Charles I, Lord of Monaco

Charles I of Monaco (died August 15, 1357) was Lord of Monaco and the founder of the Grimaldi dynasty.

The oldest son of Rainier I by his first wife, Salvatica del Carretto, Charles was forced to flee into exile following the Rock of Monaco falling into Genoese control on April 10, 1301.

After thirty years of Genoese rule, Charles retook the Rock on September 12, 1331, and ruled to his death, when the Rock was again conquered by the Genoese army.

In 1346 he took the Lordship of Menton and, in 1355, he conquered the Lordship of Roquebrune.

On June 29, 1352, Charles designed a co-rulership of Monaco between his uncle Antonio (his father's youngest brother), and his own sons, Rainier II and Gabriele.

Family

Charles I married Lucchina Spinola, a daughter of Girardo Spinola, Lord of Dertonne. They had eight children:

• Louis, his successor.
• Rainier II
• Francesco
• Gabriele, married to a member of the Orsini family
• Charles, Co-Lord of Mentone; he had a son, Luca, who inherited Mentone. Luca had two sons, Pietro and Filippo, also Lords of Mentone; both brothers died without issue, and Mentone passed to the older branch of the family.
• Lancelot
• Ruffo
• Anastasia

References

• Françoise de Bernardy, Princes of Monaco: the remarkable history of the Grimaldi family, ed. Barker, 1961.