Seigneur Honore I of Monaco

The first Grimaldi seigneur named Honore was born on December 16, 1522 to Lord Lucien of Monaco and his wife Jeanne de Pontevès-Cabanes. He was the youngest child and only son of the bold but controversial lord and he was involved in drama and danger from the very start. During the attempted coup that ended in the assassination of Lord Lucien the Princely Family were taken hostage by the plotters, held at knife-point and threatened with death if the murderers were not allowed to escape. So it was that Honore I, at only 9 months old, became the Seigneur of Monaco on August 22, 1523. His uncle, Bishop Augustin Grimaldi, was appointed regent for the young monarch and it was he who steered Monaco through the early years of the reign of Honore I. The most significant event of the period being his taking Monaco out of the French sphere of influence and putting it within that of the Spanish Hapsburgs.

When the good bishop died in 1532 young Honore I was still too young to rule at only ten years old. To replace him they reached out to the Genoese branch of the Grimaldi clan and appointed Etienne Grimaldi, known as the “Gubernant”. He was supportive of the Spanish but was also famously sensitive, volatile and short-tempered. His rule was only meant to be temporary but he ended up essentially ruling Monaco in place of Honore I for the rest of his life; about ten years in all. He focused on maintaining independence, strengthening defenses and beautifying the country but still loyal to the Emperor to the very end, which for Etienne came in 1561. All in all he had done well but, perhaps a little too well.

Lord Honore I was now master of Monaco in fact as well as in name but by that time he was 40 years old and had never really had to be responsible before and was a little like a fish out of water. Having been deprived of his position for so long he decided to stick to the path that Etienne Grimaldi had trod; remaining close to Spain. The Spanish were very flattering in their gratitude but gave little that was of much real value. He never visited the new properties Spain gave him and remained in Monaco as he always had, not knowing how to react to the increasingly problematic finances of his country. Most of this was due to the expense of maintaining the Spanish garrison but Honore I also spent money on improvements, such as to St Nicholas Cathedral and the Princely Palace, carrying on, once again, in the footsteps of Etienne.

Honore I was definitely a ‘home body’. In more than 50 years he never once left the confines of his property. If he had one great interest in his life it was the small but time honored Monegasque navy. Unfortunately, the growing money crunch reduced his favorite hobby to literally nothing. Creditors repossessed the majority of his fleet and the last three galleys of his prized collection finally had to be sold off to make ends meet. Other than a visit from Emperor Charles V when he was quite young and a visit by Pope Paul III there was little excitement during the reign of Honore I. In 1545 he married Isabella Grimaldi by whom he had four sons; Charles, Francois, Horace and Hercule. After a long reign in which he only came to power very late and unprepared but which was nevertheless a calm, peaceful respite to the reigns of his predecessors Honor I died on October 7, 1581 leaving the throne to his 26-year-old son who became Lord Charles II.

Seigneur Jean II of Monaco

When the formidable Lord Lambert died on March 15, 1494 the throne of Monaco passed to his eldest son Jean II. Only 26 when he became Seigneur de Monaco, Jean II nonetheless showed from the start an astute judgment and made good decisions, winning him praise from many quarters. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, was very active and hard working but also possessed a rather fiery temper that sometimes worried onlookers. He was, in many ways, a man of his time and place much like many of the other Renaissance lords. He was intelligent, ambitious, very protective of his prerogatives and authority and a man of great taste and high style.

All around the Mediterranean there was an immense boom in trade and commerce and Monaco, and the House of Grimaldi, profited greatly by it with Seigneur Jean II lavishly improving his castles in Menton and Roquebrune as well as Monaco. There were also military expenditures with the outbreak of the Italian Wars. Jean II dutifully rallied his forces to assist King Charles VIII of France in his conquest of Naples. When the tide turned against the French, Jean II likewise used his forces to cover their retreat. King Charles VIII was very grateful to Jean II for his help and made him captain-general of the Riviera di Ponente, granted him the right to patrol for pirates and paid him a proportion of the value of the cargo being protected and also gave him the right to “import duty-free the grain and wines of the ports of Provence”.

