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.

Monaco Defending the Faith

Monaco is on board with a plan to defend the Christian heritage of Europe. Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department of External Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, proposed the constitution of a “strategic alliance between Catholics and Orthodox” to defend the Christian traditions of Europe “against the secularism, liberalism and relativism that prevail in modern Europe”. The Russian Orthodox Church is not known for vague statements. This was prompted by the ruling last November against the display of crucifixes in Italian schools by the European Court of Human Rights. This has led to a coalition of some 20 countries from across Europe, Catholic and Orthodox, united in defense of the crucifix as a vital symbol of the religious heritage of the continent. Among those 20 is the Principality of Monaco which, while certainly allowing freedom of religion, recognizes the Roman Catholic Church as the official religion of the country as it always has been.

The ruling about crucifixes in Italian classrooms has taken on a much broader significance as people on both sides of the issue have seized on it as a symbolic struggle in the growing trend of secularization across Europe. Opponents of the ruling say that, since the court deemed that the state must be confessionally neutral the court effectively ruled that, regardless of history, heritage or the will of the popular majority, Europe must be entirely secular. The ruling means, rather oddly, that regardless of the democratic process any European country must be totally secular in order to be democratic. Supporters of the crucifix ban say that this issue is simply about religious freedom (the original lawsuit was brought by a Scottish convert to Islam living in Italy who objected to the presence of the crucifix in classrooms). However, while traditionally Catholic countries like France have officially become totally secular the neighboring Principality of Monaco has not and yet both have complete freedom of religion.

The Principality of Monaco was among the first ten countries to object to the court ruling alongside Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Russia and San Marino. Later on ten more countries; Albania, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldavia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and the Ukraine have also joined the opposition to the ruling. Obviously, this opposition cuts across the traditionally deep divisions between Catholic and Orthodox countries, united now in common defense of the Christian heritage of Europe. With Italy, almost half of the founding nations of the Council of Europe have now voiced disapproval of the secularist policy. Prince Albert II has not been totally uninvolved in the campaign for closer ties between the Catholic and Orthodox communities. Regular readers will remember the Sovereign Prince awarding His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I for his efforts in this regard.

Prince Albert II Honors Ecumenical Patriarch

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, high patron of the Cardinal Paul Poupard Foundation, awarded the first prize of the foundation, 'Prix de la Fondation Cardinal Paul Poupard' to HAH Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I. HE Paul Cardinal Poupard (seen above with the Patriarch and Sovereign Prince) is the President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture and President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for the Holy See. The award was given out yesterday in a ceremony at the Hotel de Paris in the Principality of Monaco. I am always glad to see Prince Albert II, head of one of the few remaining officially Catholic monarchies in the world, taking religious issues seriously. This is also good to see as in recent years, particularly since the reign of HH Pope Benedict XVI, HAH Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeus I and most recently the newly installed Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church there has been a warming of relations between the eastern and western churches. The Pope has been reaching out to the Orthodox community as never before and the major Patriarchs in the east have also made statements more friendly than in the past about the Latin Church. Hopefully this will be another step in the right direction toward religious unity between the Catholic and Orthodox communities.