A Grimaldi Working for American Independence

Today the United States celebrates its Independence Day, and, as most know, that independence would not have been won without the support and assistance of the Kingdom of France under King Louis XVI. At the time, the Principality of Monaco had nothing to do with these matters, though as HSH Prince Honore III was under the protection of France and part of the French nobility under King Louis, Monaco and the fledgling United States were technically on the same side. However, there was a member of the wider Grimaldi clan, a distant relation of the Princely Family, who was somewhat involved in the historic events of the American Revolution. That was the Italian-Spanish statesman Pablo Jerónimo Grimaldi y Pallavicini, marqués y duque de Grimaldi. A native of Genoa, he served in the courts of King Fernando VI and King Carlos III of Spain, helping to rebuild Spanish power and prestige after the traumatic events of the Seven Years' War. He had a long and eventful career but of particular concern here was his time as Spanish ambassador to the court of King Louis XVI of France.

He was appointed to the post by His Catholic Majesty King Carlos III and he forged a new alliance between the kingdoms of Spain and France in cooperation with the French Secretary of State Étienne François, duc de Choiseul. This was the "Third Family Compact" so named because of the Bourbon Royal Family that reigned over both France and Spain. He was in close contact also with the American Arthur Lee in Madrid, the envoy of the rebel American government for Spain and Prussia. Lee later helped draw up the alliance with France but is seldom noted because of a falling out with the more famous and popular Benjamin Franklin. Of course, he was insistent that Spain recognize the United States and join in the war against Britain immediately but the Duke of Grimaldi held back and delayed until Spain was in a stronger position, writing to Lee, "You have considered your own situation, and not ours. The moment is not yet come for us. The war with Portugal — France being unprepared, and our treasure ships from South America not being arrived — makes it improper for us to declare immediately." He was referring, of course, to the long-standing alliance between Portugal and Great Britain. However, the Duke of Grimaldi reassured Lee of Spanish sympathy and informed him of the large stores of clothing and gunpowder delivered to New Orleans and Havana that were to be smuggled in to help the American patriots with more on the way.

Eventually, of course, the Kingdom of Spain did recognize the United States and join in declaring war on Great Britain with the Treaty of Aranjuez in 1779. Spanish troops actually played an important part both by their numerous victories over the British on the gulf coast and by diverting British focus and forces with the siege of Gibraltar. In the end, Spain was able to win back almost everything that they had lost previously to Britain in the Seven Years' War, though not Gibraltar which, of course, remains under the British Crown to this day. So, there was a member of the Grimaldi family that played an often overlooked but critical part in the winning of American independence and the birth of the United States. It was during the war, in 1777, that His Catholic Majesty King Carlos III granted him the title first Duke of Grimaldi. He was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece for his service, made a Grandee of Spain and died in 1789.

Holding on to History

It was recently 'Heritage Day' in the sunny Principality of Monaco and in honor of that occasion, for a rare treat, the library of the Princely Palace was open to the public (I would have loved to have been there for that). HSH Prince Albert II was at the openning and met with one Ms. Carpine, an historian who specializes in the history of the Princes of Monaco (dare I hope for an English-language publishing?), which covers quite a long stretch of time. HSH Princess Charlene was not to be seen but she was perhaps busy getting packed and making travel plans as afterwards the Princely couple left for an official 2-day visit to the Baltic state of Lithuania.

An English Debt to Monaco?

Not many people today know, but regular readers of this blog certainly will, how several of the earliest Grimaldis, and the first Lords of Monaco, made their fortune, at least in part, in the service of the King of France fighting against the English at sea. Charles Grimaldi in particular made some 1,280 gold florins (a vast sum at the time) raiding the English coast and used this fortune to buy the Spinola lands in Monaco as well as Castillon, Roquebrune, Menton and Eze. Historian Adolph Smith therefore wondered if, perhaps, England might owe a debt of gratitude to the Lord of Monaco for, in a rather rough way, bringing them to their senses:

"How many pleasure-seekers on their holiday jaunts think, as they gaze at the romantic walls and battlements of Monaco, or admire the quaint old palace still occupied by the Grimaldis, that this family, the oldest reigning family in Europe, first made itself distinguished by sweeping the English off the sea ; and, what at the time was much more difficult, annihilating the fleet of the Flemish in their own waters, the Scheldt. To the Grimaldis, Rainier, Charles and the second Rainier the
English should feel deeply indebted. They taught us most effectively that an island cannot be defended without a strong fleet. When first he came on the scene, Rainier Grimaldi trained his inexperienced French recruits by setting them upon the English ships. It is worth repeating that the only real sailors were the Flemish, and therefore Rainier sent his untrained hands to acquire necessary skill and strength by attacking the badly equipped and inefficiently manned English ships."

Could it be possible then that, in those early days, it was the forefathers of the Princes of Monaco who (inadvertently) put England -and thus later Great Britain- on course to becoming the dominant force on the seven seas? You be the judge.

Rainier I and the Franco-Flemish War

Lord Rainier I was renowned as a great sailor, particularly for his part in the victory of the English and Flemish fleet at the battle of Zierikzee. Long before that he had a reputation for naval excellence in the service of King Charles II of Anjou and against the Ghibellines. But what was the background of the conflict that brought him to his most celebrated victory? It started with a campaign that would have sounded familiar to Napoleon Bonaparte many centuries later. King Philippe IV of France had determined that the way to cripple the power of England was to cut her off from trade with the European continent. Toward this end he undertook a diplomatic campaign to effectively create a blockade of England. His efforts were quite successful with rulers from Sicily to the Baltic closing their ports to English ships. England was soon becoming more and more weakened and the formidable King Edward I determined that something had to be done about this. However, England was not much of a naval power in those days and Edward I realized that he needed an ally that was.

Flanders was the place the English king looked to. A trading people even then, the blockade of England had hurt the Flemish economy, making them more open to the idea of an alliance with England, and the Flemish were renowned sailors. In 1297 King Edward I and Count Guy of Flanders signed the Treaty of Bruges which granted a monopoly to English and Flemish ships on all trade between Europe and England. This did a great deal to save the situation of England but it took a toll on the French ports in the area, such as Calais and others, and King Philippe IV determined that war was the only answer. He would have to attack England and Flanders on the high seas to break their dominance of Channel trade and restore his proto-Continental system. To do that he would need good warships and a veteran naval warrior to command them and for that he turned to Lord Rainier I of Monaco from the House of Grimaldi which had served French royals so well in the past. Rainier I came with sixteen well-armed galleys to add to the twenty ships the King of France had available but these were poorly built and the crews not experienced. It was up to Rainier I to train them for serious combat and he took a 'hands on' approach, taking them in several small-scale raids against English ships to teach them the ways of naval warfare. This helped them gain the experience they would need to confront the more formidable Flemish ships.

When the fight came, both sides called on all available allies. France had the Count of Holland who contributed warships while on the English side help came, primarily from Flanders but also from Spain, Sweden and the Hanseatic League. France also, it seems, had an agent among the enemy fleet. As battle was first joined the Anglo-Flemish forces seemed to be getting the better of the Grimaldi admiral as the larger French ships tended to run aground in the shallow coastal waters. However, when the tides changed, the French galleys began to take a terrible toll on their enemies. Then, during the night, someone who was presumably an agent of France, cut the anchor cables of the Anglo-Flemish ships and they drifted out of formation and the next day Lord Rainier I had little trouble picking them off one at a time until the enemy fleet was totally destroyed. As a result the siege of Zierikzee was lifted, Guy of Flanders was captured and King Philippe IV led his army to victory against the Flemish at the battle of Mons-en-Pévèle on August 18, 1304. Not a bad contribution to history by the veteran sailor from Monaco.