Seigneur Jean II was proving a highly successful monarch but with success invariably comes enemies. The people of Marseilles, for example, were not happy with the special favors being shown Monaco and the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, was so outraged at the rise of the Grimaldis of Monaco that he tried to have Jean II assassinated. The attempt did not succeed and the Duke of Milan was dealt with by the new King of France, Louis XII, who renewed the invasions of Italy, defeated Sforza and made himself lord of Genoa and Duke of Milan. King Louis XII also maintained the good relationship with Monaco by appointing Lord Jean II governor of Ventimiglia and ensuring that the special maritime privileges he enjoyed would remain in place.

Jean II of Monaco was riding along with King Louis XII when he made his triumphal entry into Genoa in 1499; a scene shown in a famous painting by Jean Marot done in 1507. However, Jean II worried some of the French courtiers with his violent temper. Monaco and the House of Grimaldi were riding high and the alliance with France seemed to be working out greatly to their benefit. The independence of the country was secure, their enemies defeated and Monaco was prospering. However, there were still problems for the House of Grimaldi. One of the worries was the succession. Jean II had earlier married Antonia de Savoy, natural daughter of the Duke of Savoy by his mistress Libera Portoneri in 1486. However, Jean had only a daughter and no sons to succeed him which meant that his heir was his brother Lucien, with whom the volatile Jean II did not always get along.

On the night of October 10, 1505 Lord Jean II was at his castle in Menton with his brother Lucien and their mother Claudine. During the night there was evidently an altercation and when Claudine cried for help servants rushed in to find Jean II dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He had been stabbed to death, presumably by his brother Lucien. It is probably safe to say that the death of Jean II is the most famous murder mystery in the annals of the House of Grimaldi. Lucien claimed that Jean II had announced he would sell Monaco to Venice and when Lucien challenged this Jean II attacked him with a knife and in the ensuing struggle Lucien killed his brother in self-defense. Was this what really happened?

Anyone who knew Jean II knew of his fiery temper and could imagine him lashing out at his brother in a rage. However, the idea that he planned to sell Monaco to Venice seems too far-fetched to be believed. Not only would it be unthinkable that Jean II would even consider such a thing it is absurd to believe that Venice would have wanted it considering that Monaco was so far from their own sphere of influence in the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean. Was it rather simply a political murder on the part of an ambitious brother? That too seems hard to believe as Lucien never seemed the type and he was set to inherit the throne anyway. In addition, the Lady Claudine never showed any disfavor toward Lucien after this incident. The facts, it seems, are few and the real motive behind the violent end of Seigneur Jean II of Monaco may always remain a mystery.

Seigneur Lambert of Monaco

Lambert Grimaldi was born in 1420 into the branch of the Grimaldi family that ruled Antibes. Fairly late in his life by the standards of the time he was chosen to marry Claudine, daughter of Lord Catalan, of the Monaco branch of the Grimaldi dynasty in order to keep power consolidated in the family. He had already fought in defense of Monaco before and had to deal with intrigues on the part of the regent of Monaco and his future grandmother-in-law Pomelline. However, in 1465 he and his cousin Claudine were married despite the fact that she was no more than 14 at the time and he was 45. She abdicated her powers to her husband and Lambert became officially Seigneur de Monaco and was recognized as such by King Rene of Anjou and the ruling Sforza family of Milan in 1458. Were it not for the age of his bride they would surely have been married sooner so it was that the political arrangements actually preceded the wedding ceremony.

