François Grimaldi
François Grimaldi | |
---|---|
Lord of Monaco | |
Born | c. ? Genoa, Republic of Genoa |
Died | 1309 Ventimiglia, Republic of Genoa |
Noble family | House of Grimaldi |
Spouse(s) | Aurelia del Carretto |
Father | Guglielmo Grimaldi |
Mother | Giacoba |
Francesco Grimaldi (French: François; English: Francis), called il Malizia (from Italian: "the malicious"), was the Genoese leader of the Guelphs who captured the Rock of Monaco on the night of 8 January 1297. He was the son of Guglielmo Grimaldi by his wife Giacobina or Giacoba, a Genoese noble.
Capture of Monaco[]
Dressed as a Franciscan friar, Francesco was greeted at the gates of Monaco's castle, only then to seize the castle with his cousin Rainier I, Lord of Cagnes, and a group of men behind him. The event is commemorated on the Monegasque coat of arms, on which the supporters are two friars armed with swords. He held the citadel of Monaco for four years before being chased out by the Genoese. The battle over "the rock" was taken over by his kinsmen. Francesco thus failed to establish Grimaldi's rule over Monaco, but was the first to attempt to do so.
Family[]
He was married in 1295 to ; the marriage was childless. The modern Grimaldis are therefore not descendants of Francesco. After his death, in 1309, he was succeeded by his cousin (and stepson), Rainier I of Monaco, Lord of Cagnes.
His cousin's descendants, the Grimaldi family, still rule Monaco today. Over one hundred years after the coup, the Grimaldis purchased Monaco from the crown of Aragon in 1419, and became the official and undisputed rulers of "the Rock of Monaco".[1]
References[]
- ^ "Monaco – The Principality of Monaco". Monaco.me. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- Françoise de Bernardy, Princes of Monaco: the remarkable history of the Grimaldi family, ed. Barker, 1961.
External links[]
Media related to François Grimaldi at Wikimedia Commons
- 13th-century births
- 1309 deaths
- 13th-century rulers of Monaco
- 14th-century rulers of Monaco
- 13th-century Genoese people
- 14th-century Genoese people
- House of Grimaldi
- History of Monaco
- Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
- Monegasque people stubs