The Marquis de Puyguilhem

Antoine Nompar de Caumont, marquis de Puyguilhem and (after 1692) the duc de Lauzun came from a noble French family but grew up mostly with the family of Antoine III de Gramont, a relative of his. If that name sounds familiar, it should; he was the father of Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont who later married HSH Prince Louis I of Monaco. The two shared a great deal of personal history. Long before she was promised to the Grimaldi heir, the beautiful young Charlotte de Gramont was, at the age of twenty, first in love with Antoine Puyguilhem. He was six years older than Charlotte, skinny, blond headed with a witty tongue, a malicious nature and a lust for wealth, women and lofty titles. Puyguilhem was just as passionately infatuated with Charlotte as she was with him, which is not at all surprising given the qualities she possessed. One observer remarked on her captivating beauty that she was, "a creature made for love and sensuality". When her father, Marshal of France de Gramont, informed his daughter that she was to be married, she hoped it would be to Puyguilhem. He was of lofty rank after all and was captain of the King's Household Cavalry. But the old Marshal could not stand the marquis, who could be rather unpleasant and who was rather impoverished for a nobleman.

As we know, her father's choice was Louis de Monaco, duc de Valentinois. Charlotte was less than pleased. Those closest to her witnessed her depression and remarked that, "The reason was that someone else pleased her more". Referring, of course, to Puyguilhem. The marquis remained attached to her, even after her wedding and kept on eye on her while the newlyweds were in Paris. He suspected that, married or not, she would come back to him eventually. However, when Charlotte, six months pregnant at the time, returned to Monaco to be with her husband, Puyguilhem became alarmed that he might be losing her. In a comic turn of events he followed Charlotte to Monaco (or at least to Toulon where Louis and Charlotte took a French galley for the last leg of their journey), dressing up in various costumes to try to disguise himself so her servants would not recognize him but he was never able to approach her. His cause seemed lost.

Then, in 1665 Charlotte, by then Princess of Monaco, returned to Paris and the fashionable society she always most enjoyed. Once again, Puyguilhem thought he would have his conquest. Yet, once again, there was interference but this time from none other than His Most Christian Majesty King Louis XIV of France and Navarre. The King had started to cast his ever-wandering eye in the direction of the Princess of Monaco and Puyguilhem was sensitive to the competition. He was still a regular at court, seen at every lavish dance and still winning criticism from those around him. Court chronicler Saint-Simon said he was, "ambitious, capricious, fanciful, insanely jealous, always going too far, never content with anything, without education, conversation or wit, by nature peevish, solitary and withdrawn, haughty in his demeanor, innately spiteful and sly". So it seems like Saint-Simon was not a big fan.

As King Louis XIV moved closer and closer to Princess Catherine-Charlotte of Monaco, Puyguilhem grew more and more jealous, finally losing his temper and throwing a minor tantrum in front of the King. The "Grand Monarch" was not impressed and ordered the marquis to return to his regiment of dragoons but Puyguilhem pretended that he didn't hear the King and stormed out, stomping in to Charlotte's apartments and threw such a fit he smashed one of her mirrors. Not a smart move to say the least. When he returned to his own quarters he found the King had left him a little note informing him that he would be provided with new accomodations -in the Bastille. After six months of fuming he was released and finally seemed to have given up on Princess Charlotte. Not long after he tried, without success, to seduce a daughter of King Carlos III of Spain. It seems amazing that a man so many described as "ugly" attracted so many women. The Grande Mademoiselle, Anne Duchess of Montpensier (King Louis' cousin) threw herself at him and Puyguilhem decided not to resist.

His affairs and intrigues continues to cause him trouble at the French court (leading to another stay in the Bastille for a time) before he moved to England to enter the employ of King James II. When the Stuart monarch, the last Catholic King of Great Britain, was about to be forced into exile, it was Puyguilhem who escorted James' lovely Italian Queen, Mary of Modena, and their son to safety in France. He also participated in the attempted restoration of James II in Ireland where, despite his much talked-about ill qualities, was known as the most honest in the King's circle of advisors. The failure of the expedition meant that he would never be restored to favor at the court of Louis XIV but Queen Mary of Modena was grateful enough for his support of the Jacobite cause that she used her influence to help secure his title of Duc de Lauzun. He died in 1723, leaving no heirs despite his marriage to a 14-year old girl (Genevieve de Durfort) in 1695.

Monaco and the Byzantine Empire

The House of Grimaldi has been around for a long time but, as we know, the history of Monaco itself goes back much farther. One period, long before the time of the Grimaldis, that not many people are familiar with is the time when Monaco was part of the Byzantine Empire, formerly known as the East Roman Empire, based out of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). How did this happen? Most people are at least generally familiar with the declining years of the Roman Empire. Barbarians invaded Italy, the borders were overrun, Rome itself was sacked (more than once) and it all came to an end with the teenage monarch Romulus Augustulus, the “last” Roman Emperor. All true, but not quite complete. That was the “Western Roman Empire” that collapsed. The “Eastern Roman Empire” (later known as the Byzantine Empire) survived and continued on for centuries longer.

Naturally, the Byzantines, despite being beset by their own neighboring enemies most of the time, hoped to eventually retake what had been the Western Roman Empire and add it to their own dominions, basically restoring the Roman Empire as it had been back in the glory days of the Caesars. The one man who came closest to actually accomplishing this dream was the East Roman Emperor Justinian, also known as Justinian the Great. During his reign the Byzantines conquered most of north Africa, all of Italy and even established a foothold as far west as southern Spain. It was under Emperor Justinian that Monaco became a Byzantine naval base, an important link in the chain stretching from Constantinople across the Mediterranean Sea. However, Emperor Justinian, with his far-flung wars and ambitious building programs, almost exhausted Constantinople in the flurry of activity that characterized his astounding reign. It was glorious but unsustainable.

John I

Eventually, Byzantine power weakened and a new, powerful force began to rise in the region which was the expanding power of Islam. Exploding out of the mysterious sands of the Arabian peninsula, the Muslims advanced across northern Africa, sweeping all before them. Soon there were raids and footholds in southern Europe as well and Monaco was not spared. During the 8^th Century the Saracens established themselves in the region and took control of the port of Monaco for themselves. However, the Saracens were not there to stay and Monaco had not seen the last of the Byzantines. In an effort to expel the Muslim forces the Christian leaders of Provence and Piedmont allied themselves with the Byzantine Emperor John I. In a combined offensive the Christians of Provence and Piedmont came charging down over the mountains while Byzantine warships sailed into the harbor of Monaco, starting a huge battle which saw the Moors defeated and permanently removed from Monaco and the surrounding area. One of the participants in that campaign was Giballin Grimaldi whose family would one day secure Monaco as a sovereign state.

This was only a part of a number of counter-offensives launched by Emperor John I who, during his reign, subdued Bulgaria, most of Syria, Lebanon and northern Iraq; a period of resurgence for the Byzantine Empire. Today there are not many reminders in the Principality of Monaco of that long ago period when Eastern Rome came to the West. However, there were other subsequent periods when Monegasque and Byzantine history collided. During the Fourth Crusade when the Latin Knights attacked Constantinople they were supported by the Republic of Venice. That in itself was reason enough for the Republic of Genoa to ally with the Byzantine Emperor. Gentile Grimaldi was a sailor and a diplomat who helped mediate disputes in Bulgaria and others in the family had dealings with the Byzantines, usually on behalf of Genoa, during the Crusades and in the later competitions with Venice. Today this legacy lives on in a way on a more personal level. In 2010 HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco was pleased to present the first prize of the Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation to His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I and the Sovereign Prince has established friendly relations with many countries of the historic “east”, particularly Russia.

