Category Archives: Monaco Royals

Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré Charles Anne Grimaldi was born in Paris, France on May 17, 1758. He was the elder of the two sons of Honoré III, Prince of Monaco and Maria Caterina Brignole who came from a Republic of Genoa (now in Italy) noble family. Honoré’s paternal grandparents were Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco for ten months before her death from smallpox, and Jacques I, briefly the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, born Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon. His maternal grandparents were Giuseppe Brignole, Marquis di Groppoli, the Ambassador to France from the Republic of Genoa, now in Italy, and Maria Anna Balbi.

Honoré IV had one younger brother:

Honoré IV’s parents had issues with their marriage. Honoré III and Maria Caterina initially lived in Monaco but by 1760, Honoré III was dissatisfied with his life there, and returned to France without his wife, spending time with his mistresses at his French homes. Eventually, Maria Caterina was allowed to come to France. However, Honoré III continued his affairs and Maria Caterina began an affair, that would become long-term, with Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé. In 1770, Louis Joseph used his influence to obtain a legal separation for Maria Caterina from Honoré III and the right to manage her own finances. Honoré III finally realized his relationship with Maria Caterina was over and eventually accepted Maria Caterina’s relationship with Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé. Three years after Honoré III’s death in 1798, Maria Caterina and Louis Joseph were married but their marriage was kept secret for ten years.

The Hôtel de Matignon, the Grimaldis’ Paris residence, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France; Credit – By ScareCriterion12 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62918157

Honoré IV and his brother Joseph grew up mostly in France, living in homes inherited from their paternal grandfather Jacques III Goyon de Matignon, Count of Thorigny: a Paris mansion, the Hôtel de Matignon, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France, and the Château des Matignon (link in French) in Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France. In 1641, during the reign of Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families.

Louise d’Aumont, Duchess of Mazarin; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré III arranged a marriage for his son Honoré (IV) to Louise d’Aumont, Duchess of Mazarin, Duchess of Mayenne, Duchess of Meilleraye, the only child of Louis Marie Guy d’Aumont de Rochebaron, Duke of Aumont (1732 – 1799) and Louise-Jeanne de Durfort, Duchess of Mazarin, Duchess of Mayenne, Duchess of Meilleraye (1735 – 1781). Through her mother, Louise was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Hortense Mancini, Duchess of Mazarin, Duchess of Mayenne, Duchess of Meilleraye, the mistress of King Charles II of England, and one of the two heirs of her uncle Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the First Minister of King Louis XIV of France. Louise was the heir of Hortense Mancini’s titles and the Mazarin family wealth. Therefore, a marriage to Louise came with a large dowry and the prospect of a fortune. Honoré (IV) and Louise married on July 15, 1777. 

Honoré V, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage did produce two sons, both Sovereign Princes of Monaco:

Heads of aristocrats on pikes during the French Revolution; Credit – Wikipedia

The French Revolution had dire consequences for the Grimaldi family. In January 1793, Honoré III, Prince of Monaco was officially declared deposed and France annexed the Principality of Monaco. Members of the former ruling Grimaldi dynasty lost all aristocratic privileges in France, were dispossessed of their French property, and became French citizens.  During the Reign of Terror, in September 1793, Honoré (IV), his wife Louise, their son Florestan, and Honoré (IV)’s father Honoré III were arrested and imprisoned in Paris as enemies of the people. Louise and her son Florestan were rescued by a family doctor who forged release papers and hid them in his home until the Reign of Terror was over. The wife of Honoré IV’s brother Joseph was not as lucky. Joseph spent most of his time abroad negotiating foreign loans, making him a suspect of counter-revolutionary activities. When Joseph did become involved in a counter-revolution, his wife Marie Thérèse was arrested in the absence of her husband, condemned to death, and guillotined in 1794, one of the last victims before the end of the Reign of Terror.

In October 1794, Honoré III and Honoré (IV) were released from prison. Honoré III never recovered from his imprisonment and died in Paris on March 21, 1795, at the age of 74, but his burial place is unknown. Honoré IV, whose chronic ill health had been worsened by imprisonment, would have become Prince of Monaco but Monaco was no longer a sovereign monarchy. However, Honoré IV’s family properties in France were returned to him but they were in poor condition and all of the contents were gone.

In 1794, while Honoré IV was still in prison, Louise had given birth to an illegitimate daughter Amélie Céleste Erodore d’Aumont. The father of the child is believed to have been Antoine de Montazet, Archbishop of Lyon. After Honoré IV’s release from prison, Louise and Honoré IV’s marriage became unhappy and the couple separated. In 1798, Louise divorced Honoré IV, giving Louise sole access to her fortune.

The French Army during the Russian Campaign, 1812; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French. Honoré IV could not adapt to the new French society and remained an outsider. Because of a lack of funds, he needed to sell his family’s Paris and Normandy homes. Surprisingly, Honoré IV’s health improved and he joined the French Army. He was wounded during Napoleon’s Russian Campaign, lost the use of one arm, and was sent back to Paris.

After Napoleon’s defeat in 1814 and the Bourbon Restoration which saw Louis XVIII, a younger brother of the beheaded King Louis XVI, become King of France, Florestan’s uncle Joseph petitioned King Louis XVIII to restore the Principality of Monaco to the Grimaldi family. Florestan’s father Honoré IV finally became Sovereign Prince of Monaco in 1814. The independence of Monaco lasted for only one year. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna, an international diplomatic conference that reconstituted the European political order after the downfall of  Napoleon I, declared that Monaco would be a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

By the time Honoré IV became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, his physical condition had worsened and he was now paralyzed on one side of his body. Because of his condition, a regency was established to rule in his name. Honoré IV’s brother Joseph was regent from 1814 -1815 and then Florestan’s brother Honoré V served as regent until his father’s death in 1819 when he succeeded him as Honoré V, Prince of Monaco.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco died in Paris, France on February 16, 1819, aged 60. He was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_IV,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 22 March 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise d’Aumont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_d%27Aumont> [Accessed 22 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Honoré III, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/honore-iii-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 22 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Maria Caterina Brignole, Princess of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/maria-caterina-brignole-princess-of-monaco/> [Accessed 22 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Honoré IV (prince de Monaco) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_IV_(prince_de_Monaco)> [Accessed 22 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise d’Aumont — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_d%27Aumont> [Accessed 22 March 2022].

Maria Caterina Brignole, Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Maria Caterina Brignole, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Honoré III, Prince of Monaco, Maria Caterina Brignole, was born on October 7, 1737, at the Palazzo Rosso in the Republic of Genoa, now in Italy. She was the only child of Giuseppe Brignole Sale, 7th Marquis di Groppoli, an Ambassador of the Republic of Genoa to France, and Maria Anna Balbi. After the death of his brother Gian Giacomo Brignole Sale (1696 – 1734), Giuseppe married his brother’s wife Maria Anna Balbi. Maria Caterina’s parents came from two of the most powerful and wealthy families in the Republic of Genoa. Her paternal grandparents were cousins Anton Giulio II Brignole Sale, 5th Marquis of Groppoli (1673 – 1710 ), an Ambassador of the Republic of Genoa to France, and Isabella Brignole. Two of Maria Caterina’s paternal uncles had been the Doge (ruler) of the Republic of Genoa. Maria Caterina’s maternal grandparents were Francesco Maria Balbi (1671 – 1747), a Doge of the Republic of Genoa and Maria Clarice Durazzo, who also had Doges of the Republic of Genoa in her family.

Because her father was the ambassador to the French court, Maria Caterina and her mother Maria Anna took part in French high society, frequenting the salons in Paris and the Palace of Versailles. Maria Anna had several affairs including one with Honoré III, Prince of Monaco, her daughter’s future husband, and another with Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu.

Honoré III, Prince of Monaco, first husband of Maria Caterina; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1755, a marriage was proposed between 18-year-old Maria Caterina and 35-year-old Honoré III, Prince of Monaco who was eager to marry to provide Monaco with an heir and to obtain Maria Caterina’s large dowry. However, Maria Caterina’s father opposed the marriage because of Honoré’s bad reputation and because of his fear that Honoré might inherit his fortune. In 1756, only after the intervention of King Louis XV of France and his mistress Madame de Pompadour did Maria Caternina’s father consent to the marriage.

The wedding of Honoré III and Maria Caterina was to occur on July 5, 1757, in Monaco, and it got off on a bad foot. Maria Caterina and her mother traveled to Monaco by boat accompanied by a contingent of Genovese nobility. When they arrived, Honoré did not come aboard the ship to welcome his bride. He said his status as a monarch demanded that Maria Caterina come to him. The Genovese contingent refused, saying that Maria Caterina was a member of a ruling family of the Republic of Genoa. The ship was stranded offshore for several days while a bridge was built between the port and Maria Caterina’s ship. Honoré and Maria Caterina walked towards each other at the same distance and met each other over the sea.