Lord Lambert of Monaco has a rather colorful history. Remembered as a great diplomat, this was explained in a less than flattering description which judged him, “Self-centered, cold, patient, contemptuous of the glories of battle, he preferred to rely on his diplomatic skills”. That is according to the early historian Gustave Saige who nonetheless also attributed to him great tenacity and composure in times of crisis. Somewhat more recent historians have shown from his correspondence that he was a very learned man and a sincerely religious man who considered a vocation in the Church. Yet, keeping a cool head in a crisis did not hurt as there were plenty of those to deal with, starting with his still-persistent grandmother-in-law Pomelline.

The formidable Pomelline had dispatched galleys and soldiers from Catalonia and Aragon to raid Monaco. They fought their way into the harbor at the Port of Hercules, burned the Monegasque ships, burned houses, vineyards and nearby croplands. Yet, Lambert eventually fought them off and saw them return to Spain. Then his own cousin Lascaris launched an attack on Monaco, which was repelled, and rebellions broke out in Menton and Roquebrune which had to be put down. Through it all the crusty, old aristocrat never wavered in his defense of Monegasque independence and survived every such catastrophe. He also improved the defenses of the country, put a permanent garrison of 400 troops in the fortification on The Rock and kept several galleys on hand ready for sea at a moment’s notice.

What is just as remarkable is that, in spite of all of these military expenditures, the frugal Lord Lambert was still able to turn a profit due to his success as a businessman and he would leave his successors on the throne of Monaco a considerable treasury that would prove invaluable as they advanced themselves in the world. Still, ever since Lord Catalan had revoked the treaty with the Duke of Savoy, Monaco had been without a royal protector and for long-term stability Lambert had to remedy this. The most natural choice was France and Lambert dispatched his brother, Bishop Jean-Andre of Grasse, to begin negotiations with King Louis XI. When the French monarch was less than receptive Lambert displayed his patience and when Louis XI was succeeded by King Charles VIII he tried again.

This time things went much better as Lambert had strengthened his hand by marrying his son Jean to Antoinette of Savoie with the approval of the French court. Not only did King Charles VIII agree to become protector of the Seigneur de Monaco in a formal document of February 25, 1489 but he also named Lambert a counselor and chamberlain to the King of France. More importantly for Monaco, the official document did not require Seigneur Lambert to submit totally to the French king as his liege lord nor did Charles VIII claim any rights or authority over Monaco itself. Effectively, Monaco had become a protectorate before the term existed and secured support and recognition for her status as an independent, sovereign country. With the backing of the French King secured, Lambert felt safe enough to inform the Duke of Milan and the Doge of Genoa that Monaco no longer had anything to do with either of them.

With that achievement sealing the deal, it can safely be said that the reign of Lord Lambert of Monaco was a resounding success. He died on March 15, 1494 in Menton after 37 years on the Monegasque throne. He had defended Monaco from the Spanish, dissidents of his own family, enemies without and rebels within. He had secured the protection of the Kingdom of France as a guarantee against the constant wars of the Italian states and he had been given recognition of the independence of Monaco as a sovereign state. It is thus fitting, and a sign of humility and piety on his part, that it was Seigneur Lambert who gave the House of Grimaldi of Monaco their official motto; Deo Juvante, ‘with God’s help’.

Seigneur Jean I of Monaco

When Lord Rainier II of Monaco died in 1407 the Grimaldi legacy was left to his three sons; Ambroise, Antoine and Jean. They worked out an agreement, when the time came, to rule Monaco jointly, with each one taking a turn every year. Jean I was 25 when his father had passed away and, rather typically for a Grimaldi of his era, was described as “adventurous and enterprising”. Considering this it is no surprise that he found gainful employment as a soldier of fortune; hiring out his soldiers and galleys to the service of Philippe-Marie Visconti, Duke of Milan, the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Pope and the Duke of Anjou in turn.

