Message #77478

[Bianca]

The Epic History of the Main Branches





The fortune of merchant noblemen relied on maritime trade and access to fortified ports, like Monaco and Antibes, where they could also raise their armies. In 1297, a group of Grimaldi and Guelphic allies therefore sought to seize the fortress of Monaco at the tip of their sword from the Ghibellines, turning the place into a base for political activism and military operations against their Genoese rivals. Over the next centuries, however, the albergo alternately lost and regained control of Monaco during a period of instability and wars throughout the region.

In 1419, the Grimaldis succeeded in permanently securing possession of Monaco, and stubbornly embarked on defending its independence, sometimes at the price of their personal freedom or their life. As often for all the feudal possessions of Genoese families in Provence, Liguria and Corsica, the Grimaldis ruled over Monaco with the title of signori, or lords, and only assumed the title of prince in the 17th century. The princely title can also be found among the distinctions of other branches of the Grimaldi Family, although traditionally the Grimaldis — and the Genoese nobility in general — carried few titles. However, owing to its long independence and the prestige associated with its sovereignty, the principality of Monaco undoubtedly rose to become the jewel of the House of Grimaldi.

The history of Monaco and of the Grimaldis was largely symbiotic until the 17th century, when a first controversial act of succession saw Jacques de Goyon Matignon climbing the throne of the principality. Before long, the French Revolution rolled over Europe and annexed the principality. Monaco was however reinstated when quieter times returned in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars. In the 20th century, in another turn of events, a new succession affair brought to the throne the current dynasty, issued this time from the Polignacs. (Read more)

The Kingdom of Naples and the fertile island of Sicily were strategically located on the Mediterranean trade routes; this fact did not escape the Genoese merchants. The long presence of the Grimaldis in Sicily goes back to the 14th century, where they served as advisors and captains of justice, or in battle on the side of the Angevin kings.

Wedged in the Alps between France, Provence, Savoy, and Piedmont, the fiefdom of Boglio (Beuil, in today's France) was among the largest in the region. In the early 14th century, a marriage with the heiress of Boglio brought this territory to the Grimaldis. Quickly, they went on an expansion spree that regularly put them at war with their neighbors.

In a fascinating page of diplomatic history, those Grimaldis managed to bring peacefully the entire Nice country — originally part of Provence — to the counts of Savoy in what is called the "Dedition of Nice" (1388). The Grimaldis governed the region of Nice at a time of war when their "lord," the king of Hungary, could not come to the rescue of his subjects. With the help of the Grimaldis, Nice and other nearby towns put themselves under the protection of the Count of Savoy. As a result, landlocked Savoy and Piedmont acquired a reliable access to the sea. The Grimaldi of Boglio received therefore over 20 fiefdoms and reinforced their gubernatorial position in Nice.

With a legendary determination, they eventually patched together a small "kingdom," to which only independence was missing. Hearing about those maneuverings, the counts of Savoy put a mortal end to this branch's ambitions in the 17th century.