Honoré III and Maria Caterina had two sons:

The Hôtel de Matignon, Honoré III’s Paris home; Credit – By ScareCriterion12 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62918157

Honoré III and Maria Caterina initially lived in Monaco but by 1760, Honoré was dissatisfied with his life there, and returned to France without his wife, spending time with his mistresses at his French homes. Eventually, Maria Caterina was allowed to come to France. She lived at the Hôtel Matignon, Honoré’s home in Paris. However, she rarely participated in social events. She spent time with Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, a great-grandson of Louis XIV, King of France and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan. Louis Joseph’s wife Charlotte de Rohan had died in 1760. During the reigns of King Louis XV and his grandson King Louis XVI, Louis Joseph held the position of Grand Maître de France, the head of the King’s household.

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé;  Credit – Wikipedia

In 1765, rumors reached Honoré III that Louis Joseph was courting Maria Caterina. Being somewhat hypocritical, he left his mistress at his home in Normandy and went to Paris to scold Maria Caterina. Initially, Maria Caterina regarded Louis Joseph as just a friend, but she returned Louis Joseph’s feelings, and the two became involved in a love affair. After that, Honoré III and Maria Caterina lived separate lives with their lovers. Eventually, Maria Caterina set up a home in the Hôtel de Lassay, an annex of the Palais-Bourbon, Louis Joseph’s residence in Paris, now the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament.

However, in 1770, Honoré III made one last attempt to keep a hold on Maria Caterina. He planned to send Maria Caterina to Monaco and close the borders to prevent her from escaping. Before this could happen Maria Caterina left Paris to seek asylum at the Convent of the Visitation in Le Mans, France. Louis Joseph used his influence to obtain a legal separation for Maria Caterina from Honoré and the right to manage her own finances. Honoré finally realized his relationship with Maria Caterina was over and eventually accepted Maria Caterina’s relationship with Louis Joseph. There was never a divorce or annulment. Honoré continued with his mistresses and he allowed Maria Caterina to see her two sons.

Maria Caterina; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1774, Marie Antoinette, the wife of the new King of France, Louis XVI, offended Louis Joseph, who was Grand Maître de France, the head of the King’s household, by refusing to receive Maria Caterina at court due to her status as a Louis Joseph’s mistress and as a separated woman. Maria Catarina and Louis Joseph lived in France until the French Revolution. After the Storming of the Bastille in 1789, Louis Joseph fled France, before the Reign of Terror, with Maria Caterina, and his son and grandson from his first marriage.

The French Revolution had dire consequences for Honoré III and the two sons he shared with Maria Caterina. They lost all aristocratic privileges in France and were dispossessed of their French property. In January 1793, Honoré III was officially declared deposed and France annexed the Principality of Monaco. During the Reign of Terror, in September 1793, Honoré III was arrested and imprisoned in Paris. Maria Catarina and Honoré III’s son Honoré (IV) was also arrested as were Honoré (IV)’s wife Louise d’Aumont and his son Florestan. Honoré (IV) was released after fifteen months in prison and his wife and son were saved by their family doctor.

However, Maria Catarina’s daughter-in-law, the wife of her son Joseph, was not as lucky. Joseph spent most of his time abroad negotiating foreign loans, making him a suspect of counter-revolutionary activities. Joseph did become involved in a counter-revolution in Vendée. His wife Marie Thérèse was arrested in the absence of her husband, condemned to death, and guillotined in 1794, one of the last victims before the end of the Reign of Terror.

Honoré III was eventually released from prison. He died soon afterward in Paris on March 21, 1795, at the age of 74, but his burial place is unknown. Following the defeat of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French in 1814, Maria Catarina’s son Honoré IV, aged 56 and in ill health since his imprisonment during the Reign of Terror, returned to Monaco where he reigned as Sovereign Prince until he died in 1819.

The Army of Condé; Credit – Wikipedia

As for, Maria Caterina and Louis Joseph, after they fled France, they settled in Koblenz in the Electorate of Saxony, now in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Koblenz became the home of many royalist émigrés who had fled France. Louis Joseph helped to organize and lead a counter-revolutionary army of émigrés called the Army of Condé. Maria Caterina used her fortune to help finance the exiled French community’s armed resistance. In 1792, the émigrée court at Koblenz was dissolved and Maria Caterina and Louis Joseph left for Great Britain.

Saint Aloysius Catholic Church in London, England where Maria Caterina is buried; Credit – https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol24/pt4/plate-86

Three years after the death of Honoré III, Maria Caterina and Louis Joseph were married on October 24, 1798, in London, England. Their marriage was kept secret for ten years and was not revealed until December 26, 1808. Maria Caterina, aged 76, died in Wimbledon, England on March 18, 1813, and was buried at Saint Aloysius Catholic Church in London, England, founded by Guy-Toussaint-Julien Carron, a French priest who had settled in England having fled the French Revolution.

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé; Credit – Wikipedia

After the defeat of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French in 1814, the Bourbon Restoration saw a younger brother of the beheaded King Louis XVI become King Louis XVIII of France. Louis Joseph returned to France and at the age of 78, resumed his duties as Grand Maître de France, in the household of King Louis XVIII. Louis Joseph survived Maria Caterina by five years, dying on May 13, 1818, at the Palais-Bourbon in Paris, France, aged 81. He was buried at the Basilica of St. Denis in St. Denis, France, near Paris.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Joseph,_Prince_of_Cond%C3%A9> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maria Caterina Brignole – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Caterina_Brignole> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Honoré III, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/honore-iii-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 13 March 2022].
  • geni_family_tree. 2022. Marie-Catherine Brignole, Princesse de Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Marie-Catherine-Brignole-Princesse-de-Monaco/5294696734550123378> [Accessed 13 March 2022].

Honoré III, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Honoré III, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré III, Prince of Monaco is the longest-reigning sovereign of Monaco but the French Revolution had dire consequences for his family and caused the Principality of Monaco to be annexed to France from 1793 until the defeat of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French in 1814. Honoré Camille Léonor Grimaldi was born on November 10, 1720, in Paris, France. He was the third of the nine children and the second but the eldest surviving of the six sons of Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco for ten months before her death from smallpox, and Jacques I, briefly the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, born Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon. Honoré’s maternal grandparents were Antonio I, Prince of Monaco and Marie of Lorraine. His paternal grandparents were the French nobles Jacques III Goyon de Matignon, Count of Thorigny, a Lieutenant General in the French army, (1644 – 1725) and Charlotte de Goyon de Matignon, Countess of Thorigny (1657 – 1721).

Honoré, on the left, with his siblings; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré III had eight siblings but only three survived to adulthood:

  • Antoine-Charles, Marquis des Baux and Count de Matignon, (1717 – 1718), died in infancy
  • Charlotte Thérèse Nathalie (1719 – 1790), a nun at the Convent of the Visitation in Paris, France
  • Charles, Count de Carladés and Count de Matignon (1722 – 1749), unmarried, died from smallpox at the age of 27
  • Jacques (born and died 1723), died in infancy
  • Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle des Baux (1724 – 1729), died in childhood
  • François-Charles, Count of Thorigny (1726 – 1743), died in his teens
  • Charles-Maurice, Count de Valentinois (1727 – 1798), married Marie Christine Chrétienne de Rouvrois, no children
  • Marie Françoise Thérése, Mademoiselle d’Estouteville (1728 – 1743), died in her teens

In 1641, during the reign of Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families.

Honoré III’s parents Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques; Credit – Wikipedia

Because of the poor relationship of his maternal grandparents, Honoré III’s parents Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques decided to live in France. They spent their time between Jacques’ mansion in Paris, the Hôtel de Matignon, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France, and Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France where the de Goyon de Matignon family chateau, Château des Matignon, was located. Honoré was mostly raised at the French court under the supervision of Anne Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon, Duchess of Maine, the wife of Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Duke of Maine, King Louis XIV’s legitimized son by his official mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan.

On February 20, 1731, Honoré III’s maternal grandfather Antonio I, Prince of Monaco died and his mother Louise-Hippolyte was now the Sovereign Princess of Monaco. Louise-Hippolyte had a very short reign of ten months. Several weeks before Christmas 1731, a smallpox epidemic spread through the Mediterranean coastal areas. Louise-Hippolyte died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731.

Upon Louise-Hippolyte’s death, her husband Jacques was now the legal guardian of their ten-year-old eldest son Honoré and had a plan. Jacques should rule as Prince of Monaco until Honoré reached his twenty-fifth birthday. At that time, Honoré would abdicate in favor of his father following the example of sons who gave up to their fathers land they had inherited through their mothers. Although the plan was initially accepted, it met with increasing opposition.

