Duke of Valentinois formerly
Count of Valentinois, is a title of nobility, originally in the French peerage. It is currently one of the many hereditary titles claimed by the
Prince of MonacoThe Reigning Prince or Princess of Monaco is the sovereign monarch and head of state of the Principality of Monaco. All Princes or Princesses thus far have taken the name of the House of Grimaldi, but have belonged to various other houses in male line...
despite its extinction in French law in 1949. Though it originally indicated administrative control of the
Duchy of ValentinoisValence is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Drôme department, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseilles.Its inhabitants are called Valentinois...
, the duchy has since become part of
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, making the title simply one of nobility.
It has been created at least four times: in 1498 for
Cesare BorgiaCesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...
, in 1548 for Diane of Poitiers, in 1642 for
Prince Honoré IIHonoré II was Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He was the first to be called Prince, but started his reign as Lord of Monaco....
of
MonacoMonaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, and most recently in 1715 for
Prince Jacques IJacques Goyon de Matignon was count of Thorigny, Prince of Monaco as Jacques I and the fourth Duke of Valentinois from 1731 until 1733.-Biography:...
of Monaco.
First creation
Louis XII of FranceLouis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
created
Cesare BorgiaCesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...
Duke of Valentinois in 1498; the title subsequently expired before 1548.
Second creation
Henry II of FranceHenry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
created
Diane de PoitiersDiane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...
Duchess of Valentinois in 1548.
Third creation
King
Louis XIIILouis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
of
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
created the title by
letters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
, signed in May 1642 and registered on 18 July 1642, as a conglomeration of several estates in the
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
province of
DauphinéThe Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
which he had previously given to
Honoré II, Prince of MonacoHonoré II was Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He was the first to be called Prince, but started his reign as Lord of Monaco....
.
The first person to hold the title was
Honoré II, Prince of MonacoHonoré II was Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He was the first to be called Prince, but started his reign as Lord of Monaco....
, reigning Prince at the time of its creation; on his death it passed to his son
Louis ILouis I, Prince of Monaco was Prince of Monaco from 1662 until 1701.Louis Grimaldi was the elder son of Prince Hercule of Monaco and Maria Aurelia Spinola....
, and thence to Louis's son Antoine. However, since the title's inheritance was restricted to male heirs, and because Antoine had only daughters and no sons, it was due to pass his brother, François-Honoré Grimaldi, but became extinct on 22 July 1715 when François-Honoré forfeited his right to succeed Antoine.
Fourth Creation
On 20 October 1715, Antoine's eldest daughter and heiress
Louise-HippolyteLouise Hippolyte , was the only female Sovereign Princess of Monaco. She is the ancestress of the current reigning princely family of Monaco.-Biography:...
married
Jacques-François de Goyon-MatignonJacques Goyon de Matignon was count of Thorigny, Prince of Monaco as Jacques I and the fourth Duke of Valentinois from 1731 until 1733.-Biography:...
, who had signed a contract on 5 September 1715 by which he was obliged to take the surname
GrimaldiThe House of Grimaldi is associated with the history of the Republic of Genoa and of the Principality of Monaco.-History:The Grimaldi family descends from Grimaldo, a Genoese statesman at the time of the early Crusades. He might have been a son of Otto Canella, a consul of the Republic of Genoa in...
.
Louis XVLouis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
thereupon recreated the title of Valentinois by letters patent, signed in December 1715 and registered on 2 September 1716, for Jacques, who was to succeed his father-in-law Antoine as Prince Jacques I; like the previous creation, its inheritance was restricted to male heirs.
After Jacques's abdication in 1733, the title passed uninterrupted for several generations from Prince to Prince: from Jacques to
Honoré IIIHonoré III ruled as Prince of Monaco and was Duke of Valentinois for almost sixty years from 1733 to 1793...
,
Honoré IVHonoré IV was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 12 March 1795 to 16 February 1819. He was the son of Prince Honoré III by his wife, Maria Caterina Brignole, a Genoese noblewoman...
,
Honoré VHonoré V was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois. He was born Honoré Gabriel Grimaldi, the first son of Honoré IV of Monaco and Louise d'Aumont...
,
Florestan IFlorestan I, Prince of Monaco was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 2 October 1841 until his death...
,
Charles IIICharles III was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 20 June 1856 to his death. He was the founder of the famous casino in Monte Carlo, as his title in Monegasque and Italian was Carlo III.-Birth:...
,
Albert IAlbert I was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 10 September 1889 until his death.-Early life:...
. Albert bestowed the title of Duchess of Valentinois upon his adopted granddaughter Charlotte, thenceforth known as
Princess Charlotte, Duchess of ValentinoisPrincess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois , was the daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and the mother of Prince Rainier III...