Antonio Grimaldi

Antonio Grimaldi was the brother of Lord Charles I (sometimes known as Charles the Great in Grimaldi family history) and Antonio was always known as being somewhat the rebel of the family. Antonio, unsurprisingly, pursued a naval career and, like many of the early Grimaldis, became an admiral. In 1332 he won a brilliant victory over the Catalan pirates who had been bedeviling the Monegasque sea lanes for some time. These Catalans were mostly in the employ of the Aragonese who were in competition with the Italians for control of the Mediterranean Sea. Based out of Barcelona they had captured the island of Sardinia and enjoyed near-unrivaled supremacy before the Genoese saw an opportunity when the Sardinians rose in revolt. When the Republic of Genoa rushed military forces in to aid the Sardinians it was the beginning of an epic five-year war for supremacy in the region. To offset the Genoese the Catalans allied with her rival Republic of Venice who had been in frequently armed competition with Genoa at least since 1206. This new war in 1331 was an opportunity for Venice to take advantage of the support of the Catalans as well as the usual amount of internecine squabbles in Genoa.

The Catalans attacked Monaco itself but were defeated by Lord Charles I but continued their raids along the Ligurian coast. Charles counter-attacked and part of this effort was led by his brother Antonio who won the aforementioned victory over the Catalans in 1332. It proved something of a turning point as the Grimaldis began to wear down the Catalans until they finally admitted defeat and sued for peace in 1337. Yet, not long after, Genoa again fell into turmoil that would entangle the Grimaldis when the famous “Four Families” (the Houses of Grimaldi and Fieschi -who were Guelfs and the Houses of Doria and Spinola -who were Ghibellines). In 1339 when the Spinolas and Dorias were riding high a revolt broke out that resulted in the election of Simon Boccanegra as the first Doge of Genoa. The four families were united in their opposition to him and eventually forced his resignation after which Giovanni di Murta was elected to succeed him on Christmas Day 1344. He made peace with some of the Genoese nobles but spurned the House of Grimaldi.

Well ensconced and prepared in Monaco, the Grimaldis prepared their forces for an armed entry into Genoa with Antonio Grimaldi leading the way. The operation was postponed, however, when Philip of France called on the Grimaldis to help him in his fight with the formidable King Edward III of England. However, Antonio Grimaldi was soon back and in 1353 (one year after his installation as joint-ruler of Monaco) at the battle of Loiera the Venetians and Aragonese administered a crushing defeat on the Genoese. Despite their differences, the House of Grimaldi had supported Genoa in this fight and Antonio participated. There is no doubt the battle was a disaster for Genoa with losses of 2,000 killed, 3,500 captured and 40 galleys lost but the Genoese authorities tried to save their own reputations by blaming the whole defeat on Antonio, accusing him of “ineptitude and cowardice”. Genoa had to turn to the Dukes of Milan for protection. Lord Antonio continued to be co-ruler of Monaco until 1357 when Genoa, refurbished somewhat, drove them out and reasserted control of Monaco for the first time since 1331.

Whatever Happened to Hercules





Everyone knows about the "Louis XIV of Monaco" Prince Honore II, the first Grimaldi to officially bear the title of Prince and everyone knows about his successor and grandson Prince Louis I, the great law-giver, but what about his son? Poor Hercules, Marquis de Baux often seems to be forgotten. He was the son and heir of Honore II, named after his grandfather Lord Hercules I, and father of Prince Louis I. We have talked about him here of course, but how was it exactly that the tragic young prince met his untimely end? It happened, as we know, on August 1, 1651 when the Marquis de Baux and his wife, Aurelia Spinola, and their children went to visit the convent of Carnoles in Mentone. After the visit was over the Marquis took some recreation in some gardens that were close, target shooting with some soldiers of the guard with arquebuses (some sources say it was pistols, most say arquebuses). At one point Hercules ordered one of the soldiers to take a shot at the target to see how expert he was in the use of this (relatively new) firearm. The soldier, anxious to obey and be quick about it, turned quickly and, in doing so, caught the arquebus on his belt. The weapon fired, by accident, wounded two others standing nearbye and striking the Hereditary Prince Hercules in the spine. It was a terrible wound and, of course, the best medical care at hand was provided for the heir-to-the-throne of Monaco but it was to no avail and he died the next day.

It was a terrible loss for the Marquis de Baux was a truly noble man. Despite the agony of his wound, he insisted over and over again, as he lay on his deathbed, that the soldier who inadvertently shot him was innocent of any wrong-doing, that it had been purely an accident and that no blame should attach itself to the poor fellow. Nonetheless, the man was imprisoned for a time, though perhaps as much for his own safety as he had tried to kill himself after the terrible tragedy. When he was released a short time later he left Monaco never to return. But, of course, this wouldn't be a proper page of Grimaldi family history without some legends to go with it. Immediately there were accounts that a local monk had prophesied that Prince Hercule would meet a tragic end and soon a story also began to circulate that a few days before the accident while the Marquis was reading alone he was visited by a mysterious phantom who asked what he was doing. When the Marquis said he was reading the phantom replied, "Read and learn, for you will very soon have no need of either" before vanishing in dramatic fashion. Did such a ghostly image really appear? It's a pretty fantastic story but it also hardly out of place in the long, colorful and often tragic history of the House of Grimaldi.

Giballin Grimaldi

One of the earliest members of the House of Grimaldi to find mention in the history books is the enigmatic figure of Giballin Grimaldi. He came to notice during a very difficult and dangerous period in European history, the Dark Ages, after the great civilization of Imperial Rome had fallen away and when the continent was under threat from all sides. In the south the principle threat was the expanding forces of Islam. Moors, Saracens and so on, the forces of the new and growing Muslim religion had charged out of the Arabian desert and rapidly conquered the Middle East, spread across North Africa and began making inroads into Spain, southern Italy, even reaching as far as central France. From Monaco to St Tropez the Muslims were the dominant force and in 975 AD Count William of Provence led a major effort to reclaim the area for the forces of Christendom. He called upon the nobles and prominent leaders of the region to join him and the response was immediate. He was joined by Bishop Izam of Grenoble, Boniface of Castellane, the Lords of Vintimille and, as mentioned, the Genoese patrician Giballin Grimaldi. Banding together, they marched against the Moors and after fierce battles succeeded in capturing the primary Islamic fortress in the region at Fraxinet.

Giballin Grimaldi displayed qualities that would later come to characterize the personality of the Princely Family of Monaco; a concern for issues greater than his own, sympathy for the downtrodden and a willingness to help those in need. This was combined with great courage in times of conflict. During the capture of Fraxinet, Giballin Grimaldi and his men scaled a steep, rocky position which the Moors had left undefended as they were certain no one could possibly accomplish such a feat. As a result, Giballin and his men were able to surprise the Moors with their attack through the back door and divert their attention from the main assault by the Christian forces at the front door. Because of his crucial role in this victory, with only a small band of hand-picked soldiers to help him, Giballin Grimaldi was rewarded with the grant of a sizeable tract of land from St Tropez to Frejus. Because of his valor in battle the Muslims were driven from Villafranca, Castellare, Turbia, St Hospice and the Little Fraxinet. The Ligurian borders were firmly secured from the Moorish threat.