The Hôtel de Matignon where Honoré lived in Paris; Credit – By ScareCriterion12 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62918157

Finally, in May 1732, Jacques handed over the rule of Monaco to his brother-in-law Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi, an illegitimate son of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. Jacques’ official abdication date was November 7, 1733, but he had long since returned to Paris with his eldest son, now technically Honoré III, Prince of Monaco. Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi became Governor-General of Monaco and was the de facto ruler of Monaco from 1732 until he died in 1784, and ably served as regent for more than fifty years for his nephew Honoré III. Honoré resided at his father’s Paris home the Hôtel de Matignon and spent much time at the French court at the Palace of Versailles. His father Jacques lived the remainder of his life in France, dying aged 61, on April 23, 1751, at his Paris home, the Hôtel de Matignon.

As Colonel of the Regiment of Monaco, part of the French army, Honoré III took part in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) and was wounded at the 1746 Battle of Rocoux and then at the 1747 Battle of Lawfeld. Honoré had close ties to the French kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. In 1756, Honoré decreed that Monaco would be ceded to the King of France if the Grimaldi dynasty was to die out.

Maria Caterina Brignole, Honoré’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

Over the years, Honoré III had declined many marriage proposals. In 1755, a marriage was proposed between 35-year-old Honoré and 18-year-old Maria Caterina Brignole, daughter of Giuseppe Brignole, Marquis di Groppoli, the Ambassador to France from the Republic of Genoa, now in Italy, and Maria Anna Balbi. Maria Caterina’s parents came from two of the most powerful families in the Republic of Genoa. Her paternal grandfather Anton Giulio Brignole Sale, 5th Marquis of Groppoli had been Ambassador of the Republic of Genoa to France.  Two of her paternal uncles were Doges of the Republic of Genoa. Maria Caterina’s maternal grandfather Francesco Maria Balbi also had been a Doge of the Republic of Genoa.

Honoré III had previously been the lover of Maria Caterina’s mother but wished to marry to provide an heir to the throne of Monaco. However, Maria Caterina’s father opposed the marriage because of Honoré’s bad reputation and his fear that Honoré might inherit his fortune. In 1756, only after the intervention of King Louis XV of France and his mistress Madame de Pompadour did Maria Caternina’s father consent to the marriage.

The wedding of Honoré III and Maria Caterina was to occur on July 5, 1757, in Monaco, and it got off on a bad foot. Maria Caterina traveled to Monaco by boat accompanied by a contingent of Genovese nobility. When they arrived, Honoré did not come aboard the ship to welcome his bride. He said his status as a monarch demanded that Maria Caterina come to him. The Genovese contingent refused, saying that Maria Caterina was a member of a ruling family of the Republic of Genoa. The ship was stranded offshore for several days while a bridge was built between the port and Maria Caterina’s ship. Honoré and Maria Caterina walked towards each other at the same distance and met each other over the sea.

Honoré III and Maria Caterina had two sons:

Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, the lover of Maria Caterina; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré III and Maria Caterina initially lived in Monaco but by 1760, Honoré was dissatisfied with his life there, and returned to France without his wife, spending time with his mistresses at his French homes. Eventually, Maria Caterina was allowed to come to France. However, Honoré continued his affairs and Maria Caterina began an affair, that would become long-term, with Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé. In 1770, Louis Joseph used his influence to obtain a legal separation for Maria Caterina from Honoré and the right to manage her own finances. Honoré finally realized his relationship with Maria Caterina was over and eventually accepted Maria Caterina’s relationship with Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé. Three years after Honoré’s death, Maria Caterina and Louis Joseph were married but their marriage was kept secret for ten years.

The French Revolution had dire consequences for Honoré III and his family. The Grimaldi family lost all aristocratic privileges in France and was dispossessed of their French property. In January 1793, Honoré III was officially declared deposed and the Principality of Monaco was annexed by France. During the Reign of Terror, in September 1793, Honoré III was arrested and imprisoned in Paris. Honoré III’s son Honoré (IV) was also arrested as were Honoré (IV)’s wife Louise d’Aumont and his son Florestan. Honoré (IV) was released after fifteen months in prison and his wife and son were saved by their family doctor.

The last victims of the Reign of Terror on their way to the guillotine – Among them was Honoré III’s daughter-in-law Marie Thérèse de Choiseul

The wife of Honoré III’s other son Joseph was not as lucky. Joseph spent most of his time abroad negotiating foreign loans, making him a suspect of counter-revolutionary activities. Joseph did become involved in a counter-revolution in Vendée. His wife Marie Thérèse was arrested in the absence of her husband, condemned to death, and guillotined in 1794, one of the last victims before the end of the Reign of Terror.

Honoré III was eventually released from prison. He died soon afterward in Paris on March 21, 1795, at the age of 74, but his burial place is unknown. At 59 years, the reign of Honoré III remains the longest in the history of Monaco. Following the defeat of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French in 1814, Honoré III’s son Honoré IV, aged 56 and in ill health since his imprisonment during the Reign of Terror, returned to Monaco where he reigned as Sovereign Prince until he died in 1819.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2022. Honoré III. (Monaco) – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_III._(Monaco)> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Honoré III, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_III,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Maria Caterina Brignole – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Caterina_Brignole> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Jacques I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/jacques-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Honoré III (prince de Monaco) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_III_(prince_de_Monaco)> [Accessed 8 March 2022].

Jacques I, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Jacques I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Jacques was the husband of Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco and was briefly the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. From a wealthy French noble family, Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon was born at the de Goyon de Matignon family chateau, Château des Matignon, in Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France, on November 21, 1689. He was the elder of the two sons and the second of the three children of first cousins Jacques III Goyon de Matignon, Count of Thorigny, a Lieutenant General in the French army, (1644 – 1725) and Charlotte de Goyon de Matignon, Countess of Thorigny (1657 – 1721).

  • Catherine Elisabeth de Goyon de Matignon (1677 – 1706), married Louis Jean Baptiste de Goyon de Matignon, Count of Gacé and de Montmartin
  • Male, name unknown (1690 – 1694)

In 1641, during the reign of Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes.  Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families, so it would not be unusual for Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, to look for a prospective husband for his elder surviving daughter Louise-Hippolyte, among young men from noble French families.

Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise-Hippolyte occupied an unprecedented position in the Princely Family of Monaco. The greatest concern of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco was the future of the House of Grimaldi. Because Antonio’s only legitimate children were all daughters, the heir to the throne was his only brother François Honoré Grimaldi, a Catholic priest with the title Monsieur l’Abbé de Monaco, later Archbishop of Besançon. In 1715, François Honoré renounced his claims to the throne of Monaco and Antonio’s elder surviving daughter Louise Hippolyte became his heir. Antonio decided, with the permission of King Louis XIV of France, that Louise Hippolyte’s husband would take the surname Grimaldi and jointly rule Monaco with her.

However, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco and his wife, born Marie of Lorraine, a daughter of Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac, a member of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine, who held the rank of prince étranger at the French court, butted heads over prospective husbands for their elder daughter. Marie, supported by her family, refused to consent to Antonio’s choice. This resulted in a conflict that lasted for two years and greatly angered King Louis XIV of France. Marie told Louise-Hippolyte to refuse her father’s choice resulting in Antonio confining Louise-Hippolyte in a convent for two years. When Antonio discovered that his marriage plans for his daughter were not favored at the French court, he was forced to release Louise-Hippolyte from her convent confinement and forgo his marriage plans. However, Marie had another trick up her sleeve. She arranged for the Duchess de Lude to suggest the wealthy Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon as a husband for Louise-Hippolyte, and Antonio agreed. When Antonio later found out that Marie had manipulated his choice by having the Duchess de Lude suggest Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon, his already poor relationship with Marie and Antonio further worsened.

On October 20, 1715, 26-year-old Jacques married 18-year-old Louise-Hippolyte, the heir to the throne of Monaco, with the promise that he would jointly reign with her as Jacques I, Prince of Monaco.

The children of Jacques and Louise-Hippolyte; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques had nine children but only four survived to adulthood:

  • Antoine-Charles, Marquis des Baux and Count de Matignon, (1717 – 1718), died in infancy
  • Charlotte Thérèse Nathalie (1719 – 1790), a nun at the Convent of the Visitation in Paris, France
  • Honoré III, Prince of Monaco (1720 – 1795), married Maria Caterina Brignole, had two sons including Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco
  • Charles, Count de Carladés and Count de Matignon (1722 – 1749), unmarried, died from smallpox at the age of 27
  • Jacques (born and died 1723), died in infancy
  • Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle des Baux (1724 – 1729), died in childhood
  • François-Charles, Count of Thorigny (1726 – 1743), died in his teens
  • Charles-Maurice, Count de Valentinois (1727 – 1798), married Marie Christine Chrétienne de Rouvrois, no children
  • Marie Françoise Thérése, Mademoiselle d’Estouteville (1728 – 1743), died in her teens

The Hôtel de Matignon, Jacques’ Paris residence, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France; Credit – By ScareCriterion12 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62918157

Because of the poor relationship between Louise-Hippolyte’s parents, the couple decided to live in France. They spent their time between Jacques’ mansion in Paris, the Hôtel de Matignon, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France, and Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France where the de Goyon de Matignon family chateau, Château des Matignon, was located. Highly unusual for the time, Jacques was faithful to his wife and the marriage was happy.

