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Europe's Smallest Countries: - MONACO

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Bianca
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« Reply #15 on: April 20, 2008, 02:54:36 pm »








Grimaldo,

Founder of the House of Grimaldi





The Grimaldis emerged from the Crusades as one of the four major ruling families of the Genoese urban nobility, essentially warriors, shipowners, and bankers. Genoa experimented with several political systems to organize its City-State and, around the 11th century, chose the Commune. As such, the City was led by a committee of consuls who were generally chosen among the feudal families that had settled down in the City. Grimaldo, who gave his patronymic name to his descendants, was the youngest son of Otto Canella, a Consul of Genoa in 1133. In turn, Grimaldo rose up to become consul three times, in 1162, 1170 and again in 1184. The prominence of Grimaldo in the City's public affairs led him to be sent in embassy to negotiate some of the most important treaties with foreign rulers, such as the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the Emperor of Byzantium. Oberto Grimaldi, son of Grimaldo, is the first of the family known to use the patronymic Grimaldi.

 
As in other Italian cities of the time, the need for political weight in the Commune pushed the Genoese nobility to pull their forces into parties representing their views. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the Genoese families thus developed the albergo, an organizational structure incorporating several small families around a prominent House, such as the Grimaldis, that shared the same political and economical interests. In Genoa, the members of an albergo typically lived in the same neighborhoods and attended the same churches, which further reinforced the close ties.

During the power struggles between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, the Grimaldis and the Fieschis led the pro-papal Guelph party against the Emperor whose interests were backed by the Ghibelline Doria and Spinola families. In 1270, in the midst of one of those numerous political struggles, the Guelphs were forced into exile: the Grimaldis and their allies took refuge in Guelphic towns of the Western Riviera, around Nice. From the viewpoint of history, the exile of 1270 appears to be the main starting point for the old feudal branches of the House of Grimaldi, such as Monaco, Boglio, and Antibes, in the 13th and 14th centuries. By 1333, the Grimaldi Family had grown to over 100 men.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2008, 04:16:17 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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