There is also the story that the second son of Grimaldi I, Lord of Antibes, father of Giballin Grimaldi, led a similar campaign to liberate the area that is today Monaco with dates for this given as 920 AD, 962 or 968 and that the Holy Roman Emperor gave the Grimaldi family this liberated territory of Monaco to them as their own sovereign state, as a reward for their heroism. Later historians have raised doubts about this story and that long ago, in such a chaotic time, obviously evidence is scarce but it was told for a long time as a nice story to show the House of Grimaldi having very, very deep roots in the region of Monaco. However, whether it is accurate or not, Monaco was not retained by the Grimaldis since, as we know, other powers (principally Genoa) took over the region and Grimaldi rule was not firmly established until the famous nighttime attack by Francesco Grimaldi (“the Cunning”) and his Guelf faction of warriors. However, many historians a great many centuries ago reported the story as fact, and it may well be, it is simply hard to tell with absolute certainty when it comes to almost anything in history so long ago.

To some extent it depends on the veracity of the earliest genealogical records of the House of Grimaldi, one of the first of which was compiled by a secretary to HSH Prince Honore II who traced the family line back to Grimoald, son of Pépin d’Héristal, elder brother of Charles Martel (“the Hammer” who defeated the Saracens at Tours in France) who was the grandfather of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. This would obviously give the House of Grimaldi some quite prestigious bloodlines as well as a family history that Giballin Grimaldi and his actions against the Moors would have fit neatly into. Perhaps it is so, and perhaps Giballin was the son of the Grimaldi lord who was first given the sovereignty of Monaco from the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great. If so, Francesco Grimaldi and his men were merely taking back what was rightfully Grimaldi land with their famous attack, though that time on the side of the Supreme Pontiff rather than the Emperor in Germany.

What is not disputed is that Giballin Grimaldi played a critical role in the campaign to evict the Muslim invaders from the region of Liguria at a critical time in the development of Europe when Christendom was in real danger of being completely overrun by enemies from the north, east and south. Thankfully, when the people came to Giballin Grimaldi for help, looking for someone to defend them and make right the wrongs they had suffered, he did not turn them away but devoted himself to effecting their rescue and the return of their lands and security. It was the start of what would be a long and colorful history of involvement on the part of the House of Grimaldi in the struggles between Christendom and the expanding world of Islam. They would go on to participate in the crusades, becoming quite prominent as both diplomats and naval military commanders, before that page of history finally came to an end and focus shifted to other areas.

Long May He Reign

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the accession of HM Queen Elizabeth II to her British and Commonwealth thrones. A very special and historic occasion for all those people over whom the Queen reigns to be sure. In all of British royal history only Queen Victoria has reigned longer than the current Queen and Her Majesty may break even that record before all is said and done. This date made me curious though as to how this record compares to the Princely House of Grimaldi who have reigned over Monaco far longer than the current British Royal Family has reigned over their array of countries yet whose position has often been far more precarious than that of the British Royal Family. After looking into it, I have found, not surprisingly, that no Prince of Monaco has reigned so long as the current Queen of the United Kingdom etc. However, the longest reigning so far did come pretty close. That honor goes to His Serene Highness Prince Honore III of Monaco, the longest reigning Sovereign Prince in Monegasque history. He acceeded to the Princely throne on November 7, 1733 and reigned until January 19, 1793 when he was sadly brought down by the spreading forces of the French Revolution for a reign totalling 59 years and 73 days. When looking into this subject I had expected the record would go to the great Prince Rainier III who was, for a time, the longest reigning monarch in Europe and the second longest in the world after the King of Thailand. However, Prince Rainier III was several years short of the record set by Honore III though he was one of the longest reigning princes in Monegasque history at 55 years and 332 days. And, of course, who knows, HSH Prince Albert II may yet beat them all. So long live the Prince and may he beat the record of Honore III!

Imagine Lord Rainier I

Try to imagine Monaco as it was when the first members of the Grimaldi family of Genoa set their eyes on it. Instead of apartment buildings, luxury hotels, casinos and rows and rows of yachts imagine rocky, windswept cliffs, one or two towering and ominous castles keeping watch over a mostly empty countryside of farmland and fruit trees while small fishing boats cast their nets in the Mediterranean. From the ramparts of the castle flies the St George cross of the city-state of Genoa where feuding factions have carried on a civil war. This war started as a clash between the Pope and the Holy Roman (German) Emperor and soon spread across the Italian peninsula. The noble lords mostly favored the Emperor since it was by his favor that they gained their titles, the land that went with those titles, the peasants that went with the land and the income those peasants produced for them. The merchant city-state republics of northern Italy mostly favored the Pope, as did families such as the House of Grimaldi. These were self-made people who, by daring voyages of trade and astute business practices, became wealthy and gained status. The Pope was content to leave them to manage their own affairs and this is what made them loyal partisans of the papacy. They feared that under the Emperor they would be able to advance only so far as the ruler in far-off Germany would allow whereas with the Pope they could retain their independence and advance as far as their talents and ambition could take them.

This was the Guelph-Ghibelline feud that split Italy for many, many years. It became so bad people forgot what it had all been about to begin with. Some split into even more radical factions such as the Black Guelphs and White Guelphs. The poet Dante was from a faction more supportive of the Emperor (hence the presence of popes in his Inferno) and families feuded for generations. Shakespeare’s famous tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” was based on two feuding families from this same conflict. In Genoa the pendulum swung back and forth as one faction took control from the other. The House of Grimaldi was in the Guelph camp and their fortunes rose and fell depending on who held power at the moment. When the Ghibelline faction took control of Genoa the members of the Guelph faction such as the Grimaldi and Fieschi families were driven into exile. One of those who had to leave was the famous ancestor of the Princely Family Lord Rainier I. Imagine what a bitter pill this must have been. The Grimaldis, even at that time, had served Genoa for generations, attaining high office as consuls and ambassadors. Now they were fugitives and their former homeland was a hostile country under enemy occupation.

However, Rainier I was not a man to shrink from danger. Along with government offices, the Grimaldi family even then had a history of being sea-faring warriors. Rainier carried on the fight as best he could. We can imagine him, wearing his red and white family colors, standing on the deck of his galley dressed in armor, clenching his sword, the wind blowing sea spray in his face as his vessel plowed through the Mediterranean. Imagine his eyes squinting against the wind, keeping a sharp eye for Genoese galleys but also, in a larger sense, looking for any opportunity to restore the fortunes of his family and gain and advantage over those who had driven him and him from his home. At times he had to accept employment from neighboring royals to stay afloat (in more ways than one) such as King Charles II of Anjou. In his service Lord Rainier gained quite a reputation for skill and daring across the Mediterranean area. Imagine it: an enemy galley is sighted, the course is changed toward it as the men below decks groan with all their strength at the oars to increase their speed. The guns thunder, the galleys collide and Rainier pulls his sword and leads his men in boarding the enemy ship, wrenching it from them in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Quite a far cry from car races, football games and roulette wheels isn’t it?

It may be hard for people today to imagine what the Mediterranean was like back then. Competing states struggled for control among themselves, fighting for a variety of reasons. Additionally, if the threat from your fellow Christians was not enough, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea the Muslims ruled a vast though fragmented empire that stretched from the Atlantic ocean to Persia. Stray too far in the wrong direction and Muslim corsairs could see you and your crew killed or sold into slavery. The famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, for example, was captured by an Algerian corsair in the Mediterranean and kept as a slave until he was ransomed by his family. All of these were threats that Rainier I had to deal with, the enemies of the House of Anjou he was paid to fight, the Ghibelline faction that were his own enemies, the various raiders who were out for what they could get from any quarter and the Muslim corsairs who were a threat to any Christian ship no matter what flag they sailed under. We can imagine that this environment helped make Rainier I the hardened warrior that he was. Yet, in the one portrait we have of the man, we can see a twinkle in his eye (a familiar one) suggesting a bit of bravado and a more calculating mind than that of a simple mercenary. He was always on the lookout for an opportunity to make a comeback. Eventually, that opportunity came when, thanks to the crafty attack of Francesco Grimaldi, the “Rock” of Monaco was captured for the Grimaldi family who obtained their own land which, in time, would become one of the most glamorous and successful countries in the world.