The Château des Matignon, Jacques’ family home in Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France; Credit – Par Selbymay Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62739796

On February 20, 1731, at the age of 70, Jacques’ father-in-law Antonio I, Prince of Monaco died. His wife Louise-Hippolyte was now the Sovereign Princess of Monaco, and Jacques was to co-reign. However, Louise-Hippolyte traveled alone from Paris to Monaco, arriving on April 4, 1731, when the people of Monaco received her enthusiastically. Louise-Hippolyte immediately took the oath of loyalty but there was no mention of her husband Jacques. According to the decision made years earlier by Louise-Hippolyte’s father, her husband would take the surname Grimaldi (which Jacques had done) and jointly rule Monaco with her as Jacques I, Prince of Monaco. However, Louise-Hippolyte decreed that she would be the sole ruler, all documents would be issued in her name only, and her husband and children would stay in France.

While historians have differing opinions about what caused Louise-Hippolyte’s behavior, it appears likely that she was not really happy with her marriage. Jacques and their children came to Monaco a few weeks after Louise-Hippolyte had taken the oath of loyalty but he stayed for a short time before returning to France alone. The rumors at the French court said that Jacques had wished to be named along with his wife in the official proclamation of accession, and when that was denied, the couple separated.

Louise-Hippolyte had a very short reign of ten months. Several weeks before Christmas of 1731, a smallpox epidemic spread through the Mediterranean coastal areas. Louise-Hippolyte died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731. Upon Louise-Hippolyte’s death, Jacques, now the legal guardian of their eldest son Honoré, returned to Monaco with a plan. Jacques should rule as Prince of Monaco until Honoré reached his twenty-fifth birthday. At that time, Honoré would abdicate in favor of his father following the example of sons who gave up their fathers’ land they had inherited through their mothers. Although the plan was initially accepted, it met with increasing opposition. It is possible that Louise-Hippolyte had suspected her husband was power-hungry and that was why she denied him being named as her co-ruler.

Finally, in May 1732, Jacques handed over the rule of Monaco to his brother-in-law Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi, an illegitimate son of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. Jacques’ official abdication date was November 7, 1733, but he had long since returned to Paris with his son who was now technically Honoré III, Prince of Monaco. Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi became Governor-General of Monaco, was the de facto ruler of Monaco from 1732 until he died in 1784, and ably served as regent for more than fifty years for his nephew Honoré III, even after Honoré returned to Monaco.

Jacques spent the last nineteen years of his life living at his Paris mansion, the Hôtel de Matignon, and the de Goyon de Matignon family chateau, Château des Matignon, in Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France, in addition to spending time at the French court at the Palace of Versailles. In 1740, a second marriage was proposed for Jacques with Louise-Françoise de Bourbon-Maine, a granddaughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan. However, the marriage never occurred and Jacques never remarried.

Église Saint-Laurent, the church where Jacques was buried; Credit – Wikipedia

The former Jacques I, Prince of Monaco, died, aged 61, on April 23, 1751, at his Paris home, the Hôtel de Matignon. He was buried at the Église Saint-Laurent, the burial site of Jacques’ birth family, in Torigni-sur-Vire in France, but his remains were lost during the French Revolution.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jacques I, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_I,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Hippolyte,_Princess_of_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Unofficial Royalty. [online] Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louise-hippolyte-sovereign-princess-of-monaco/> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
  • geni_family_tree. 2022. Jacques I, V. prince de Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Jacques-I-V-prince-de-Monaco/5294705825110117665> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise-Hippolyte av Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise-Hippolyte_av_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].

Louise-Hippolyte, Sovereign Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Louise-Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on November 10, 1697, at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco, Louise-Hippolyte was the second but the eldest surviving of the six daughters of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco and Marie of Lorraine. Louise-Hippolyte’s paternal grandparents were Louis I, Prince of Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, from a French noble family. Her maternal grandparents were Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac and Catherine de Neufvill. Her maternal grandfather was a member of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine, and held the rank of prince étranger at the French court.

Louise-Hippolyte as a child

Louise-Hippolyte had five sisters but only one survived to adulthood:

  • Caterina Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Monaco (1691 – 1696), died in childhood
  • Elisabetta Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Valentinois (1698 – 1702), died in childhood
  • Margherita Camilla, Mademoiselle de Carlades (1700 – 1758), married Louis de Gand de Mérode de Montmorency, Prince of Isenghien (his third marriage), no children
  • Maria Devota, Mademoiselle des Baux (1702 – 1703), died in childhood
  • Maria Paolina Theresa Devota, Mademoiselle de Chabreuil (1708 – 1726), unmarried, died at age 18

Louise-Hippolyte’s father Antonio I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

The greatest concern of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco was the future of the House of Grimaldi. Because Antonio’s only legitimate children were all daughters, the heir to the throne was his only brother François Honoré Grimaldi, a Catholic priest with the title Monsieur l’Abbé de Monaco, later Archbishop of Besançon. In 1715, François Honoré renounced his claims to the throne of Monaco and Antonio’s elder surviving daughter Louise Hippolyte became his heir. Antonio decided, with the permission of King Louis XIV of France, that Louise Hippolyte’s husband would take the surname Grimaldi and jointly rule Monaco with her.

In 1641, during the reign of Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families.

Marie of Lorraine, Louise-Hippolyte’s mother; Credit – Wikipedia

The marriage of Louise-Hippolyte’s parents Antonio and Marie was not happy, and they butted heads over prospective husbands for their elder daughter. Marie, supported by her family, refused to consent to Antonio’s choice. This resulted in a conflict that lasted for two years and greatly angered King Louis XIV of France. Marie told Louise-Hippolyte to refuse her father’s choice resulting in Antonio confining Louise-Hippolyte in a convent for two years. When Antonio discovered that his marriage plans for his daughter were not favored at the French court, he was forced to release Louise-Hippolyte from her convent confinement and forgo his marriage plans. However, Marie had another trick up her sleeve. She arranged for the Duchess de Lude to suggest the wealthy Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon as a husband for Louise-Hippolyte, and Antonio agreed. When he later discovered that Marie had manipulated his choice by having the Duchess de Lude suggest Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon, the relationship between Marie and Antonio worsened.

Louise-Hippolyte’s husband Jacques Goyon de Matignon; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 20, 1715, 18-year-old Louise-Hippolyte married 26-year-old French noble Jacques François Leonor Goyon de Matignon, the son of first cousins Jacques III Goyon de Matignon, Count of Thorigny (1644 – 1725) and Charlotte de Goyon de Matignon, Countess of Thorigny (1657 – 1721).

The children of Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques; Credit – Wikipedia

Louise-Hippolyte and Jacques had nine children but only four survived to adulthood:

  • Antoine-Charles, Marquis des Baux and Count de Matignon, (1717 – 1718), died in infancy
  • Charlotte Thérèse Nathalie (1719 – 1790), a nun at the Convent of the Visitation in Paris, France
  • Honoré III, Prince of Monaco (1720 – 1795), married Maria Caterina Brignole, had two sons including Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco
  • Charles, Count de Carladés and Count de Matignon (1722 – 1749), unmarried, died from smallpox at the age of 27
  • Jacques (born and died 1723), died in infancy
  • Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle des Baux (1724 – 1729), died in childhood
  • François-Charles, Count of Thorigny (1726 – 1743), died in his teens
  • Charles-Maurice, Count de Valentinois (1727 – 1798), married Marie Christine Chrétienne de Rouvrois, no children
  • Marie Françoise Thérése, Mademoiselle d’Estouteville (1728 – 1743), died in her teens

Jacques’ mansion in Paris, the Hôtel de Matignon; Credit – By ScareCriterion12 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62918157

Because of her parents’ poor relationship, Louise-Hippolyte and her husband Jacques decided to live in France. They spent their time between Jacques’ mansion in Paris, the Hôtel de Matignon, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of France, and Torigni-sur-Vire in Normandy, France where the de Goyon de Matignon family chateau, Château des Matignon, was located. Highly unusual for the time, Jacques was faithful to his wife and the marriage was happy.

When Louise-Hippolyte’s mother Marie died in 1724, she left her possessions and a sizable monetary inheritance to her elder daughter Louise-Hippolyte. Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, always in financial difficulties, contested his deceased wife’s will. Naturally, this caused a strained relationship between Antonio and his daughter and her husband. By 1730, the lawsuit still was not settled and Antonio’s health was failing. Louise-Hippolyte and her second surviving son eight-year-old Charles, Count of Carlades traveled from France to visit Antonio. During a six-week visit, Antonio and Louise Hippolyte reconciled.