At the time, Louis III of Anjou who was locked in a war with the Duras family over Provence. The towns in the region passed back and forth between the two factions, though even when Louis III occupied Monaco his forces were often more of a plague than protection. Nonetheless, Jean, Ambroise and Antoine were loyal and total control of Monaco was restored to them. Genoa was also anxious to have an alliance with the house of Anjou and so surrendered their own claims on Monaco to ingratiate themselves. This allowed the brothers to return to Monaco in 1419 and it was then that they officially declared themselves co-seigneurs of Monaco in the triumvirate that was to last for seven years. When Antoine and Ambroise surrendered their own claims on The Rock in exchange for Menton, Roquebrune and Jean’s estates in La Turbie Lord Jean I became the sole ruler of Monaco.

After the brothers saw to it that the treaties made by their predecessor Lord Charles I were all renewed in an effort to ensure the independence of Monaco but after taking part in a war against the Duke of Milan they were defeated. The Duke of Savoy wanted Monaco obliterated and a Milanese garrison occupied the town. However Jean was a very skilled sailor and Francisco Sforza hired him to fight the Venetians on the Po. He won a great victory there against the famous Carmagnola in 1431. Because of this his lands in Monaco were restored but as vassals of the dukes of Milan. That same year it was Lord Jean I of Monaco who was charged with transporting the East Roman (Byzantine) Emperor John VIII Palaeologus from Constantinople to the Council of Basil in the hope of bringing the divided halves of Christendom together again. However, the tempermental Emperor refused to go with Lord Jean and when he returned without his guest Jean I was defeated by Francesco Sforza of Milan.

While Jean was away the Duke of Savoy fell upon Monaco and when Jean returned he was treacherously taken prisoner. However, showing how far back the history of strong, determined women is in the Grimaldi family, it was the wife of Jean I, Pomelline Fregose, who took in hand the defense of Monaco and she did not relent even when the Jean was hauled out under the ramparts to intimidate her. She vowed to never surrender and Jean managed to get word to her that she should not submit even if he should be killed, either by the enemy or fire from his own men while under the ramparts. The Duke of Savoy finally gave up and released Jean the following year. In 1440 the Duke of Milan renounced his feudal rights over Monaco which then became totally independent again.

Jean I had been loyal to Philippe-Marie Visconti when he was Duke of Milan and it was Visconti whom the Genoese had chosen as their governor. When he died in 1447 (replaced by the Ambrosia Republic) the by now rather aged Jean I sought out his old enemy the Duke of Savoy to be protector of Monaco. In exchange for this he offered parts of Menton and Roquebrune which obviously led to trouble later on. Jean also reportedly considered selling Monaco to the Dauphin of France for 15,000 gold pieces but this was never done as the scheme the Dauphin had to invade Italy was dropped and he had no need of the port of Monaco. At the end of his life Jean I had one pressing issue to deal with and that was the succession. His only children to survive to adulthood were his son Catalan and his daughter Bartholomeé and of Catalan’s children the only survivor was his daughter Claudine.

On April 5, 1454 Lord Jean I drew up the official rules of succession for the House of Grimaldi. The rules stated that succession would pass to legitimate offspring in the male line in order of birth. Only if there were no male heirs could an eldest daughter succeed on the condition that she marry, “a man belonging either to the direct lineage or to the albergo of the Grimaldis” and that he and his descendants must take the name and the coat of arms of the Grimaldi family. These rules of succession have remained mostly unchanged ever since. Lord Jean I died that same year having ruled over Monaco on three occasions, alone or in cooperation with his brothers. He was succeeded by his son Catalan who lasted only three years longer.

Lord Rainier II of Monaco

Rainier II became Lord of Monaco on June 29, 1352 ruling jointly with Lord Antonio. Earlier, in 1350, Jean II became King of France and the Hundred Years War soon flared up again with King Edward III of England and the famous Black Prince. Lord Rainier II was ready to participate just as his grandfather and namesake Lord Rainier I did. In 1355 he reported for duty with 24 war galleys and 6,000 crossbowmen. The following year he led his forces with the French army at the epic battle of Poitiers on September 19, 1356. The French side suffered from a lack of organization and in one of the greatest victories in English history the French army, which outnumbered the English by about 2 to 1, was soundly defeated and King Jean II himself was taken prisoner by the Black Prince.