The Marriage of Prince Jacques I

It was on this day in 1715 that Princess Louise-Hippolyte of Monaco married Jacques Francois Leonor Goyon de Matignon. As we have discussed previously, it was not quite a match made in heaven. Still, all parties agreed and, as it was shortly after the death of His Most Christian Majesty King Louis XIV, the marriage contract was signed by the regent, the Duke of Orleans, and the child King Louis XV. Yet, there were problems for the couple from the outset. In their first year of marriage they suffered the lost of their first child and they had to move to Paris to escape the volatile Prince Antoine I who was infuriated when he learned how he had been maneuvered into accepting Jacques as his son-in-law. For his part, Jacques was not pleased about having to give up his own family name and coat of arms to take those of the House of Grimaldi as he was rather proud of his own lineage. Prince Antoine was also broke by a legal dispute with his own daughter after the death of his ex-wife, Marie de Lorraine, who left her fortune entirely to her daughter. The proud old Prince had to suffer the indignity of asking his rather despised but well-to-do son-in-law for assistance.

“You mention the state of your affairs,” Jacques, then the Duke of Valentinois, wrote back, “as though you wish me to do all I can to ease your situation. I will willingly help…on condition, if you please, that you take no steps to prejudice the future interests of your grandson [the future Prince Honore III who would inherit the fortune from his mother one day]…He is such a [good natured] boy that nobody could think of playing a dirty trick on him”. In other words, stop trying to get your hands on my wife’s money and I will toss a few bucks your way. Prince Antoine, the old “Goliath” was not just furious, he was FURIOUS! As he predicted, he later died still in a rage over his treatment by his son-in-law and daughter though most probably still directed at Marie de Lorraine, his late wife, who he regarded as the author of all his misfortunes. It was then that Princess Louise-Hippolyte became Sovereign Princess of Monaco and Jacques the “Sovereign Consort”. However, that situation did not last long either as the beloved Princess was carried away by smallpox just under a year after taking the throne.

That unhappy event marked the start of the brief reign of Prince Jacques I of Monaco. He was opposed from the very start by Princess Isenghien, his sister-in-law, the second daughter of Prince Antoine I. She tried to rally her Grimaldi cousins in the wider family (in Genoa and elsewhere) to challenge her dead sister’s husband. She claimed, not without some justification, that the Monegasque would never submit to a Sovereign Prince who had not a drop of Grimaldi blood in his veins and, indeed, Prince Jacques I was never widely popular. However, he was no fool and tried to foil his sister-in-law by appointed the Chevalier de Grimaldi, an illegitimate son of Prince Antoine I, as Governor of Monaco who would, effectively, rule the principality on his behalf. As it turned out, this was a smart move as the Chevalier was quite a talented individual who ended up governing Monaco for most of the next fifty years with considerable ability.

Prince Jacques I was never fully accepted by the Monegasque population, tolerated might be a better word, but he was not often in Monaco to bother them anyway. Knowing the temperament of the public, and being more at home in France anyway, he spent most of his short reign in Paris. In 1733 he abdicated in favor of his son, Prince Honore III, while the Chevalier de Grimaldi continued to manage the affairs of the principality quite adeptly throughout the boy’s minority and during his service with the French army. He, along with his brother Prince Charles Maurice of the Knights of Malta, renewed the family tradition of fighting England in the employ of the King of France such as at the battle of Fontenoy. Prince Jacques I retired to Versailles and Paris and died in 1751. His line would continue to provide the Princes of Monaco until the accession of Prince Rainier III. And it all started with a controversial marriage on October 20, 1715.

The Republic of Genoa

As long-time readers will know, the Principality of Monaco is very old amongst the modern States of Europe and has its origins in the Guelf-Ghibelline conflict of Genoa. But what exactly was this city-state on the sea from which our beloved Grimaldis sprung? “The Most Serene Republic of Genoa” came into being in 1005 on the Ligurian coast of the Italian peninsula. What started out as a minor city state grew over time to be one of the major commercial mini-empires of the Mediterranean with Genoese outposts stretching from Spain and North Africa, all of Corsica to parts of Sardinia, the Italian mainland, a number of Greek islands, a quarter of the East Roman capital of Constantinople and all the way to the Crimean Peninsula in what is now the Ukraine and ports in what is now Syria. Although it never reached quite the height of power that its rival across the peninsula, the Republic of Venice, did, Genoa was nonetheless a force to be reckoned with and the House of Grimaldi became one of the leading families of the oligarchic republic.

Originally an autonomous commune within the old Kingdom of Italy (the successor of the Lombard kingdom which sprang up after the end of Imperial Roman rule). The Republic of Genoa began to establish itself during the height of the Islamic expansion, starting with raids against the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa. A number of victories broke Muslim rule over the Mediterranean and allowed maritime powers like Genoa and Venice to rise rapidly in importance, particularly as the Crusades were launched and Italian merchants were needed to transport knights, supply them and, sometimes most importantly, to fund them. Genoa itself contributed a great deal in these campaigns, even supplying warships and soldiers to participate in the fighting and in return the republic was given colonies and advantageous commercial treaties with the Crusader states. For the most part though, although Genoa gained some colonial footholds in certain ports, her real influence was in her economic power, through trade and commerce and not by direct rule.

Genoese galleys, upon which the state was built

As Genoa and Venice both grew in wealth and influence they naturally grew in rivalry with each other as well and often backed opposing sides in various conflicts. In the infamous Fourth Crusade, for example, Venice backed the Latin Knights whereas Genoa backed the Byzantine Emperor. When Constantinople was retaken Genoa benefited greatly from this investment and received many new ports in the Greek islands. It was not until the rise of the Kingdom of Aragon as a major Mediterranean power that the dominance of Genoa, by then mostly in the western Mediterranean, began to decline. However, even then, the Republic of Genoa began to rebound as a center of banking within the Spanish sphere of influence. Genoa sold Corsica to France and lost her last outpost on the African coast (the island of Tabarka) to the Bey of Tunis in 1742. Genoa had just started recovering from a disastrous war with the Austrians alongside Spain and France when Napoleon Bonaparte (himself a native of Corsica) led French revolutionary forces in conquering the Republic of Genoa and proclaiming the region the “Ligurian Republic” which was simply annexed by France a short time later. Unlike some other states, after the Napoleonic Wars the Republic of Genoa was not restored but her remaining territory ceded to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1815.

Doge of Genoa Giovanni Giacomo Grimaldi

The Republic of Genoa was, as stated, an oligarchic republic, ruled by a Doge (“duke” ) chosen from amongst the prominent merchant families and one of the most prominent was the Grimaldi family. In all, a member of the House of Grimaldi would hold the office of Doge of Genoa on twelve occasions throughout the history of the republic. The first of these was Cristoforo Rosso Grimaldi who was elected the 49th Doge of Genoa in 1535. Originally the Doge was elected by popular vote for life but later, after changes made by Andrea Doria, the Grand Council elected the Doge who served for a limited term. The last Grimaldi to hold the office was Pier Franco Grimaldi, elected in 1773 though due to the decline in Genoese fortunes, his was a very modest coronation and celebration. Much of his term was spent dealing with religious issues as this was when the Society of Jesus was being suppressed throughout Europe and trying to recover from the ‘Balilla Uprising’ and the war with Austria. After his term ended he served in the Ministry of War and then the Ministry of Holy Worship as the Church and the military had long been the most important parts of his life.