On February 20, 1731, at the age of 70, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco died. Louise-Hippolyte was now the Sovereign Princess of Monaco. She traveled alone from Paris to Monaco, arriving on April 4, 1731, and was received enthusiastically by the people of Monaco. Louise-Hippolyte immediately took the oath of loyalty but there was no mention of her husband Jacques. According to the decision made years earlier by Louise-Hippolyte’s father, her husband would take the surname Grimaldi (which Jacques had done) and jointly rule Monaco with her as Jacques I, Prince of Monaco. However, Louise-Hippolyte decreed that she would be the sole ruler, all documents would be issued in her name only, and her husband and children would stay in France.

While historians have differing opinions about what caused Louise-Hippolyte’s behavior, it appears likely that she was not happy with her marriage. Jacques and their children came to Monaco a few weeks after Louise-Hippolyte had taken the oath of loyalty but he stayed for a short time before returning to France alone. The rumors at the French court said that Jacques had wished to be named along with his wife in the official proclamation of accession, and when that was denied, the couple separated.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Louise-Hippolyte had a very short reign of ten months. Several weeks before Christmas 1731, a smallpox epidemic spread through the Mediterranean coastal areas. Louise-Hippolyte died from smallpox, aged 34, on December 29, 1731, and was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

Upon Louise-Hippolyte’s death, her husband Jacques, now the legal guardian of their eldest son Honoré, returned to Monaco with a plan. Jacques would rule as Prince of Monaco until Honoré reached his twenty-fifth birthday. At that time, Honoré would abdicate in favor of his father following the example of sons who gave up to their fathers land they had inherited through their mothers. Although the plan was initially accepted, it met with increasing opposition. It is possible that Louise-Hippolyte suspected her husband was power-hungry and that was why she denied him being named as her co-ruler.

Finally, in May 1732, Jacques handed over the rule of Monaco to his brother-in-law Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi, an illegitimate son of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. Jacques’ official abdication date was November 7, 1733, but he had long since returned to Paris with his son who was now technically Honoré III, Prince of Monaco. Antonio Grimaldi, Chevalier de Grimaldi became Governor-General of Monaco, was the de facto ruler of Monaco from 1732 until he died in 1784, and ably served as regent for more than fifty years for his nephew Honoré III, even after Honoré returned to Monaco.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Jacques I, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_I,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Hippolyte,_Princess_of_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/antonio-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 24 February 2022].
  • Sv.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise-Hippolyte av Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise-Hippolyte_av_Monaco> [Accessed 25 February 2022].

Marie of Lorraine, Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Marie of Lorraine, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Born in Paris, France, on August 12, 1674, Marie of Lorraine was the wife of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. She was the ninth of the fourteen children and the fifth of the seven daughters of Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac and Catherine de Neufville. Marie’s father was a member of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine, and held the rank of prince étranger at the French court. He was the Grand Squire of France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, and a member of the Household of King Louis XIV of France. Marie’s grandparents were all members of the French nobility. Her paternal grandparents were Henri of Lorraine, Count of Harcourt and Marguerite Philippe du Cambout. Her maternal grandparents were Nicolas de Neufville, Duke of Villeroy, a Marshal of France and the governor of King Louis XIV of France during his childhood, and Madeleine de Blanchefort de Créquy.

Marie had thirteen siblings:

  • Henri of Lorraine, Count of Brionne (1661 – 1713), married Marie Madeleine d’Épinay, had two children
  • Marguerite of Lorraine (1662 – 1730) married (third wife) Nuno Álvares Pereira de Melo, 1st Duke of Cadaval, had ten children
  • Françoise of Lorraine (born and died 1664), died in infancy
  • François Armand of Lorraine, Abbot of Royaumont. Bishop of Bayeux (1665 – 1728), Catholic priest
  • Camille of Lorraine, Count of Chamilly (1666 – 1715), unmarried
  • Armande of Lorraine (1668 – 1681), died at age 13
  • Isabelle of Lorraine (born and died 1671), died in infancy
  • Philippe of Lorraine (1673 – 1677), died in childhood
  • Louis Alphonse of Lorraine (1675 – 1704), unmarried, French naval officer died at the naval Battle of Vélez-Málaga during the War of the Spanish Succession
  • Charlotte of Lorraine, Mademoiselle d’Armagnac (1678 – 1757), unmarried
  • François of Lorraine, Abbot of the Abbey of La Chaise Dieu (1680 – 1712)
  • Marguerite of Lorraine (born and died 1681), died in infancy
  • Charles of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac, Lieutenant General of the King’s Armies (1684 – 1751), married Françoise Adélaide de Noailles, daughter of Adrien Maurice de Noailles, duc de Noailles, no children

Marie and her sister Charlotte; Credit – Wikipedia

Monaco became a French protectorate in 1641, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families.

Marie’s husband, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 13, 1688, in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France 14-year-old Marie married 27-year-old Antonio, the future Prince of Monaco, the son of Louis I, Prince of Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, from a French noble family. Both King Louis XIV and his morganatic second wife Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon approved of the marriage. Louis XIV gave the couple a chateau outside of Paris as a wedding gift.

Antonio and Marie had six daughters but only two survived to adulthood. The elder surviving daughter Louise-Hippolyte succeeded her father as the reigning Princess of Monaco.

  • Caterina Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Monaco (1691 – 1696), died in childhood
  • Louise-Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco (1697 – 1731), married Jacques François Goyon, Count de Matignon, later Jacques I, Prince of Monaco, had nine children including Honoré II, Prince of Monaco
  • Elisabetta Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Valentinois (1698 – 1702), died in childhood
  • Margherita Camilla, Mademoiselle de Carlades (1700 – 1758), married Louis de Gand de Mérode de Montmorency, Prince of Isenghien (his third marriage), no children
  • Maria Devota, Mademoiselle des Baux (1702 – 1703), died in childhood
  • Maria Paolina Theresa Devota, Mademoiselle de Chabreuil (1708 – 1726), unmarried, died at age 18

The marriage was not happy. In what seems to have become a Grimaldi tradition, Antonio had several illegitimate children from different affairs. Marie responded by finding lovers of her own. Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon, a soldier, diplomat, and memoirist, said of Marie, that she “was a charming young thing… spoilt by her parents’ fondness for her and by the attentions of the courtiers who frequented the Lorraine household…Her husband, very sensibly, realized he hadn’t the upper hand.”

In 1692, while Antonio served in the French military, Marie was sent to Monaco. When Antonio was discharged from the military, Marie insisted upon returning to France. She caused a great scandal when she claimed her father-in-law Louis I, Prince of Monaco had made unwanted sexual advances to her. Whether this was true or not, Marie and Antonio returned to the French court. Marie and Antonio’s relationship did not improve. They did reconcile in 1696, when their only child, five-year-old Caterina Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Monaco, died. Marie’s mother and King Louis XIV insisted that Marie and Antonio reunite to provide Monaco with an heir. From 1697 – 1712, Marie and Antonio lived in Monaco, but Antonio spent most of his time in the Giardinetto, the cottage he had built for his mistress, and Marie lived in a summer house that she jokingly called Mon Desert (my desert). The couple had five daughters, but no sons, between 1697 and 1708 but only two survived to adulthood. During this period, on January 3, 1701, Antonio became Prince of Monaco upon the death of his father Louis I, Prince of Monaco.

Louise-Hippolyte, Marie and Antonio’s eldest surviving daughter and Antonio’s successor; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie and Antonio butted heads over the marriage of their elder surviving daughter and Antonio’s heir, Louise-Hippolyte. There was no disagreement over Antonio’s decision, with the permission of King Louis XIV, that Louise-Hippolyte’s husband would take the surname Grimaldi and jointly rule Monaco with her. However, there was a heated disagreement over prospective husbands. Marie, supported by her family, refused to consent to Antonio’s choice. This resulted in a conflict that lasted for two years and greatly angered King Louis XIV. Marie told Louise-Hippolyte to refuse her father’s choice, resulting in Antonio confining Louise-Hippolyte in a convent. When Antonio discovered that his marriage plans for his daughter were not favored at the French court, he was forced to release Louise-Hippolyte from her convent confinement and forgo his marriage plans. However, Marie had another trick up her sleeve. She arranged for the Duchess de Lude to suggest Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon as a husband for Louise-Hippolyte, and Antonio agreed. When he later found out that Marie had manipulated his choice by having the Duchess de Lude suggest Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon, the relationship between Marie and Antonio further worsened.