, on 20 May 1919. On 20 March 1920, shortly after Charlotte's marriage to
Pierre de PolignacPrince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois was the father of Rainier III of Monaco, and thus the paternal grandfather of Albert II of Monaco...
, he, like Jacques-François de Goyon-Matignon, took the title of Duke of Valentinois, having already changed his surname to Grimaldi.
Louis IILouis II was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 27 June 1922 until 9 May 1949.-Early years:Born Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi in Baden-Baden, Germany, he was the only child of Prince Albert I of Monaco , and Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton...
, who succeeded Albert in 1922, never held the title of Valentinois himself. Though his father had granted the title of Valentinois to Charlotte, its right to succession remained with Louis and his descendants; consequently, on his death without a male heir in 1949, it became extinct in French law and under
Salic LawSalic law was a body of traditional law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the early Middle Ages during the reign of King Clovis I in the 6th century...
. However, his successor,
Rainier IIIRainier III, Prince of Monaco , styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.Though he was best known outside of Europe for having married American...
, still claimed it, possibly in the belief, as suggested by
François Velde, that it was "implicitly recreated for Charlotte by the French Republic in 1919 when her adoption was approved". However, the various French Republics have never created nor re-created any dukedom.
With the death of Prince Rainier on 6 April 2005, the title passed to his son, now
Albert II of MonacoAlbert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the ruler of the Principality of Monaco. He is the son of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly...
.
List of Counts and Dukes of Valentinois
Count of Valentinois:
- 879–912 : Adalelme (or Alleaume)
- 912–943 : Boson, son of Adalalme
- 943–960 : Geilin I
- 960–985 : ?
- 985–10??: Lambert
- 10??–1058: Aimar (or Adhémar)
- 1058–10??: Geilin II
Duke of Valentinois:
First Creation:
- Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...
(1498–1507)
Second Creation:
- Diane of Poitiers (1548–1566)
Third Creation:
- Honoré II, Prince of Monaco
Honoré II was Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He was the first to be called Prince, but started his reign as Lord of Monaco....
(1642–1662)
- Louis I
Louis I, Prince of Monaco was Prince of Monaco from 1662 until 1701.Louis Grimaldi was the elder son of Prince Hercule of Monaco and Maria Aurelia Spinola....
(1662–1701)
- Antoine (1701–1715)
Fourth Creation:
- Jacques I
Jacques Goyon de Matignon was count of Thorigny, Prince of Monaco as Jacques I and the fourth Duke of Valentinois from 1731 until 1733.-Biography:...
(1716–1733)
- Honoré III
Honoré III ruled as Prince of Monaco and was Duke of Valentinois for almost sixty years from 1733 to 1793...
(1733–1793)
- Honoré IV
Honoré IV was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 12 March 1795 to 16 February 1819. He was the son of Prince Honoré III by his wife, Maria Caterina Brignole, a Genoese noblewoman...
(1814–1819)
- Honoré V
Honoré V was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois. He was born Honoré Gabriel Grimaldi, the first son of Honoré IV of Monaco and Louise d'Aumont...
(1819–1841)
- Florestan I
Florestan I, Prince of Monaco was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 2 October 1841 until his death...
(1841–1856)
- Charles III
Charles III was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 20 June 1856 to his death. He was the founder of the famous casino in Monte Carlo, as his title in Monegasque and Italian was Carlo III.-Birth:...
(1856–1889)
- Albert I
Albert I was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 10 September 1889 until his death.-Early life:...
(1889–1922)
- Louis II
Louis II was Prince of Monaco and Duke of Valentinois from 27 June 1922 until 9 May 1949.-Early years:Born Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi in Baden-Baden, Germany, he was the only child of Prince Albert I of Monaco , and Lady Mary Victoria Hamilton...
(1922–1949)
The French title became extinct. However, according to
Almanach de GothaThe Almanach de Gotha was a respected directory of Europe's highest nobility and royalty. First published in 1763 by C.W. Ettinger in Gotha at the ducal court of Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, it was regarded as an authority in the classification of monarchies, princely and ducal...
, the title used in
MonacoMonaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
corresponds to a Monegasque concession of a title which otherwise would not be recognized in France, specially having in account that when Charlotte was created Duchess by her father, her grandfather was still the living Prince of Monaco with the right to the title of Duke, and only his son could succeed to the French title. Beside, only legitimate children can inherit French titles.
- Princess Charlotte
Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois , was the daughter of Louis II, Prince of Monaco, and the mother of Prince Rainier III...
(1919–1977)
- Rainier III
Rainier III, Prince of Monaco , styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.Though he was best known outside of Europe for having married American...
(15 November 1977–6 April 2005)
- Albert II
Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco is the head of the House of Grimaldi and the ruler of the Principality of Monaco. He is the son of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and the American actress Grace Kelly...
(6 April 2005–Present)