Monaco. Originalzeichnung von P. F. Peters.

Title

Monaco. Originalzeichnung von P. F. Peters.

Description

Very decorativ view of Monaco from 1875, at the Côte d'Azur.

ca. 1875

Artist

Böhme

Historical Description

After Emperor Henry VI granted the Republic of Genoa dominion over the coastal region around present-day Monaco in 1191, construction of a Genoese border fortress began on June 10, 1215, on the site where the Prince's Palace now stands. This day is considered the founding date of Monaco. The civil wars in the 13th century between the Ghibellines and the Guelfs in northern Italy led to the expulsion of the Guelfs, who were loyal to the Pope, and thus also of the Grimaldi family from Genoa in 1296. In 1297, soldiers of the Grimaldi and Guelf families allied with them, under the leadership of Francesco Grimaldi, succeeded in penetrating the fortress of Monaco, which until then had been in Ghibelline hands, and conquered it in a hand coup. From then on, the history of the state of Monaco was closely linked to the Grimaldi family, whose members, with brief interruptions, still rule Monaco to this day. The first ruler of Monaco from this house was Raniero Grimaldi in 1297, who, however, had to cede Monaco to Genoa again as early as 1301. His son Carlo I, with the support of the French king, succeeded in reconquering Monaco in 1331 and in acquiring Menton in 1346 and Roquebrune in 1355. Monaco was reconquered by Genoa in 1357 and finally passed into the hands of the Grimaldi in 1419. In 1489, Monaco's independence was recognized by the King of France and the Duke of Savoy. French Revolutionary troops conquered Monaco in 1793, and the National Convention declared the Grimaldi deposed and proclaimed the Republic of Monaco. It was not until 1814 and then definitively in 1815 that the two Treaties of Paris restored Monaco's independence, but now under the protection of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Economic difficulties and political unrest in the wake of the February Revolution of 1848 led to the secession of Menton and Roquebrune in 1848, which was finally sealed in 1861 by the treaty with Napoleon III. At the same time, however, France recognized the full independence of Monaco under the sole sovereignty of the Prince.