Jacques I, Prince of Monaco


Jacques I was Prince of Monaco from 1731 to 1733. He was also Duke of Valentinois from 1716 until 1733, and Count of Thorigny. For ten months preceding his regency, he had served as prince consort to his wife, Princess Louise Hippolyte.

Life and reign

Jacques came from an ancient Norman family. "Thorigny" is now called Torigni-sur-Vire, where the Mairie is the former family chateau, the Château des Matignon. His uncle was Marshal Charles Auguste de Goÿon de Matignon.
He was a son of Jacques Goÿon de Matignon, jure uxoris Comte de Thorigny, and Charlotte Goyon de Matignon, Comtesse de Thorigny suo jure.
When Antonio I of Monaco and his wife Marie de Lorraine-Armagnac were looking for a consort for their daughter and heir Louise Hippolyte of Monaco, the family proposed him as a candidate. His candidacy was supported by King Louis XIV of France, who wanted to solidify French influence in Monaco.
Jacques and Louise Hippolyte married on 20 October 1715 and had nine children. The wedding ceremony was the first official act that the five-year-old king, Louis XV, carried out during the Regency of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.
The marriage wasn't very happy. Jacques preferred to stay more in Versailles, where he had several mistresses, than in Monaco.
After the death of Antonio I of Monaco, Louise Hippolyte traveled from Paris to Monaco on 4 April 1731 and received an enthusiastic reception by the population. When Jacques joined her several times later, the reception was much colder.
Jacques served as regent for his wife from 21 February 1731 to her death. At the end of 1731, Louise Hippolyte died of smallpox. Jacques I neglected the affairs of state and, under pressure from the population, had to leave the country in May 1732.
Jacques abdicated in favor of his son Honoré on November 7, 1733.
He spent the last years of his life in Versailles and Paris. It was at Versailles that Louise-Françoise de Bourbon-Maine, a grand daughter of Louis XIV and his mistress, Madame de Montespan, was proposed as a wife for the widowed prince; despite having a large dowry, the marriage never materialised and the prince never married again.
His Paris residence was named after him Hôtel Matignon and is today the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. Prior to his death, he was a frequent visitor to Versailles with his son.

Issue

  1. Antoine Charles Marie, "Marquis des Baux Count of Matignon", died in infancy.
  2. Princess [Charlotte of Monaco (1719–1790)|Charlotte Thérèse Nathalie], nun at the Convent of Visitation of Holy Mary|Visitation] in Paris.
  3. Honoré III Camille Léonor, successor of his father.
  4. Charles Marie Auguste, "Count of Carladés", died unmarried and without issue.
  5. Jacques died in infancy.
  6. Louise Françoise, Mademoiselle des Baux, died in childhood.
  7. François Charles, "Count of Thorigny", died unmarried without issue.
  8. Charles Maurice, Count of Valentinois; married on 10 November 1749 to Marie Chrétienne de Rouvroy; no issue.
  9. Marie Françoise Anne Thérése, Mademoiselle d'Estouteville, died unmarried and without issue.

    Ancestry