The branch of the family that eventually became the Lords and Princes of Monaco started out like most of the Genoese patricians, as fighting sailors and intrepid entrepreneurs. In charge of their Genoese galleys they had brought the King of Jerusalem and the King of Hungary to Egypt in the Fifth Crusade, they raided Venetian galleys in the intermittent war with that state, grow in wealth and status and finally fight the forces of Genoa itself on a number of occasions as the republic tried to reassert her claim to Monaco or when a rival political family gained power in the ‘serene republic’. The history of Genoa is a fascinating one, growing from a tiny, overlooked port to a commercial empire with merchant ships and war galleys operating from the Black Sea to the Pillars of Hercules, from the African coast to the English Channel. When eclipsed by Venice the city-state came back as the banking center for the Spanish empire and their colonial adventures in the Americas when the famous Andrea Doria was admiral-in-chief to the Hapsburg monarchs. Even today, traces of the maritime empire of Genoa can still be seen even in such far removed places as the fortress in Sudak, Ukraine to the famous Galata Tower in what is now Istanbul.

King Carlo Alberto and Monaco

It was during the reign of HSH Prince Florestan, aided by his ever-diligent wife Princess Caroline, that the crisis over Menton and Roquebrune reached its height. The one royal figure on the other side of that crisis was HM King Carlo Alberto of Piedmont-Sardinia, head of the House of Savoy which held a partial protectorate over the Principality of Monaco since the Napoleonic Wars, including Menton and Roquebrune. When liberal outbursts began to sweep Europe, and the southern areas particularly, some royals tried to suppress the spread of such sentiments while others tried to get out in front of them. King Carlo Alberto tried to get out in front, perhaps belatedly, but quite successfully. It was a course of action that put him on a path to conflict with the Prince of Monaco. However, King Carlo Alberto was not quite the scheming man of ambition many of his enemies make him out to be. At the outset he was simply following the example seemingly being set by other monarchs and even the Holy Father in Rome. The difference was, having set out, he refused to change course. The two driving forces behind this movement were constitutional government and nationalism. This is the background.

In 1846 His Holiness Pope Pius IX was elected to the Throne of St Peter and came with a reputation for being something of a liberal, a man known for the demands he had made for governments to care for their people and for his recognition of the people of the Italian peninsula as one nation. Naturally, liberals rejoiced when he was elected and further thrilled when he released from the prisons in Rome all of those jailed for sedition or revolution or any sort of what we would call political prisoners. He appointed progressives to positions of leadership and began the unheard of process of introducing constitutional government in the Papal States with a leadership made up entirely of laymen. King Carlo Alberto followed the example of the Pope and soon in the Principality of Monaco, particularly Menton, there were cheers for Pope Pius IX and King Carlo Alberto by those hoping for the same innovations to be handed down from their Prince. However, the Pope who was so celebrated by liberals and even Protestant governments eventually became horrified by the effects of his progressive changes and ultimately became known as one of the most ardently conservative or even reactionary of pontiffs.

King Carlo Alberto, on the other hand, did not change course. His convictions may have even been strengthened by the sight of the Pope being forced to flee Rome in disguise and then brought back only by the intervention of the French army. The King of Piedmont-Sardinia would stay on the more liberal track and came to be hailed by Italian nationalists as the one monarch who never betrayed them. This meant clashes with other crowned heads, most significantly the Austrian Hapsburgs rather than the relatively powerless Prince of Monaco but it would also mean that, in the end, the House of Savoy would become the Royal Family of the unified Kingdom of Italy in the not too distant future. So, King Carlo Alberto enacted many liberal changes, including constitutional government, a system which hearkened back to the Code Napoleon but which also modeled itself somewhat on the constitutional monarchy of Great Britain which seemed to work quite well. New rights and liberties were granted and troublesome elements in Menton seized on this to demand the same in the Principality of Monaco. Many residents, even in Monaco itself as late as the 1940’s, continued to think of themselves as Italians in ethnic terms and the nationalist drive toward creating an Italian nation-state had its supporters in the Principality of Monaco.

This put Prince Florestan in a terrible position. He was no reactionary himself and, indeed, Monaco would eventually put all the demanded changes into effect, but he did not want to see his country divided or taken over by a foreign power. The problem was that the power he most feared, Piedmont-Sardinia, was the only one he was supposed to appeal to for help. Charles Trenca, a leading liberal, was an early flashpoint. He had served the House of Grimaldi since 1819 and in 1841 he had been sent on a diplomatic mission to Turin along with the Duke of Valentinois (future Prince Charles III) and King Carlo Alberto had been impressed with him. On a subsequent mission the King chose him to act as go-between with the court in Monaco on the subject of annexing Monaco to Piedmont-Sardinia. Needless to say, Prince Florestan and Princess Caroline were less than impressed with this suggestion and Trenca was eventually dismissed for his plotting on behalf of Turin.

King Carlo Alberto had showed his hand and his desire to include Monaco or at the least Menton and Roquebrune in his kingdom was now known. However, the agitation in those areas only increased even after reforms were made and Prince Florestan had no choice but to appeal to the King for Piedmontese troops to restore order. When soldiers were dispatched under General Claudio Gonnet to Menton they were met by a crowd of citizens carrying a large bust of their own beloved King Carlo Alberto. They could not bring themselves to shoot down a mob cheering their own monarch and when the crowd approached, carrying the bust before them, they simply saluted the image of their King and allowed them to pass at which point the crowd burst into cheers. General Gonnet declared that there was no trouble in Menton and marched his troops on to Monaco to report as much to the Prince. This did not go over well at the palace and they assumed, probably correctly, that General Gonnet was on the side of the protestors in wishing for annexation.

When the Revolutions of 1848 swept Europe, Menton and Roquebrune declared their secession from Monaco as “Free Cities” when similar uprisings were breaking out across Italy. Within two years they would be formally placed under the protection of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. However, King Carlo Alberto would not live to see that. Following his defeat at the hands of the Austrians in the First Italian War for Independence, he abdicated in favor of his son, Vittorio Emanuele II, in 1849 and died later that same year. Piedmont-Sardinia would not hold the former Monegasque towns for long though. As we know, in 1860, as part of a treaty to gain French support for the unification of Italy by the House of Savoy, the County of Nice, with Menton and Roquebrune included, were ceded to the Second French Empire after a referendum, disputed by some as being less than honest. Nonetheless, aside from a brief period during World War II, Menton and Roquebrune have remained a part of France ever since then.

Accession of Charles III

It was on this day in 1856 that HSH Prince Charles III became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He came to the throne beloved by the people, a handsome prince known for his sharp mind and decisiveness but he inherited many problems and his path to the throne was not without bumbs. His mother Princess Caroline had ruled the place, more or less, while his father, Prince Florestan, had the artistic nature that inclined him toward liberalism and never getting down to business. Prince Charles became so disgusted with the situation that at one point he threatened to go to the King of Piedmont-Sardinia to have him intervene to force Prince Florestan to abdicate in favor of Charles. His mother was not amused to say the least.

She was a formidable and talented woman but Charles had good reason to be concerned. All of her financial wizardry had not been enough to keep the family on solid financial ground as Prince Florestan was as liberal in his spending as he was in his political opinions. Prince Charles III wanted to get out from under the Savoys and return Monaco to the old protectorate with France. He also wanted to restore the Grimaldis to their place at court in Paris, having sorely felt the lack of attention from King Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis Philippe. He hoped Emperor Napoleon III would be more friendly. However, all of these ambitions would cost money and that was something Monaco nor the House of Grimaldi had in abundance. The tensions were also growing worse with Turin. It was left to Prince Charles III to sort all of these issues out and to steer through the complex world of Franco-Sardinian relations. In the end, it cost Monaco the towns of Menton and Roquebrune but, in the end, in every other way Prince Charles III was to see all of his goals accomplished and would usher in a new era for the Principality of Monaco.