The Cathedral of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Marie spent the last years of her life quietly, frequently returning to the French court. She died at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco on October 30, 1724, at the age of 50, and was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

Marie’s husband Antonio did not mourn her death at all. Marie left her possessions and a large monetary inheritance to her elder daughter Louise-Hippolyte. Antonio, who was always in financial difficulties, contested her will. Naturally, this caused a strained relationship between Antonio and his daughter and her husband. Antonio survived his wife by a little more than six years, dying on February 20, 1731, at the age of 70. He was succeeded by Louise-Hippolyte who had a very short reign of ten months. She died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Christies.com. 1997. Portrait of Marie de Lorraine (1674-1724), Duchesse de Valentinois and her younger sister Charlotte de Lorraine (1678-1757), Mademoiselle d’Armagnac by Nicolas Fouché (1653-1733). [online] Available at: <https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-314260/?intObjectID=314260> [Accessed 20 February 2022].
  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 February 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Antonio I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/antonio-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 20 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie de Lorraine — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_de_Lorraine> [Accessed 20 February 2022].

Antonio I, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Antonio I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on January 25, 1661, in Paris, France, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco was the elder of the two sons and the eldest of the six children of Louis I, Prince of Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont. Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux, who predeceased his father Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, and Maria Aurelia Spinola from the House of Spinola, a powerful and influential family from the Republic of Genoa, were his paternal grandparents. His maternal grandparents were Antoine III de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, a French military commander, diplomat, and Marshal of France, and Françoise Marguerite du Plessis, a niece of powerful Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu), who served as the First Minister of State to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 until he died in 1642.

Antonio had five younger siblings:

  • Maria Teresa Carlotta Grimaldi (1662 – 1738), twin of Jeanne Maria, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Visitandine convent in Monaco
  • Jeanne Maria Grimaldi (1662 – 1741) twin of Maria Teresa, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Abbey of Royallieu near Compiègne, France
  • Teresa Maria Aurelia Grimaldi (1663 – 1675), died in childhood
  • Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi (1664 – 1700), married Jacques de Crussol, Duc d’Uzès, no children
  • François Honoré Grimaldi, Archbishop of Besançon (1669 – 1748 – link in French)

In 1641, during the reign of Antonio’s great grandfather Honoré II, Monaco had become a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families, including Antonio’s father Louis. King Louis XIV of France was four years older than Louis and was his contemporary.

Marie of Lorraine, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

On June 13, 1688, in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France, Antonio married Marie of Lorraine, the daughter of Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac and Catherine de Neufville. Marie’s father was a member of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine, and held the rank of prince étranger at the French court. Her mother was the daughter of Nicolas de Neufville, Duke of Villeroy, a Marshal of France, and the governor of King Louis XIV during his childhood. Both King Louis XIV and his morganatic second wife Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon approved of the marriage. Louis XIV gave the couple a chateau outside of Paris as a wedding gift. The marriage was not happy. Antonio had affairs and illegitimate children and Marie responded by finding lovers of her own.

Louise Hippolyte, Antonio’s eldest surviving daughter and successor; Credit – Wikipedia

Antonio and Marie had six daughters but only two survived to adulthood. The elder surviving daughter Louise Hippolyte succeeded her father as the reigning Princess of Monaco.

  • Caterina Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Monaco (1691 – 1696), died in childhood
  • Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco (1697 – 1731), married Jacques François Goyon, Count de Matignon, later Jacques I, Prince of Monaco, had nine children, died from smallpox
  • Elisabetta Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Valentinois (1698 – 1702), died in childhood
  • Margherita Camilla, Mademoiselle de Carlades (1700 – 1758), married Louis de Gand de Mérode de Montmorency, Prince of Isenghien (his third marriage), no children
  • Maria Devota, Mademoiselle des Baux (1702 – 1703), died in childhood
  • Maria Paolina Theresa Devota, Mademoiselle de Chabreuil (1708 – 1726), unmarried, died at age 18

In addition, in what seems to have become a Grimaldi tradition, Antonio had several illegitimate children from different affairs. He acknowledged the following three:

with Elisabeth Dufort-Babé, a dancer at the Paris Opera:

with Victoire Vertu, a dancer at the Paris Opera:

  • Antoinette Grimaldi, Mademoiselle de Saint-Rémy

with an unidentified Provençal woman:

  • Louise Marie Therese Grimaldi (1705 – 1723)

In 1692, while Antonio served in the French military, his wife Marie was sent to Monaco. When Antonio was discharged from the military, Marie insisted upon returning to France. She caused a great scandal when she claimed her father-in-law Louis I, Prince of Monaco made unwanted sexual advances to her. Whether this was true or not, Marie and Antonio returned to the French court. Marie and Antonio’s relationship did not improve. They did reconcile in 1696, when their only child, five-year-old Caterina Charlotte, Mademoiselle de Monaco, died. Marie’s mother and King Louis XIV insisted that Marie and Antonio reunite to provide Monaco with an heir. In 1697, Marie and Antonio returned to Monaco. For the most part, Antonio remained in Monaco for the rest of his life. The couple did have more children between 1697 and 1708, five daughters, but no sons, and only two of the daughters survived to adulthood.

When his father died in 1710, Antonio became the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. With the help of André Cardinal Destouches, a French composer and manager of the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera), Antonio brought singers, dancers, and musicians from Paris to Monaco. He had a large room in the Prince’s Palace in Monaco converted into a concert hall with a stage where he conducted musical programs.

Antonio’s greatest concern was the future of the House of Grimaldi. Because Antonio’s only legitimate children were all daughters, the heir to the throne was his only brother François Honoré Grimaldi, a Catholic priest with the title Monsieur l’Abbé de Monaco, later Archbishop of Besançon. In 1715, François Honoré renounced his claims to the throne of Monaco and Antonio’s elder daughter Louise Hippolyte became his heir. With the permission of King Louis XIV of France, Antonio decided that Louise Hippolyte’s husband would take the surname Grimaldi and jointly rule Monaco with her. After heated disagreements with his wife Marie and his father-in-law Louis of Lorraine, Count of Armagnac over prospective husbands for Louise Hippolyte, Antonio finally chose Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon. When he later found out that his wife had manipulated his choice by having the Duchess de Lude suggest Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon, the relationship between Marie and Antonio worsened. However, Louise Hippolyte and her husband replenished the House of Grimaldi. They had nine children and five survived to adulthood.

Louise Hippolyte’s children, the grandchildren of Antonio, circa 1730; Credit – Wikipedia

When Antonio’s wife Marie died at the age of fifty on October 30, 1724, he did not mourn her death at all. Marie left her possessions and a sizable monetary inheritance to her elder daughter Louise Hippolyte. Antonio, who was always in financial difficulties, contested her will. Naturally, this caused a strained relationship between Antonio, his daughter and her husband.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

By 1730, the lawsuit was still not settled, and Antonio’s health was failing. Louise Hippolyte and her second surviving son eight-year-old Charles, Count of Carlades traveled from France to visit Antonio. During a six-week visit, Antonio and Louise Hippolyte reconciled. On February 20, 1731, at the age of 70, Antonio I, Prince of Monaco died at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco. He was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco. Antonio was succeeded by his daughter Louise Hippolyte who had a very short reign of ten months. She died from smallpox at the age of 34, on December 29, 1731.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Antonio I, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_I,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 4 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Hippolyte,_Princess_of_Monaco> [Accessed 4 February 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie of Lorraine – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Lorraine> [Accessed 4 February 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/catherine-charlotte-de-gramont-princess-of-monaco/> [Accessed 4 February 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Louis I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 4 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Antoine (prince de Monaco) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_(prince_de_Monaco)> [Accessed 4 February 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Marie de Lorraine — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_de_Lorraine> [Accessed 4 February 2022].

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont was the wife of Louis I, Prince of Monaco, and had many affairs at the French court including one with King Louis XIV. In 1641, during the reign of Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families, and Louis I, Prince of Monaco was no exception.

Born in 1639, Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco was the second of the four children and the elder of the two daughters of Antoine de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, a French military commander, diplomat, and a Marshal of France (1604 – 1678), and Françoise Marguerite du Plessis (1608 – 1689), a niece of the powerful late Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu), who served as the First Minister of State to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 until his death in 1642. Both Catherine-Charlotte’s parents came from French noble families.

Catherine-Charlotte had three siblings:

Like many other aristocratic girls, Catherine-Charlotte was educated at the Convent of the Visitation of Faubourg-Saint Jacques in Paris. When Catherine-Charlotte and her cousin Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem, later Duke of Lauzun, fell in love and her father refused his permission for them to marry, they became lovers.

Catherine-Charlotte’s cousin and lover, Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1651, when Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux, the only child and heir of Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, was killed in a firearms accident, Hercule’s only son, nine-year-old Louis, became the heir to his grandfather’s throne. Louis’ godparents were King Louis XIII of France, after whom he was named, and Louis XIII’s wife Anne of Austria. The current King of France, Louis XIV, was four years older than Louis and was his contemporary. When Louis reached a marriageable age, his grandfather Honoré II set out to find him a wife who was the daughter of a high noble at the French court.

