Charles-Maurice of Monaco, Count of Valentinois
| Charles-Maurice of Monaco | |
|---|---|
| Count of Valentinois | |
The Family of the Duke of Valentinois, Pierre Gobert. Charles-Maurice is seen playing with a monkey.
| |
| Born | Charles-Maurice Grimaldi May 14, 1727 Paris, France |
| Died | January 18, 1798 (aged 70) Maury, Switzerland |
| Spouse | Marie-Christine de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon (m. 1749; sep. 1766) |
| Names Charles-Maurice Grimaldi Charles-Maurice Goyon de Matignon Monégasque: Carlu-Mauriçi de Mu̍negu | |
| House | Grimaldi (maternally, official) Goyon (agnatically) |
| Father | Jacques I, Prince of Monaco |
| Mother | Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco |
Charles-Maurice of Monaco (Monégasque: Carlu-Mauriçi de Mu̍negu;[1] 14 May 1727 – 18 January 1798), sometimes referred to as Charles-Maurice Goyon de Matignon or Charles-Maurice Grimaldi, was a Monégasque prince, he was the third surviving child and youngest son of Prince Jacques I and Princess Louise Hippolyte.
Early life and marriage
Charles-Maurice was born on May 14, 1727, to Jacques I and Louise Hippolyte of Monaco, his mother was the second female sovereign of Monaco.[1]
Marriage
On December 10, 1749, in the chapel of the Hôtel Saint-Simon in Paris (with the approval of King Louis XV dated November 1, 1749), he married Marie-Christine de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon (1728–1774), daughter of Jacques-Louis de Rouvroy (1698–1746), Duke of Saint-Simon by gift inter vivos, known as the "Duke of Ruffec," and his wife Catherine-Charlotte-Thérèse de Gramont (1707–1755). Marie-Christine was the granddaughter of the renowned memoirist Louis de Rouvroy de Saint-Simon (1675–1755), Duke of Saint-Simon. As his wife was a Grandee of Spain of the first class, Charles-Maurice became a Grandee of Spain of the first class jure uxoris.[2]
No children were born from this marriage, which ended in separation in 1766.
Military career
Charles-Maurice of Monaco never took his vows in the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, which he left following the deaths of two of his elder brothers.[3]
Appointed guidon of the Gendarmerie in 1745, at the age of 18, he participated a few months later in the Battle of Fontenoy, during which he was wounded (May 11). Voltaire wrote a poem "likely to inflame hearts and send the handsome lords of the court to immortality"[4] in which he evokes the wounding of the Count of Valentinois in these terms: "Monaco loses its blood, and love sighs for it."[5] Promoted to ensign in the gendarmerie of Brittany on March 8, 1746, he became a sub-lieutenant in the same company in March 1747. On February 10, 1759, he was promoted to brigadier of cavalry, Lieutenant-General in the government of Normandy, and governor of Granville, Saint-Lô, Cherbourg, and the Chausey Islands.[6]
Although he is presented in a 1777 work as a Knight of the Golden Fleece,[7] Charles-Maurice de Monaco is not found in the available lists. Confusion with his status as a Grandee of Spain by right of marriage is possible.
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 "A Principessa Luisa Ipòlita Grimaldi (1697-1731)" (PDF) (PDF) (in Monégasque and French). National Committee of Monegasque Traditions. 2 June 2012.
- Back to citation Labande 2002, pp. 123–124.
- Back to citation Labande 2002, p. 219.
- Back to citation Ligne, Charles Joseph prince de (1809). Œuvres choisies, littéraires, historiques et militaires du Maréchal Prince de Ligne... Précédées de quelques détails biographiques... et publiées par un de ses amis [C. Malte-Bruun] (in French).
- Back to citation Arouet), Voltaire (pseud van François-Marie (1745). Le poème de Fontenoy (in French). de l'Imprimerie royale.
- Back to citation Bois, François-Alexandre Aubert de La Chesnaye des (1774). Dictionnaire de la noblesse, contenant les généalogies, l'histoire et la chronologie des familles nobles de France (in French). Vve Duchesne.
- Back to citation Paige, André René Le (1777). Dictionnaire topographique, historique, généalogique et bibliographique de la province et du diocèse du Maine (in French). Toutain.
Bibliography
- Tourtchine, Jean-Fred (2002). Les Manuscrits du Cèdre: Dictionnaire historique et généalogique (in French). CEDRE. ISSN 0993-3964.
- Labande, Léon-Honoré (2002). Histoire de la Principauté de Monaco (in French) (2nd ed.). Monaco: Archives du palais.