When the British Invaded Monaco

The Principality of Monaco had suffered a lot because of the French Revolution. The Grimaldi family were overthrown, Monaco annexed to France, property was confiscated and the small communities lingered in neglect and poverty, isolated from the government in Paris more concerned with fighting the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. However, ultimately, the Emperor Napoleon was defeated, forced to abdicate and the Principality of Monaco was restored to independence by the Congress of Vienna. After the regency of Prince Joseph, his nephew Prince Honore V was on his way to Monaco, a country he had not set foot in since he was four years old, when he came across his old commander, the “Little Corporal” himself, on his way north after escaping from Elba. Their meeting was cordial enough but certainly not friendly. Prince Honore V had never forgiven the whole revolutionary era for what it had done to his family, he had never forgiven Napoleon for his treatment of Empress Josephine (a dear friend and former employer) and it rather irritated him that he, a Prince of a centuries-old dynasty, was treated condescendingly by a Corsican upstart who could not even speak French properly.

After going their separate ways an annoyed Prince Honore made a point of stopping in Nice to inform the authorities that Napoleon had returned. While the Emperor went on to reestablish his rule and plan the campaign that ended at Waterloo the Monegasque turned out to welcome their long absent Prince. However, news of his brief meeting the French Emperor traveled fast and on March 13, 1815 only ten days after his arrival in Monaco word was passed along that a British warship full of soldiers was heading toward Monaco. Prince Honore V was outraged by this invasion and ordered the gates of the port closed but, of course, this was only a symbolic act and there was nothing he could do to stop them. One Colonel Burke of the British army landed and called on Honore V at the Princely Palace who received him in the throne room. Colonel Burke handed him a letter from the representative of King Victor Emmanuel I of Piedmont-Sardinia.

The letter stated that, due to his meeting with Napoleon, and the threat posed by his return to France, Monaco was to be occupied by the British. Prince Honore was outraged at this violation of Monegasque sovereignty. The independence of Monaco and her status as a French protectorate had been restored by the Congress of Vienna after the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France. However, with the small country still impoverished and the Prince having only a guard of about 35 half-trained cadets on duty there was nothing he could do. As British redcoats came ashore and marched down the streets of Monaco the Prince saw the King of Piedmont-Sardinia behind it all and assumed this was only a pretext for annexation. Part of this was because he doubted that anyone in Turin could have learned of his brief meeting with Napoleon and reacted so rapidly. He was certain that the occupation had been planned all along.

With no other recourse available, Prince Honore V and Colonel Burke signed a statement bearing witness to the fact that Monegasque sovereignty had been violated, what the British orders stated and reiterating the fact that the Prince was constrained to acquiesce in light of his inability to resist such an occupation. The Prince also noted that even as the document was being signed he could look out his window at the palace and see hundreds of British troops taking up station around Monaco. Given this fact, the Prince did something that was very difficult for him to do and turned to the newly restored Emperor Napoleon in Paris for help. Reminding him that France had the sole right to garrison troops in Monaco he asked for Napoleon to have the British evicted and to stress the rights of Monaco as a sovereign state to the governments in London and Turin.

However, as much as Napoleon would like to have attacked the British wherever he found them, he was no great friend of Honore V. The French Emperor had learned that it had been the Prince of Monaco who had reported him to the Sardinian authorities and alerted the Allies to his presence on the continent and he was not about to do the Monegasque any favors, regardless of the fact that Prince Honore IV, young Prince Florestan and Prince Honore V had all served in his army. There would be no help coming from Paris and Napoleon himself, with all the powers of Europe arrayed against him, would not be around forever. Like the cut flower in a vase he was fair to see yet bound to die. He did not die of course but met his ultimate defeat at Waterloo and then went into permanent exile on St Helena. In Monaco, the redcoats remained until the summer when they finally marched down to the port and boarded their ships bound for home, replaced by an Anglo-Italian regiment that took up their duties. It was the end of the French protectorate over Monaco that had lasted since that first agreement between Prince Honore II and King Louis XV 173 before and it was the beginning of the period of the protectorate of Piedmont-Sardinia under the House of Savoy.

Some may have a hard time understanding how nervous this made the Princes of Monaco. After all, Italian had, before the French annexation, been the official language of the principality and throughout their history, even up until World War II, if pressed on the subject the Monegasque would identify themselves more with the Italians than the French. However, there had also been no more constant antagonist for Monaco than the Genoa from which they had come and the fear always remained that Piedmont-Sardinia would ultimately annex Monaco as well and the principality would go the way of other formerly independent states, such as the Republic of Genoa, in losing their sovereignty as part of the growing dominions of the House of Savoy. In the end, such fears were not entirely unfounded. Monaco was saved, thanks to the intervention of another Napoleon but Menton and Roquebrune were lost in the process and there were those in Italy who continued to claim Monaco as part of the “Greater Italy” or “Third Rome” they wished to create, and briefly did during the early years of World War II. Happily, that situation was only temporary and the comfortable fit with France returned. But, it was a rough road that began on that fateful day in 1815 when the British invaded Monaco.

The Houses Savoy and Grimaldi

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of the Kingdom of Italy under the royal house of Savoy. It is no wonder, both being powerful names in southern France and northern Italy, that there is a very long, sometimes friendly and sometimes troubled history between the Savoy and Grimaldi families. Rainier I had dealt with the House of Savoy in border disputes between Piedmont and Monaco. Lord Lucien of Monaco was the first to officially ally himself with the Duke of Savoy (seeking the help of the King of France at the same time) during one of the most serious efforts of the Republic of Genoa to conquer Monaco. However, the friendship turned sour when the Duke sent troops to occupy La Turbie which Lucien took as much as a threat as a guardian. The Lady Claudine was so upset over the experience that she set it down in her will that any Grimaldi who did homage to the Savoy should be deprived of their hereditary rights. A little harsh perhaps? However, the two families could not ignore each other forever, though they made a good effort to do so for quite a while.

Relations, did, of course, warm up over the years. As we have mentioned, Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy (later King of Sardinia) was quite infatuated with the Grimaldi Princess Louise-Hippolyte though she did not feel quite the same about him. It was also Victor Amadeus II who obtained Nice from France and tried to obtain Monaco but was not successful there. He did, however, obtain feudal rights over 11/12 of Menton and Roquebrune which Prince Antoine I contested but an arbitration by Britain and France found in favor of the House of Savoy in 1714. The ceremony of homage to the Duke of Savoy (by then also King of Sardinia and Sicily) from 1716 to 1841. The idea that a sovereign principality would be a protectorate of one kingdom and a vassal of another kingdom in at least one portion of its territory might give someone a better understanding of why the Monegasque have always been so protective of their independence. It was something they had to fight hard to obtain and have constantly struggled to keep amidst the changing designs of the great powers of Europe surrounding them. Monaco under the Grimaldis were trying to hold fast but the for the House of Savoy, their star was clearly on the rise.

King Vittorio Emanuele I came to the throne of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1802. Obviously this was during the French Revolutionary period and the territories of the Savoy had suffered like all the other neighbors of the French Republic. However, things would turn around under the firm rule of Vittorio Emanuele I. The Congress of Vienna set him back on his throne in Turin (he had by then also inherited the legitimist -Jacobite- claim to the thrones of England, Scotland, Ireland and France) and his family holdings were enlarged by the Congress to include the former territories of the Republic of Genoa. Meanwhile, the Grimaldis had been restored to Monaco mostly thanks to Prince Tallyrand, otherwise the Allies might have found it easier to give Monaco to the Savoys altogether while they were at it, just to keep things simple. However, Tallyrand intervened and ensured Monaco remained under Grimaldi rule.

