Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco

Louise Hippolyte
Princess of Monaco
Reign 26 February 1731 –
29 December 1731
(&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000306000000306 days)
Predecessor Antoine I
Successor Jacques I
Spouse Jacques I, Prince of Monaco
Issue
Honoré III, Prince of Monaco
Full name
Louise Hippolyte Grimaldi
House House of Grimaldi
Father Antoine I, Prince of Monaco
Mother Marie of Lorraine
Born 10 October 1697(1697-10-10)
Prince's Palace, Monaco
Died 29 December 1731(1731-12-29) (aged 34)
Prince's Palace, Monaco

Louise Hippolyte (10 October 1697 – 29 December 1731), was the only female Sovereign Princess of Monaco. She is the ancestress of the current reigning princely family of Monaco.

Contents

Biography

Born at the Prince's Palace in Monaco, she was the daughter of Antonio I of Monaco and Marie de Lorraine. The third of six children born to her parents, she was the first of their children to survive infancy. She had two younger sisters, Marguerite Camille Grimaldi (1700–1758) and Maria Paolina Grimaldi (1702–1726). The former married, but neither of her sisters had children.

Because she had no brothers, Louise Hippolyte became the heiress to the throne of Monaco. Her father decided, with the permission of Louis XIV, that her future husband should assume the surname of Grimaldi and rule Monaco jointly with her.

On 20 October 1715, at the age of eighteen, she married Jacques François Goyon de Matignon after his family had proposed him as a candidate. Encouraged by the prospect of his ruling his own principality, he was eager to marry Louise Hippolyte. His candidacy was supported by King Louis XIV, who wanted to consolidate French influence in Monaco. Prior to this, Louise Hippolyte's father was eager to wed his daughter to a Grimaldi cousin. This marriage did not materialise due to the poor finances of the Grimaldis at the time.

Louise Hippolyte and Jacques had nine children. The marriage was never a happy one. Her husband preferred to stay in Versailles instead of Monaco, where he had several mistresses.

After the death of her father, Louise Hippolyte traveled from Paris to Monaco on 4 April 1731 and received an enthusiastic reception from the populace. When Jacques joined her a little while later, the reception was much colder.

At the end of 1731, Louise Hippolyte died of smallpox. Her husband neglected the affairs of Monaco and had to leave the country in May 1732. He abdicated in favor of their son, Honoré, the next year.

Louise Hippolyte was buried in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Monaco, the traditional burial place of the Grimaldis. Her husband remained a widower, despite a rich dowry offered to him by the Duchess of Maine for the hand of her unattractive daughter, Mademoiselle du Maine, a granddaughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan.

Issue

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Antoine I		 Sovereign Princess of Monaco
1731		 Succeeded by
Jacques I