beenagnatic descendants of other families that have inherited through the female line and adopted the Grimaldi name. In 1715,Jacques Goyon de Matignon marriedLouise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco, the last Grimaldi agnatic heir. He and his male line descendants, adopting the Grimaldi name, ruled as princes of Monaco from 1731 to 1949. During much of theAncien Régime, the family resided in the French court, where from 1642 to 1715, they used the title ofDuke of Valentinois.
The current head of the house isAlbert II of Monaco, Sovereign Prince of Monaco, who is the son and successor of Prince Rainier III and the Princess consortGrace of Monaco, formerly known as Grace Kelly.
The noble Grimaldi family, originally from France, moved to Genoa in 1070 with Inigo Grimaldo. In the capital, several families united under the name of Grimaldi and became one of the most powerful families in Genoa, later leading theGuelph political faction, which supported thePope's interests and opposed the Ghibellines, who supported theHoly Roman Empire.[1]
The Grimaldis descend fromGrimaldo, aGenoese consul who lived during the time of the earlyCrusades. He may have been a son ofOtto Canella, an earlierconsul of theRepublic of Genoa. His numerous descendants ledmaritime expeditions throughout theMediterranean, theBlack Sea, and theNorth Sea. They quickly became one of the most powerful families of Genoa.
The Grimaldis feared that the head of a rival Genoese family could break the fragile balance of power in acoup and become lord of Genoa, as had happened in other Italian cities. They entered into aGuelphic alliance with theFieschi family. In 1271, the Guelphs were banned from Genoa, and the Grimaldi took refuge in their castles inLiguria andProvence. They signed a treaty withCharles of Anjou,King of Sicily andCount of Provence to retake control of Genoa. In 1276, they accepted a peace under theauspices of the Pope, but the civil war continued. Not all the Grimaldis chose to return to Genoa and instead settled in theirfiefdoms, where they could raise armies.
In 1299, the Grimaldis and their allies launched a fewgalleys to attack the port of Genoa before taking refuge on the WesternRiviera. During the following years, the Grimaldis entered into different alliances that would allow them to return to power in Genoa. This time, it was the turn of their rivals, theSpinola family, to be exiled from the city. During this period, both theGuelphs and Ghibellines took and abandoned the castle of Monaco, which was ideally located to launch political and military operations against Genoa. Therefore, the tale ofFrancis Grimaldi and his faction – who took the castle of Monaco disguised asfriars in 1297 – is largelyanecdotal.
In the early 14th century, theAragonese raided the shores of Provence and Liguria, challenging Genoa andKing Robert of Provence. In 1353, the combined fleet of eightyVenetian and Aragonese galleys gathered inSardinia to meet the fleet of sixty galleys under the command of Anthony Grimaldi. Only nineteen Genoese vessels survived the battle. Fearing an invasion, Genoa requested the protection of theLord of Milan.
Several of the oldest feudal branches of the House of Grimaldi appeared during these conflicts, such as the branches ofAntibes,Beuil,Nice,Puget, andSicily. In 1395, the Grimaldis took advantage of the discords in Genoa to take possession of Monaco, which they then ruled as acondominium. This is the origin of today's principality.
As was customary in Genoa, the Grimaldis organised their family ties within a corporation calledalbergo. In the political reform of 1528, the Grimaldi became one of the 28alberghi of the Republic of Genoa, which included theDoria andPallavicini families, and to which other families were formally invited to join. The House of Grimaldi provided severaldoges,cardinals, cabinet ministers, andmilitary officers of historical note.
From 1532 to 1641, the town ofCampagna in southern Italy was ruled by theGrimaldi family, princes of Monaco, after EmperorCharles V granted them theMarquisate of Campagna as their Italian capital; during this “Golden Century,” the city flourished with noble palaces, monasteries, fountains, bridges, an active diocese, a humanistic and scientific university, one of Italy’s earliest printing presses, and hydromechanical industries, while the dominion also included Canosa di Puglia, Terlizzi, Monteverde, Ripacandida, Ginestra, and Garagnone.[2][3] Although Grimaldi rule ended in 1641, its legacy remains visible in Campagna’s architecture and urban fabric; ties with Monaco were renewed in 1991 by Prince Rainier III and later strengthened by visits of Prince Albert II in 1997 and 2018 within theHistoric Sites of the Grimaldis of Monaco program.[4][5][6]
Provence became a part of the Kingdom of France from 1486, and occasionally the Grimaldi relied upon French support to preserve their independence from the Republic of Genoa and theDuchy of Savoy. In the process they married into theFrench nobility in the 1600s, inherited French estates, and often lived in Paris, latterly at theHôtel Matignon, until theFrench Revolution of 1789. Monaco and the neighbouringCounty of Nice were taken by the revolutionary army in 1792, and were French-controlled until 1815. Nice passed back to theKingdom of Sardinia in 1815; then it was ceded to France by theTreaty of Turin (1860). Monaco was re-established by theCongress of Vienna in 1815, with a briefItalian occupation in 1940–43.
By convention, membership of sovereign European houses is through themale line. By that definition, from 1731, the French nobleHouse of Goyon-Matignon ruled as Princes of Monaco until 1949. However, one of the terms ofJames de Goyon de Matignon becoming Prince of Monacojure uxoris was that he adopt the name and arms of Grimaldi so that the house would be preserved on the throne, and the right of succession was through his wifeLouise-Hippolyte Grimaldi, who abdicated in her husband's favor.[citation needed] Similarly, whenCharlotte Louvet waslegitimised in 1911 and made successor to Monaco, her husband,Count Pierre de Polignac, adopted, as a condition of the marriage, the name and arms of Grimaldi, but from this moment all his direct descendants Grimaldi would also have the title ofCounts of Polignac. In this way the "Grimaldi" name and arms were continued.[citation needed]
Under the succession rules prior to 1911, Monaco's throne would have passed to Prince Wilhelm of Urach. However, French president at the timeRaymond Poincaré had threatened that if the throne was inherited by a German, France would annex the principality.[7]
In 2018 a Grimaldi cousin, Count Louis de Causans, who hailed from a cadet branch of the family, sued France for €351m compensation, claiming that it had deceived his family during the succession crisis of 1911, and that his great-grandfather, Count Aynard de Chabrillan, should have inherited Monaco's throne.[8][9][10]
Until 2002, a treaty between Monaco and France stated that if the reigning Prince ever failed to leave dynastic offspring, thensovereignty over the Grimaldi realm would revert to France. The 2002 agreement modified this to expand the pool of potential heirs to dynasticcollaterals of the reigning Prince (excluding adoptive heirs, hitherto allowed, e.g. Princess Charlotte and her descendants), guaranteeing Monegasque independence. Article I of Monaco'shouse law requires that the reigning Prince or Princess bear the surname of Grimaldi.
Thecoat of arms of the House of Grimaldi is simply described asfusily argent and gules, i.e., a red and white diamond pattern, with no further modifiers.
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