Francesco Grimaldi (french: François, italics=no; eng, Francis, italics=no), called (from

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: "''the malicious''"), was the Genoese leader of the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

s who captured the

Rock of Monaco The Rock of Monaco (french: Rocher de Monaco) is a tall monolith on the Mediterranean coast of the Principality of Monaco. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and the Port Hercules. History The Rock has been a coveted possession from the beginn ...

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 The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

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 Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, but was the first to attempt to do so.

Family

He was married in 1295 to Aurelia del Carretto; 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 Rainier I of Monaco (1267–1314) was the first sovereign Grimaldi ruler of the area now known as Monaco. He also held the title of ''Lord of Cagnes''. Cagnes was the town where in 1309 he established a stronghold, today known as the Château ...

. 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 The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

in 1419, and became the official and undisputed rulers of "the

". Rainier Il's three sons-Ambroise, Antoine and Jean purchased Monaco in the name of Grimaldi from its then owner, Queen Yolande of Aragon.

References

*Françoise de Bernardy, ''Princes of Monaco: the remarkable history of the Grimaldi family'', ed. Barker, 1961.

External links

13th-century births 1309 deaths 13th-century rulers of Monaco 14th-century rulers of Monaco 13th-century Genoese people 14th-century Genoese people Francois History of Monaco Year of birth unknown Place of birth missing Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines {{monaco-bio-stub