Via a marriage to a member of the French nobility, Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Prince of Monaco hoped to strengthen the alliance between Monaco and France against Spain and obtain valuable connections to the French court. However, such a marriage would also benefit the family of Louis’ bride. Seven foreign princes, of which the Prince of Monaco was one, were recognized by the French Crown to owe a special loyalty to France. Called ducs et pairs étrangers (foreign dukes and peers), they were given extra privileges and took precedence over the French nobility. These foreign princes walked behind the princes of the blood royal in processions. Their wives also had privileges such as sitting on tabourets (stools) in the presence of the Queen. By marrying Louis, a future Prince of Monaco, the daughter of a French noble would be assured of social, economic, and court preeminence.

Louis I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Honoré II and his advisers went through a list of French nobles with marriageable daughters, and Catherine-Charlotte was chosen. Catherine-Charlotte was twenty, three years older than her prospective groom, but it was understood that she was unmarried because her father had refused to allow her to marry her cousin. Honoré II was assured that the affair between the cousins was over and that Catherine-Charlotte’s father would agree to the marriage. Only one of those statements turned out to be true.

The Chateau de Pau where Catherine-Charlotte and Louis were married; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 30, 1660, 21-year-old Catherine-Charlotte married 18-year-old Louis at the Gramont family’s Chateau de Pau in the Pyrenees Mountains in Pau, France. The newlyweds spent the month of April at the Chateau de Pau. They then traveled to Paris where they lived on the second floor of the Gramonts’ magnificent townhouse on the Rue de l’Autriche and regularly attended the French court. Despite being married and Honoré II being assured the affair was over, Catherine-Charlotte continued her affair with her cousin Antoine Nompar de Caumont.

Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, Catherine-Charlotte and Louis’ eldest child and Louis’ successor; Credit – Wikipedia

Louis and Catherine-Charlotte had six children. In 1663, they founded a convent of the Order of the Visitation of the Holy Mary (also known as the Visitandines) in Monaco. Their twin daughters became nuns at the convent.

  • Antonio I, Prince of Monaco (1661 – 1731), married Marie of Lorraine, had six daughters including his successor Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco
  • Maria Teresa Carlotta Grimaldi (1662 – 1738), twin of Jeanne Maria, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Visitandine convent in Monaco
  • Jeanne Maria Grimaldi (1662 – 1741) twin of Maria Teresa, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Abbey of Royallieu near Compiègne, France
  • Teresa Maria Aurelia Grimaldi (1663 – 1675), died in childhood
  • Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi (1664 – 1700), married Jacques de Crussol, Duc d’Uzès, no children
  • François Honoré Grimaldi, Archbishop of Besançon (1669 – 1748 – link in French)

After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Louis’ grandfather, died in 1662, and 20-year-old Louis became Prince of Monaco. Louis needed to return to Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte was forced to accompany him against her will. In 1665, Catherine-Charlotte left her husband and children in Monaco and returned to the French court because she found life at the Monaco court boring. Upon returning to the French court, Catherine-Charlotte was appointed a lady-in-waiting to Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the first wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV. Catherine-Charlotte resumed her affair with her cousin Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem.

King Louis XIV of France; Credit – Wikipedia

King Louis XIV, who was beginning to lose interest in his mistress Louise de la Vallière, began a relationship with Catherine-Charlotte in 1665. This was actually a plot by Henrietta, Duchess of Orléans to distract the king from Louise in the hopes that he would return her. King Louis XIV ordered Catherine-Charlotte’s cousin and lover, the Marquis de Puyguilhem, to leave Paris. When Puyguilhem refused to obey, he was sent to the Bastille for six months. When Puyguilhem was released from the Bastille, Catherine-Charlotte’s affair with King Louis XIV was already over. One night Louis XIV did not find the key to Catherine-Charlotte’s room in its usual place because it had been taken by another. Louis XIV did not return to Henrietta but began his long-time affair with Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, also known as Madame de Montespan.

Because of all the rumors swirling around his wife regarding her affairs, Louis I, Prince of Monaco decided to join his brother-in-law Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche in the Anglo-Dutch Wars fighting for the Dutch. While Louis was at war, Catherine-Charlotte remained at court and her affairs were scandalous. Among her affairs was one with Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine, the lover of King Louis XIV’s brother, and Henrietta’s husband, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.

In 1672, Louis and Catherine-Charlotte separated. Catherine-Charlotte obtained a position as a lady-in-waiting to Louis XIV’s mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, but the position lasted only one year. In the following years, she became seriously ill, probably with cancer. Catherine-Charlotte died at the Palais Royal in Paris, France on June 4, 1678, at the age of 39. She was buried at the now-destroyed Convent of the Capuchins in Paris, France. Catherine-Charlotte had not seen her husband Louis I, Prince of Monaco during the last six years of her life, and Louis showed no grief over her death. Louis survived Catherine-Charlotte by twenty-three years, dying from a stroke on January 3, 1701, aged 58, in Rome, then part of the Papal States, where he was serving as King Louis XIV’s ambassador to the Holy See in Rome.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Antoine III de Gramont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_III_de_Gramont> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Charlotte_de_Gramont> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, S., 2022. Louis I, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/louis-i-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Charlotte_de_Gramont> [Accessed 25 January 2022].
  • Historyandwomen.com. 2011. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont. [online] Available at: <https://www.historyandwomen.com/2011/11/catherine-charlotte-de-gramont.html> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

Louis I, Prince of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Louis I, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Born at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco on July 25, 1642, Louis I, Prince of Monaco was the eldest of the four children and the only son of Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux and Maria Aurelia Spinola. Louis’ paternal grandparents were Honoré II, Prince of Monaco and Ippolita Trivulzio who came from a noble Italian family. His maternal grandparents were Luca Spinola, Prince of Molfetta and Pellina Spinola who were both members of the House of Spinola, a powerful and influential family from the Republic of Genoa. Louis’ godparents were King Louis XIII of France, after whom he was named, and Louis XIII’s wife Anne of Austria.

Louis had three younger sisters:

  • Maria Ippolita Grimaldi (1644 – 1694), married Carlo Emaneule Filiberto de Simiane, 3rd Marchese di Pianezzo, Prince de Montafia, had one daughter
  • Giovanna Maria Grimaldi (1645 – ?), married Andrea Imperiali, 2nd Principe di Francavilla, had three children
  • Teresa Maria Grimaldi (1648 – 1723), married Sigismondo III d’Este, 4th Marchese di San Martino, had seven children

On August 1, 1651, Louis’ father, twenty-seven-year-old Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux, the only child and the heir of Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, went on a visit to the Convent of Carnoles in Mentone, then in Monaco but now in France. After the visit, he engaged in recreational shooting with some guards in the convent’s garden. Hercule was interested in how the gun worked and asked one of the guards to show him. The guard mishandled the gun and accidentally shot it toward Hercule and two other guards. All three were wounded. Fatally wounded in the spine, Hercule died the next day, and nine-year-old Louis became heir apparent to the throne of Monaco and would succeed his grandfather Honoré II in 1662.

Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1641, during the reign of Louis’ grandfather Honoré II, Monaco became a French protectorate, and the Princes of Monaco became vassals of the Kings of France while remaining sovereign princes. Many successive Princes of Monaco and their families spent most of their lives in France and intermarried with French and Italian noble families, including Louis. King Louis XIV of France was four years older than Louis and was his contemporary.

When Louis reached a marriageable age, his grandfather Honoré II set out to find him a wife who was the daughter of a high noble at the French court. Via a marriage to a member of the French nobility, Louis’ grandfather hoped to strengthen the alliance between Monaco and France against Spain and obtain valuable connections to the French court. However, such a marriage would also benefit the family of Louis’ bride. Seven foreign princes, of which the Prince of Monaco was one, were recognized by the French Crown to owe a special loyalty to France. Called ducs et pairs étrangers (foreign dukes and peers), they were given extra privileges and took precedence over the French ducs et pairs. These foreign princes walked behind the princes of the blood royal in processions. Their wives also had privileges such as sitting on tabourets (stools) in the presence of the Queen. By marrying Louis, a future Prince of Monaco, the daughter of French noble would be assured of social, economic, and court preeminence.

Honoré II and his advisers went through a list of French nobles with marriageable daughters, and Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont was chosen. Catherine-Charlotte was the daughter of Antoine III de Gramont, Duke of Gramont, a French military commander, diplomat, and a Marshal of France, and Françoise Marguerite du Plessis, a niece of the late powerful Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu), who served as the First Minister of State to King Louis XIII of France from 1624 until he died in 1642. Catherine-Charlotte and her cousin Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem,  later Duke of Lauzun, fell in love, and her father refused his permission for them to marry, they became lovers. Catherine-Charlotte was twenty, three years older than her prospective groom, but it was understood that she was unmarried because her father had refused to allow her to marry her cousin. Honoré II was assured that the affair between the cousins was over and that Catherine-Charlotte’s father would agree to the marriage. Only one of those statements turned out to be true.

Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont; Credit – Wikipedia

On March 30, 1660, 18-year-old Louis married 21-year-old Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont at the Gramont family’s Chateau de Pau in the Pyrenees Mountains in Pau, France. The newlyweds spent the month of April at the Chateau de Pau. They then traveled to Paris where they lived on the second floor of the Gramonts’ townhouse on the Rue de l’Autriche and regularly attended the French court. Despite being married and Honoré II being assured the affair was over, Catherine-Charlotte continued her affair with her cousin Antoine Nompar de Caumont. Louis had difficulty adjusting to the change in his social position and life at the French court.

Louis and Catherine-Charlotte had six children. In 1663, they founded a convent of the Order of the Visitation of the Holy Mary (also known as the Visitandines) in Monaco. Their twin daughters became nuns at the convent.

  • Antonio I, Prince of Monaco (1661 – 1731), married Marie of Lorraine, had six daughters including his successor Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco
  • Maria Teresa Carlotta Grimaldi (1662 – 1738), twin of Jeanne Maria, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Visitandine convent in Monaco
  • Jeanne Maria Grimaldi (1662 – 1741) twin of Maria Teresa, a Visitandine nun in Monaco, later Abbess of the Abbey of Royallieu near Compiègne, France
  • Teresa Maria Aurelia Grimaldi (1663 – 1675), died in childhood
  • Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi (1664 – 1700), married Jacques de Crussol, Duc d’Uzès, no children
  • François Honoré Grimaldi, Archbishop of Besançon (1669 – 1748 – link in French)

After a reign of fifty-eight years, Honoré II, Prince of Monaco, Louis’ grandfather, died in 1662, and 20-year-old Louis became Prince of Monaco. Louis needed to return to Monaco and Catherine-Charlotte was forced to accompany him against her will. In 1665, Catherine-Charlotte left her husband and children in Monaco and returned to the French court because she found life at the Monaco court boring.

Upon returning to the French court, Catherine-Charlotte was appointed a lady-in-waiting to Henrietta of England, Duchess of Orléans, the first wife of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV. Catherine-Charlotte resumed her affair with her cousin and had affairs with many others including a brief affair with King Louis XIV. Because of all the rumors swirling around his wife regarding her affairs, Louis I decided to join his brother-in-law Armand de Gramont, Count of Guiche in the Anglo-Dutch Wars fighting for the Dutch. Louis distinguished himself at the 1666 Four Days’ Battle between the English and Dutch fleets.

In 1672, Louis and Catherine-Charlotte separated. Catherine-Charlotte obtained a position as a lady-in-waiting to Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, mistress of King Louis XIV, but the position lasted only one year. In the following years, she became seriously ill, probably with cancer. Catherine-Charlotte died at the Palais Royal in Paris, France on June 4, 1678, at the age of 39. She was buried at the now-destroyed Convent of the Capuchins in Paris, France. Catherine-Charlotte had not seen her husband Louis during the last six years of her life and Louis showed no grief over her death.

In 1674, Louis commanded the military campaign that led to the reconquest from Spain of the Franche-Comté, a cultural and historical region of eastern France. Following the example of King Louis XIV’s legal codification efforts in France, Louis I issued the Principality of Monaco’s first legal code, known as the Code Louis, in 1678. In 1699, King Louis XIV of France named Louis the ambassador of the King of France to the Holy See in Rome.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Louis I, Prince of Monaco, aged 58, died on January 3, 1701, in Rome, then part of the Papal States, from apoplexy, the term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. He was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louis I, Prince of Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I,_Prince_of_Monaco> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/honore-ii-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 14 January 2022].
  • Fr.wikipedia.org. 2022. Louis Ier (prince de Monaco) — Wikipédia. [online] Available at: <https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Ier_(prince_de_Monaco)> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • Genealogics.org. 2022. Ercole II de Monaco, Marquis des Baux : Genealogics. [online] Available at: <https://www.genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00047483&tree=LEO> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • geni_family_tree. 2022. Louis I Grimaldi, II. prince de Monaco. [online] Available at: <https://www.geni.com/people/Louis-I-Grimaldi-II-prince-de-Monaco/5294756233670132138> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • Historyandwomen.com. 2011. Catherine Charlotte de Gramont. [online] Available at: <https://www.historyandwomen.com/2011/11/catherine-charlotte-de-gramont.html> [Accessed 15 January 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Luigi I di Monaco – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_I_di_Monaco> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

Ippolita Trivulzio, Princess of Monaco

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Ippolita Trivulzio, Princess of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

Ippolita Trivulzio was the wife of Honoré II, the first Prince of Monaco, and therefore she was the first Princess Consort of Monaco. From 1331 – 1612, the rulers of Monaco were styled Lord of Monaco. In 1612, Honoré II began to style himself as Prince of Monaco. Born circa 1600 in the Duchy of Milan, now in Italy, Ippolita was the only daughter and the third of the four children of Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio, Count of Melzo (1565 – 1605) and Caterina Gonzaga (1574 – 1615).

Ippolita had three brothers:

  • Gian Giacomo Teodoro Trivulzio, 1st Prince of Musocco (1597 – 1656), married Jeanne Marie Grimaldi (sister of Honoré II) had two children, after the death of his wife in 1620, he became a priest and was created a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1629
  • Girolamo Trivulzio (died young)
  • Alfonso Trivulzio (1600 – 1621), unmarried

Ippolita’s father Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio was in the service of the Spanish army and fought in the Eighty Years’ War (1568 – 1648), initially a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces, today’s Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, against King Felipe II of Spain, who was also the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands. Carlo Emanuele died in battle in 1605 when his children were very young. The education and upbringing of Ippolita and her siblings depended solely on their widowed mother and Ippolita, the only daughter, received her education from nuns in a convent.

Ippolita’s husband Honoré II, Prince of Monaco; Credit – Wikipedia

When Honoré II, Prince of Monaco reached the age of majority, a marriage to provide an heir was one of the first issues to be solved. Honore’s sister Jeanne Marie was married to Ippolita’s brother and marriage to Ippolita was a simple and suitable solution. Fifteen-year-old Ippolita and nineteen-year-old Honoré were married on February 13, 1616.

Hercule Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux; Credit – Wikipedia

Ippolita and Honoré’s marriage was happy and they had one son:

Honoré II spent much time extending, rebuilding, and transforming what was originally the 1191 fortress of his Grimaldi ancestors into what is today’s Prince’s Palace of Monaco. Court customs and religious ceremonies were devised to create a connection between the monarchy and the people of Monaco. Ippolita was given a bigger role than her predecessors and participated in the decision-making.

Ippolita died on June 20, 1638, at the Prince’s Palace in Monaco at the age of thirty-seven. She was buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas in Monaco. During the late 19th century, a new and larger church, the Cathedral of Monaco, was built on the site of the Church of Saint Nicholas. The original church was demolished in 1874 but the current cathedral was built over the areas of the previous church and the old burial site so that the sovereign princes and consorts originally buried at the Church of Saint Nicholas are now buried in the Cathedral of Monaco.

Entrance to the common vault where the Grimaldi family members originally buried at the Church of St. Nicholas are buried; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Sadly, Ippolita’s son Hercule had an early death. On August 1, 1651, twenty-seven-year-old Hercule went on a visit to the Convent of Carnoles in Mentone, then in Monaco but now in France. After the visit, he engaged in some recreational shooting with some guards in the garden of the convent. Hercule was interested in how the gun worked and asked one of the guards to show him. The guard mishandled the gun and accidentally shot it towards Hercule and two other guards. All three were wounded. Fatally wounded in the spine, Hercule died the next day. He was buried at the Church of St. Nicholas.

Honoré survived his wife Ippolita by twenty-four years, dying on January 10, 1662, after a reign of fifty-eight years, at the age of 64, and was buried with his wife at the Church of St. Nicholas. He was succeeded by his twenty-year-old grandson Louis I, Prince of Monaco.

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Works Cited

  • Edwards, Anne, 2017. The Grimaldis of Monaco. Blue Ridge Summit: Lyons Press.
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ippolita Trivulzio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ippolita_Trivulzio> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2022. Honoré II, Prince of Monaco. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/honore-ii-prince-of-monaco/> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Deaths from Firearms Accidents. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-deaths-from-firearms-accidents/> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Carlo Emanuele Teodoro Trivulzio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Emanuele_Teodoro_Trivulzio> [Accessed 5 January 2022].
  • It.wikipedia.org. 2022. Ippolita Trivulzio – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ippolita_Trivulzio> [Accessed 5 January 2022].