The terrible defeat, combined with the humiliation of the king and most of his knights being taken prisoner, caused the middle class, feeling let down by the aristocracy, to equip a fleet on their own to go to the rescue of Jean II. Joined by other forces they defeated the English at the battle of Winchelsea, even landing and taking the town before returning to Boulogne. Shortly thereafter the Treaty of London was signed, Jean II was freed and peace restored. The new King of France, Charles V or Charles the Wise, began rebuilding the French fleet and made extensive use of the Mediterranean ports, Monaco in particular. Rainier II fitted out four galleys and sailed to the English Channel where he met an English squadron that was escorting Charles II of Navarre to Cotentin. He captured an English ship of 180 tons which he sold for prize money in Normandy. When the English moved to take revenge for this action on some Genoese ships in the area Rainier II arrived in time to save the day, destroying the English force and following up with a number of raids on the English coast.

Stories abound about the exploits of Rainier II, some factual and some legendary with it becoming increasingly difficult to separate the two. One such story was that the ship Rainier II himself was commanding was run aground on the Isle of Wight though other sources say Sandwich. When English troops approached and hailed the vessel, asking to whom it belonged, Rainier II replied, “To the King of France”. The soldiers then demanded he surrender it to the “King of France and England”. Rainier II asked the name of this individual to which the soldiers proudly replied, “Edward!” but Rainier boomed back, “Edward! That is not the name of the King of France; he is called Charles and to him only will we give up our ship”. The English troops attacked and Rainier II and his men battled them long enough for the tide to come in, re-float the vessel and allowed them to sail away.

Later Rainier II was charged with escorting convoys of merchant ships through the dangerous waters of the English Channel. When he got word that John of Lancaster was preparing a move to Calais with 11,000 troops he boldly threatened Southampton. It was only a diversion though as the port was well defended due to all the trouble and he had only a few ships and 1,200 men. Unfortunately, it did not work and the Duke of Lancaster made the passage to Calais, meeting the Monegasque flotilla and capturing Rainier II in the process. It was the spring of 1375 and a greatly impressed King Edward III bought Rainier from the Duke for 12,000 gold francs.

Later on peace was declared and Rainier II was freed but by 1377 the war was back on again and saw action at the great naval victory off Rye. The victors then began fighting amongst themselves between those who wished to go on and those who wished to occupy Rye and make it a French enclave in England that would be the equivalent of the English enclave at Calais. In the event they did land, fought a few skirmishes and captured some English soldiers from whom they learned that their great foe King Edward III was dead and Richard II was now king. Lord Rainier II burned the town of Lewis and then put to sea again, going on a campaign of pillage that hit Portsmouth, Dartmouth and Plymouth. They even overran most of the Isle of Wight other than the castle where the governor held out with his forces, refusing to give up.

The French and Monegasque did not sack the island but ransomed it for a 1000 marks. There were numerous other raids and daring deeds but at some point Rainier II tired of being in the employ of French and by the time peace was restored had already left. Doubtless, part of the reason for this was the growing aggression of the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean who were raiding the Riviera and forced Monaco and Genoa to turn to France for assistance. However, it was not long before the French themselves were in need of assistance when the famous King Henry V of England showed up with an invading army and a large fleet at the mouth of the Seine River. France then had to ask Genoa and Monaco for help. They sailed north and tried to break the English siege of Harfleur in a gallant attack but Henry V was victorious and the town surrendered. He then march on toward Calais and won his most spectacular victory at the battle of Agincourt. By that time, however, Rainier II had long since ceased to be the Lord of Monaco. That ended on August 15, 1357. From that year until 1359 Monaco was under Genoese control with control passing back and forth between them and the Grimaldis for some time after.

(photo from the Wax Museum of the Princes of Monaco)