Antonio I (25 January 1661 – 20 February 1731) was the sovereign
Prince of Monaco
The sovereign prince (french: prince de Monaco) is the monarch and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. All reigning princes have taken the name of the House of Grimaldi, although some have belonged to other families (Goyon de Matignon or ...
from 1701 to 1731. He was the elder son of
Louis I of Monaco and
Catherine Charlotte de Gramont
Catherine Charlotte de Gramont (1639 – 4 June 1678) was the Princess of Monaco by marriage to Louis I of Monaco. She is known to have been a mistress of Louis XIV of France in 1666.
Life
Early life
Catherine Charlotte de Gramont was the ...
.
In 1683, Antonio was named lieutenant in the
Régiment du Roi Infanterie. In 1684, he was named colonel of the regiment of Soissonois.
During the
Nine Years War
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
he was present at the Battle of
Philippsburg
Philippsburg () is a town in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Before 1632, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim".
The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1371–1718. The town is named after ...
(1688), the
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War. In a bold and masterful envelopment, Marshal Luxembourg, commanding a French army of some 35,000 men, inflicted a severe defeat on Prince Waldeck’s ...
, the
Siege of Mons (1691)
The siege of Mons, 15 March–10 April 1691, was a major operation fought during the Nine Years' War, and was the main French objective for the 1691 campaign in the Spanish Netherlands. The city was besieged and captured before the normal commence ...
, and the
Siege of Namur (1692)
The siege of Namur, 25 May–30 June 1692, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War, and was part of the French grand plan (devised over the winter of 1691–92) to defeat the forces of the Grand Alliance and bring a swift conclusion to the ...
.
On 21 August 1702, Antonio took the oath to King
Louis XIV of France
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Versa ...
in the
Parlement
A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fre ...
on account of being
Duke of Valentinois
Duke of Valentinois (french: Duc de Valentinois; it, Duca Valentino) is a title of nobility, originally in the French peerage. It is currently one of the many hereditary titles claimed by the Prince of Monaco despite its extinction in French law ...
and a
Peer of France
The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages.
The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...
. He was made a knight of the French royal orders in 1724.
He "completed the fortifications of the Rock of Monaco, constructed the Oreillon and the Fort Antoine."
Finally, he formed a "brilliant Court in his palace."
He constructed the ''Rampe Major'' in 1714; this was an improved road connecting
La Condamine
La Condamine ( lij, A Cundamina ) is the central ward in the Principality of Monaco. Its landmarks include Port Hercules, the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, and the Princess Antoinette Park. Its farmer's market at the ''Place d'Armes'' dates fro ...
to the "platform of the peninsula."
The Oreillon tower commanding the ramp leading to the
Palais Princier
The Prince's Palace of Monaco (French language, French: ''Palais princier de Monaco'') is the official residence of the Monarchy of Monaco, Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Built in 1191 as a Republic of Genoa, Genoese fortress, during its long and ...
was constructed between 1707-1708.
Marriage and children
![Royal Monogram of Prince Antoine I of Monaco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Royal_Monogram_of_Prince_Antoine_I_of_Monaco.svg)
Antonio married 13 June 1688
Marie de Lorraine, "''Mademoiselle d'Armagnac''" (12 August 1674 – 30 October 1724), daughter of
Louis, Count of Armagnac
Louis of Lorraine (7 December 1641 – 13 June 1718) was the Count of Armagnac from his father's death in 1666. The ''Grand Squire of France'', he was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Guise, itself a cadet branch of the sovereign House ...
.
They had six daughters, of whom only three survived infancy :
*Caterina Charlotte (7 October 1691 – 18 June 1696), "''Mademoiselle de Monaco''".
*
Louise Hippolyte (10 November 1697 – 29 December 1731), successor of her father.
*Elisabetta Charlotte (3 November 1698 – 25 August 1702), "''Mademoiselle de Valentinois''".
*Margherita Camilla (1 May 1700 – 27 April 1758), "''Mademoiselle de Carlades''"; married on 16 April 1720 to Louis de
Gand-Vilain, Prince of Isenghien and marshal of France.
*Maria Devota (15 March 1702 – 24 October 1703), "''Mademoiselle des Baux''".
*Maria Paolina Theresa Devota (23 October 1708 – 20 May 1726), "''Mademoiselle de Chabreuil'".
Antonio also had a number of illegitimate children:
*with Elisabeth Durfort (a dancer)
**
Antoine Grimaldi (1697–1784), known as the ''Chevalier de Grimaldi''
*with Victoire Vertu (dancer at the Paris opera)
**Antoinette Grimaldi, called ''mademoiselle de Saint-Rémy''
*with an unknown woman
**Louise Marie Thérèse Grimaldi (1705–1723)
Ancestors
Further reading
* Pemberton, H. ''The History of Monaco: Past and Present''. Tinsley Brothers. London: 1867. URL: https://archive.org/details/historyofmonacop00pemb
* Schwennicke, Detlev (Ed.) ''Europäische Stammtafeln'', J.A. Stargardt Verlag, Marburg, volume II, table 201.
References
1661 births
1731 deaths
18th-century Princes of Monaco
18th-century peers of France
House of Grimaldi
Princes of Monaco
Marquesses of Baux
Monegasque princes
Hereditary Princes of Monaco
Burials at the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate
People of Ligurian descent
Dukes of Valentinois
{{Monaco-bio-stub