House of Grimaldi

The House of Grimaldi is the princely family of the Principality of Monaco, which it has ruled mostly continuously since 1297.

Related Topics:
Principality - Monaco - 1297

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Before arriving at Monaco, the Grimaldi family was a prominent Guelphic family from Genoa which traced its ancestry to Otto Canella, taking its name from his son Grimaldo. Due to civil strife between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Grimaldis sought shelter in the Genoese settlements around the Rock of Monaco in 1270, only to be expelled to Provence by the Ghibelline inhabitants of Monaco in 1296.

Related Topics:
Guelph - Genoa - Otto Canella - Grimaldo - Ghibelline - Rock of Monaco - 1270 - Provence - 1296

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In 1297, François Grimaldi led a party of his family members and other Guelphs which seized the Rock, and the fortress at its top, from the Ghibellines who controlled it; however, the family could not hold on to it, and the Genoese wrested control back in 1301. When the Guelphs returned to power in Genoa, Charles Grimaldi, thenceforth known as Charles I of Monaco, retook the Rock, and is generally considered the founder of the dynasty.

Related Topics:
1297 - François Grimaldi - 1301 - Charles I of Monaco

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Until 2002, the stipulations of an agreement between Monaco and France stated that if the Grimaldi family ever failed to produce a lineal male heir that sovereignty over the area would revert to France. The 2002 agreement modified this to make provisions for a regency and continued Monegasque sovereignty if such an event were to occur.

Related Topics:
2002 - France - Sovereignty - Regency

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The current head of the House of Grimaldi and Prince of Monaco is Albert II.

Related Topics:
Prince of Monaco - Albert II

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