Louis I, Prince of Monaco

Louis I, Prince of Monaco (25 July 1642, Prince's Palace of Monaco – 3 January 1701, Rome) was Prince of Monaco from 1662 until 1701.

Louis Grimaldi was the elder son of Prince Hercule of Monaco and Maria Aurelia Spinola.

Louis married 30 March 1660 in Pau Catherine Charlotte de Gramont (1639 – Paris June 4, 1678), daughter of Marshal Antoine III de Gramont.

They had six children :

• Antoine Grimaldi (1661–1731), his successor.
• Maria Teresa Carlotta Grimaldi (14 June 1662 - 1738), a Visitandine nun at Monaco.
• Anna Hippolyte Grimaldi (1667-23 July 1700), married (1696) Jacques de Crussol, Duc d'Uzès (29 December 1675, Paris – 19 July 1739, Uzès castle).
• François Honoré Grimaldi (21 December 1669 – 18 February 1748, Paris), Archbishop of Besançon
• Jeanne Maria Grimaldi, a Visitandine nun at Monaco, later coadjutrice of the Abbey of Royallieu near Compiègne.
• Aurelia Grimaldi, called mademoiselle de Baux.

In 1662 Louis succeeded his grandfather Honoré II as Prince of Monaco. In 1666 he distinguished himself at the Four Days' Battle between the English and Dutch fleets. On 5 July 1668 he took the oath to King Louis XIV of France in the Parlement on account of being Duke of Valentinois and a Peer of France. He was made a knight of the French royal orders on 31 December 1688.

In 1699 Louis XIV sent Louis to Rome as ambassador extraordinary. There on 19 December he presented the insignia of the Order of the Holy Spirit to James Louis and Alexander Benedict Sobieski, the two sons of King John III of Poland. Louis remained in Rome, where he died 3 January 1701. His remains were transported back to Monaco.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

• 25 July 1642 – 2 August 1651 His Serene Highness the Count of Carladès
• 2 August 1651 – 10 January 1662 His Serene Highness the Marquis of Baux
• 10 January 1662 – 3 January 1701 His Serene Highness the Prince of Monaco