Grimaldo Canella ( – c. 1184) was the youngest son of Otto Canella and
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
in 1162, 1170, and 1184. Grimaldo is considered the progenitor and eponym of the
House of Grimaldi
The House of Grimaldi is the Dynasty, reigning house of the Monaco, Principality of Monaco. The house was founded in 1160 by Grimaldo Canella in Genoa and became the ruling house of Monaco when François Grimaldi, Francesco Grimaldi captured Mo ...
.
Origins
Canella was probably born in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
around 1110, son of Genoese patrician Otto Canella, then Consul of Genoa, who would originate from the Lords of Vezzano Ligure, and his wife, Adelasia, probably a local noblewoman. Grimaldo was the youngest of the brothers: Rubaldo, Bellamunto, Otto, Bulzaneto and Anna Canella.
Career
Politician and
man-at-arms
A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a kni ...
, Grimaldo appears for the first time in a document dated October 2, 1158.
Grimaldo Canella was several times Consul of Genoa, and served as ambassador to Federico Barbarossa in 1158 and to the
Emir of Morocco
This is a list of rulers of Morocco since 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used.
The present King of Morocco is Mohammed VI of Morocco, Mohammed ...
in 1169.
He is attested in various notarial deeds between 1162 and 1184. As a man of arms, in October 1170 he led eight Genoese galleys who, under his command, pursued a small army of Pisan galleys and conquered one.
Family
He married a local noblewoman, and had several children, including Oberto, who was known as "Oberto, son of Grimaldo." In
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic.
Patronymics are used, b ...
terms, this was "Oberto Grimaldi," making this son of Grimaldo the first of the family known to bear the surname of Grimaldi.
During Grimaldo's lifetime his family already lived in the Genoese area between what would be the Church di San Luca, erected by his son Oberto and his father-in-law around 1180, and the sestiere called della Maddalena. In this age the Grimaldi began their ascent among the largest families of the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...
, involved in the first struggles of the time.
In this context, the figure of Grimaldo therefore stands as that of the eponymous progenitor, the famous consul whose descendants wanted to keep his name as the surname of the same family. As progenitor Grimaldo is placed between the dark history and the beginning of the fame of the family. In fact, historians and heraldists have fabled about him ancestries and mythical origins.
Instead, his figure began to have serious studies only in the modern age even if the unknown on the real origin of the Canella still remains. After nine centuries the name and memory of Grimaldo are still preserved and he is looked upon as the founder of the Grimaldi family.
A century later, in 1270, the families of Grimaldi and Fieschi were forced into exile from Genoa. The Grimaldis ended up in the towns around
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million They made their first attempt to seize the fortress of Monaco in 1297, although they did not control it permanently until 1419. Thus the family became Princes of Monaco.