Lucien, Lord of Monaco

Lucien (1487 - 22 August 1523) became Lord of Monaco on 11 October 1505, having murdered his predecessor and brother, Jean II, and held that sovereignty until his death.

Family and Marriage

He was the third son of Lambert Grimaldi (1420-1494) and Claudine Grimaldi (1451-1515). His elder brother Louis was disinherited due to insanity.

On 25 September 1514 he married Jeanne de Pontevès-Cabanes. The couple had at least five children;

*Francesco (born c. 1516; died young)
*Claudine (born c. 1517)
*Lamberto (born c. 1519; died young )
*Ranier (born c. 1521; died young)
*Honoré (1522 - 7 October 1581)

Reign

A year after Lucien's reign began, Genoa broke free of France, and many of its people fled to Monaco for refuge. In December 1506, 14,000 Genoese troops besieged Monaco and it's castle. The blockade lasted for five months, until Lucien was able to route the Genoese in March 1507. Monaco, and by extension Lucien, was now in a tight spot, being subjects of France but caught in a diplomatic tight spot between France and Spain, trying to preserve it's fragile independence.

In 1515, Lucien bought the feudal rights over the city of Mentone, retained by the family of Anne de Lascaris, Countess of Villars, thus bringing the city, as a whole, under Monaco's sovereignty until the French Revolution.

Assassination

On 22 August 1523, Lucien was assassinated by his nephew, Bartholomew Doria of Dolceaqua, son of Lucien's sister Francoise Doria, at the Prince's Palace of Monaco. His body was dragged down the steps of the palace by Doria's men, to be shown to the disbelieving masses, thus enciting a riot wherein the people of Monaco chased Doria and his men out of the country.

Andrea Doria, the famous admiral and a cousin to Bartholomew, is believed have had prior knowledge of the assassination. The full extent of his compliance in this event is speculation, stemming from his being in the Port of Hercules with his squadron of ships on the day of the assassination and his having received a message from Bartholomew that was sent out of the palace just moments before Bartholomew carried out the assassination. The message was believed to have been a ruse to get rid of Lucien's major domo and twelve or fourteen of Lucien's armed men, leaving Lucien alone in the company of his nephew, but for one slave.

Notable Facts

*Monaco issued a stamp, in Lucien's honor, in 1967.

*Lucien was responsible for extensive repairs, and additions, to the Prince's Palace of Monaco, resulting from damage received during the Geneose siege.

*Pope Adrian VI visited Monaco, during Lucien's reign, in 1522.

External links

* [http://www.artonstamps.org/Countries/Monaco/monaco1.htm Lucien's Stamp]
* [http://members.tripod.com/augustus-hare/mentone07.html The Hare Society Page]