François Grimaldi

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A statue of Grimaldi guised as a monk with a sword under his frock before the Prince's Palace of Monaco

François Grimaldi (François Malizia "the Cunning") was the Genoese leader of the Guelphs who captured the Rock of Monaco on the night of January 8, 1297. He was the son of Guglielmo Grimaldi by his wife Giacoba.

Dressed as a Franciscan monk, François 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, where the supporters are two monks armed with swords. He held the citadel of Monaco for four years before being chased out.

He was married in 1295 to Aurelia del Carretto; the marriage was childless. 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, with Prince Albert II, the head of the House of Grimaldi.