However, what the Allies did do, was to tear up the treaty with France first signed by Prince Honore II. Henceforth, Monaco would be a protectorate of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia under the House of Savoy. Prince Honore IV predicted there would be trouble over this given the long rivalry that had existed between the two houses. The public was not happy about the change, having been used to the relationship with France, but King Vittorio Emanuele I tried to make a good impression. However, relations only worsened when Sardinian troops occupied Monegasque territory and people were really outraged when Turin forbid the fabrication, trade or import of tobacco in the principality as this had been a lucrative local business. As tensions increased over the years and trouble began brewing in Menton and Roquebrune in particular the Monegasque blamed the Savoy government for being behind it as this was when the drive toward Italian unification was starting to get underway.

That drive got underway during the reign of King Vittorio Emanuele II, son of King Carlo Alberto, who did finally succeed in bringing together the Italian nation, creating the united country of Italy as we know it today and he became the first King of Italy. During this ambitious enterprise the King needed the support of Emperor Napoleon III of the French. Piedmont-Sardinia, in the wake of the uprisings in Menton and Roquebrune, had claimed those areas but in working out their relationship with France surrendered control of these areas (along with their own ancestral homeland) and Prince Charles III of Monaco agreed to sell these towns to France. So ended the period when Monaco was a protectorate of the House of Savoy but there were still some in Italy who longed for the territory as well as Nice and Savoy to be included in greater Italy. It is also worth remembering that, at this stage, the Monegasque, although unique, considered themselves rather more Italian than French due to their long history going back to Genoa and the Ligurian region. In World War II, following the Italian declaration of war on France and the occupation of Savoy, Nice, Corsica and Tunisia, Monaco was occupied as well and for the last time was within the Savoy sphere of influence.

It was not long, however, before the fortunes of war shifted. Monaco's brief stint as part of Mussolini's 'new Roman Empire' did not last very long. In 1943 King Vittorio Emanuele III dismissed the dictator and withdrew to the Allied camp, later abdicating in favor of his son King Umberto II. Monaco was liberated and Prince Louis II could breath a little easier. Things were not so happy for the House of Savoy. In 1946 a fraudulent referendum brought down the Italian monarchy and the House of Savoy was forced into exile. Despite sometimes have trouble in their long history together, the two houses remained friendly in spite of everything and when King Umberto II, the last reigning member of the Savoy royal house and last King of Italy, died in exile, Prince Rainier III attended his funeral to pay his respects to the man who represented the end of an era.

Grimaldi Greats

As I have been considering doing a series of posts elsewhere on the subject of my ‘favorites’ I thought I might try it out here first. Naturally, as a monarchist, I support all of the Monegasque monarchs regardless of their personal successes or failures or their personalities. To keep this from running on I will be looking only at my personal favorites from the time that the Lords of Monaco became the Princes of Monaco, keeping in mind that these are not in any order other than chronological, picking favorites is hard enough for me so ranking my least-to-most favorite is just not going to happen. So, let’s get started: I - The first is the first, that is Prince Honore II, who, as we know, was the first Grimaldi to be formally titled “Prince of Monaco”. This guy was something. Even as a baby his life was in danger as the assassins of Lord Hercules I ransacked the palace trying to find him to kill him as well. He became a very astute statesman, never had any marital problems from all I have read and his surprise attack which took Monaco out of the Spanish camp and into the French one shows that he was a clever diplomat as well as a masterful tactician. He obtained a much better position for his country, beautified the place and in every way left it better than he had found it. His people adored him for his wisdom, kindness and courageous leadership. The Spanish were not too happy with him but most every other account of his life and reign speaks of him only in the most complimentary terms. Monaco was his life, he devoted himself to it and to making it better. In that, he fully succeeded. II - Prince Antoine I, unfortunately had some setbacks in his reign. He was obliged to recognize the Duke of Savoy as overlord of part of his realm, his marriage to Marie de Lorraine was a disaster and so on. However, he inherited a nearly bankrupt state and yet managed, through immense personal sacrifice, to find enough money to improve the defenses of Monaco when the country was under threat. He was also a great patron of art and music and was the first to make Monaco a center of such creative talent, which might have surprised some since the Prince was also a very heroic veteran soldier. The people of Monaco adored him because of the concern he showed for their safety and the sacrifices he was willing to make to protect them and their property. He could be stern and strict but such a firm hand was called for and he not only secured and improved Monaco but pulled the country back from the brink of economic ruin and left it better than he found it. III - Prince Charles III, in many ways, was the monarch who put Monaco on the map. After losing the vast majority of the territory of the principality to France (the ceding of Menton and Roquebrune) it was Prince Charles III who presided over the economic renovation of Monaco into the holiday hot spot of Europe. The country had fallen on hard times since the whole trauma of the French Revolution but under Charles III the situation finally stabilized. The Italians were dealt with once and for all, the relationship with France was put firmly in order and a new era of economic independence came with the establishment of Monte Carlo casino and the rise of the resort industry. Much of this was also due to the wife of Charles III, Princess Antoinette, and his mother Princess Maria Caroline but it was Charles who was ultimately the one responsible as Sovereign Prince. Monaco adopted an official national flag, national anthem, the Order of St Charles was established and diplomatic relations were established with a number of countries all during the reign of Prince Charles III. IV - Prince Louis II might not be included on every list of great Princes of Monaco but he is one of my favorites. He embarked on a military career in the French army and took his service very seriously. Many said he would have been happier as a soldier than as a prince and he was a very good soldier. During World War I he displayed great skill and valor, winning numerous decorations and promotions. He was proud of his service and was often seen in uniform. During World War II when Monaco was occupied by the Axis forces, Prince Louis II used his police connections to ensure that Jews were able to escape before they could be arrested by the Nazis. He took a major risk in doing this and had to walk a thin line during those years. As Prince of Monaco he took the first steps toward a greater diversity in the tourism industry, making Monaco a center of football and racing as well as gambling. It was the steady leadership of Louis II that saw Monaco through its darkest period since the Revolution. V - Prince Rainier III, I firmly believe, will go down in history as one of the greatest Monegasque monarchs of all time. His extensive list of accomplishments are nothing short of exemplary. A strong monarch but also a forward-thinking man he brought Monaco out of the devastation of World War II and made it, once again, the most famous spot on the Riviera. His marriage to Princess Grace made Monaco a household word around the globe and he was a devoted husband and father. He diversified the economy to get away from the over-reliance on gaming and made Monaco a tourist destination that everyone could enjoy, not just the super-rich. He dealt firmly with any threats to the public good, reworked the constitution and strengthened the police to keep organized crime out of his country. Monaco became a center for business under his rule, the country expanded as land was reclaimed from the sea and a supreme court was established. His economic diversity programs brought a wave of unprecedented wealth and prosperity to the country. Although not often recognized, he was also a very humorous man and a very religious man and was awarded the Order of the Golden Spur by the Pope. At the time of his death in 2005 he was the second-longest reigning monarch in the world. Honorable Mention: It would be premature to pass judgement on the reign of Prince Albert II, however, some mention should be made of the admirable job he has done so far. He has made Monaco a center of environmental study (particularly concerning the oceans of the world), uprooted criminal elements trying to take root in the country and opened a new era of transparency that has taken Monaco off the list of 'tax havens' and "Morality, honesty and ethics" has been his motto. The economy has done well, even going through the current world financial storm relatively unscathed and relations with France have been greatly improved as well as managing to increase the effective political independence of the country. So far, so good.