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Probably
settled by Phoenicians in ancient times, Monaco
was annexed by Marseilles and Christianized in
the 1st cent. A.D. In the 7th cent. it was part
of the kingdom of the Lombards, and in the 8th
cent. of the kingdom of Arles. It was under Muslim
domination (8th cent.) after the Saracens invaded
France.
The Genovese
Grimaldi family from the 13th cent ruled Monaco.
In 1731 the male line died out, but the French
Goyon-Matignon family, which succeeded by marriage,
assumed the name Grimaldi. Monaco was under Spanish
protection from 1542 to 1641, under French protection
from 1641 to 1793, annexed to France in 1793,
and under Sardinian protection from 1815 to 1861.
The districts of Menton and Roquebrune (long part
of Monaco) were incorporated (1848) into Sardinia,
which in turn ceded them to France in 1860.
Monaco again
came under French protection in 1861. Until 1911,
when the first constitution was promulgated, the
prince was an absolute ruler. Rainier III, succeeded
his grandfather, Louis II, as ruler of Monaco
in 1949. In 1956, Rainier married Grace Kelly
(1929-82), an American motion-picture actress,
and a male heir, Albert, was born in 1958.
In 1962
serious economic disagreements arose between France
and Monaco, and new fiscal agreements (1963) severely
curtailed the right of French citizens to use
Monaco as a tax haven. The Monaco government also
came into conflict with Aristotle Onassis, who
owned majority interests in most businesses there;
Monaco purchased his interests in 1967. Relations
with France again became acrimonious in 2000 when
Monaco was accused of being a center for money-laundering
and France threatened to force the principality
to tighten the regulation of its banks. Rainier
died in 2005 and was succeeded as ruler by his
son, Albert II.
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