FRANÇOIS GRIMALDI CAPTURES THE ROCK OF MONACO

Francesco Grimaldi, Prince's Palace of Monaco

Today, The Grandma has received the visit of her closer friend Tina Picotes.

Tina was born in Monaco the second smallest country in the world.

They have been talking about the history of this Principality, full of shadows and lights that has become in one of the richest countries of the world but also one of the most controversial due to its dark businesses in casinos and its tax policies that allow evading taxes.

On a day like today in 1297, Francesco Grimaldi, the Genoese leader of the Guelphs, captured the Rock of Monaco. This was the beginning of the saga of the Grimaldis the most powerful family of the island and also the rulers of it.

Francesco Grimaldi called il Malizia, the malicious, was the Genoese leader of the Guelphs who captured the Rock of Monaco on the night of 8 January 1297. He was the son of Guglielmo Grimaldi by his wife Giacobina or Giacoba, a Genoese noble.

Dressed as a Franciscan friar, Francesco was greeted at the gates of Monaco's castle, only then to seize the castle with his cousin Rainier I, Lord of Cagnes, and a group of men behind him. The event is commemorated on the Monegasque coat of arms, on which the supporters are two friars armed with swords. He held the citadel of Monaco for four years before being chased out by the Genoese. The battle over the rock was taken over by his kinsmen. Francesco thus failed to establish Grimaldi's rule over Monaco, but was the first to attempt to do so.

More information: Tina Picotes Monegasque Style for Travelling

He was married in 1295 to Aurelia del Carretto; the marriage was childless. The modern Grimaldis are therefore not descendants of Francesco. After his death, in 1309, he was succeeded by his cousin and stepson, Rainier I, Lord of Cagnes.
His cousin's descendants, the Grimaldi family, still rule Monaco today.

Over one hundred years after the coup, the Grimaldis purchased Monaco from the crown of Aragon in 1419, and became the official and undisputed rulers of the Rock of Monaco.

The Rock of Monaco

The Rock of Monaco, in French Rocher de Monaco, is a 62-metre tall monolith on the Mediterranean coast of the Principality of Monaco. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and the port.

The Rock has been a coveted possession from the beginning of the ancient Massilian colony of Monoïkos, in Greek Μόνοικος, named for the Ligurian tribes who occupied the area and vied for control of it; even earlier, it was a shelter for primitive populations.

The Rock of Monaco was also the first conquest of the Grimaldi dynasty, the rulers of the country for more than 700 years, founded when the Guelf Francesco Grimaldi disguised himself as a Franciscan friar in order to gain entry to the city and open the gates for his soldiers.

Today, the Rock is in the oldest of Monaco's four quarters, Monaco-Ville, which is also the location of Old Town, the oldest part of the city. This is not far from the Prince's Palace, in French Le Palais Princier, home of the current monarch Albert II and the princely family, the Cathedral and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. The Rock of Monaco is a popular attraction where tourists view the palace and the changing of the guards.

More information: Gouvernement Princier

Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, in French Principauté de Monaco, is a sovereign city-state, country, and microstate on the French Riviera in Western Europe. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea. Monaco is about 15 km from the state border with Italy.

Monaco has an area of 2.020 km2, making it the second-smallest country in the world after the Vatican. Its population as of 2018 is 38,682. With 19,009 inhabitants per square kilometre, it is the most densely-populated sovereign state in the world.

Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km, the world's shortest coastline of approximately 3.83 km, regardless of the coastline paradox, and a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m. The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires Ward, which is 161 metres above sea level.

Monaco's most populous Quartier is Monte Carlo and the most populous Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. Through land reclamation, Monaco's land mass has expanded by 20 percent. In 2005, it had an area of only 1.974 km2.

Shield of Monaco

Monaco is known to be the most expensive and the wealthiest place in the world due to its tax laws.

Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with Prince Albert II as head of state. Although Prince Albert II is a constitutional monarch, he wields immense political power.

The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, since 1297. 

The official language is French, but Monégasque, Italian, and English are widely spoken and understood. The state's sovereignty was officially recognised by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861, with Monaco becoming a full United Nations voting member in 1993. Despite Monaco's independence and separate foreign policy, its defence is the responsibility of France. However, Monaco does maintain two small military units.

Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the country's first casino, Monte Carlo, and a railway connection to Paris. Since then, Monaco's mild climate, scenery, and gambling facilities have contributed to the principality's status as a tourist destination and recreation centre for the rich.

In more recent years, Monaco has become a major banking centre and has sought to diversify its economy into the services sector and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries. The state has no income tax, low business taxes, and is well known for being a tax haven. It is also the host of the annual street circuit motor race Monaco Grand Prix, one of the original Grands Prix of Formula One.

More information: Hello Monaco

Monaco is not formally a part of the European Union (EU), but it participates in certain EU policies, including customs and border controls. Through its relationship with France, Monaco uses the euro as its sole currency, prior to this it used the Monégasque franc. Monaco joined the Council of Europe in 2004. It is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).

Monaco's name comes from the nearby 6th-century BC Phocaean Greek colony. Referred to by the Ligurians as Monoikos, from the Greek μόνοικος, single house, from μόνος (monos) alone, single + οἶκος (oikos) house, which bears the sense of a people either settled in a single habitation or of living apart from others.

According to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos. Because the only temple of this area was the House of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos. It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, which gave it to the Genoese.

An ousted branch of a Genoese family, the Grimaldi, contested it for a hundred years before actually gaining control.

Like France, Monaco was overrun by the Axis powers during the Second World War and for a short time was administered by Italy, then the Third Reich, before finally being liberated. Although the occupation lasted for just a short time, it meant the deportation of the Jewish population and execution of several resistance members from Monaco. Since then Monaco has been independent, it has taken some steps towards integration with the European Union.

More information: BBC

I must hurry back to my house

and my flowers in Monaco.

Lillie Langtry