Louise Hippolyte, Princess of Monaco

Louise Hippolyte
Princess of Monaco
Reign 20 February 1731 –
29 December 1731
Predecessor Antoine I
Successor Jacques I
Born (1697-11-10)10 November 1697
Prince's Palace, Monaco
Died 29 December 1731(1731-12-29) (aged 34)
Prince's Palace, Monaco
Burial Saint Nicholas Cathedral
Spouse Jacques I, Prince of Monaco
Issue
Detail		 Honoré III, Prince of Monaco
Full name
Louise Hippolyte Grimaldi
House Grimaldi
Father Antonio I, Prince of Monaco
Mother Marie de Lorraine-Armagnac

Louise Hippolyte (10 November 1697 – 29 December 1731), was the only Sovereign Princess of Monaco.

Biography

Born at the Prince's Palace in Monaco, she was the second daughter of Antonio I of Monaco and Marie de Lorraine-Armagnac. The second of six children born to her parents, she was the first of their children to survive infancy. She had an elder sister, Caterina Charlotte (1691-1696) and four younger sisters, Elisabetta Charlotte (1698-1702), Margherita Camilla (1700–1758), Maria Devota (1702-1703) and Maria Paolina Theresa Devota Grimaldi (1708–1726).

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, Count de Matignon after his family had proposed him as a candidate. 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. 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.

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

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


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