Grimaldo Canella

Grimaldo Canella (d. c. 1184) was the youngest son of Otto Canella and Consul of Genoa in 1162, 1170, and 1184. He is an ancestor of his namesake House of Grimaldi, the ruling family of Monaco.

A century later, in 1270, the Guelph families of Grimaldi and Fieschi were forced into exile from Genoa. The Grimaldis ended up in the Guelph towns around Nice. They made their first attempt to seize the Ghibelline fortress of Monaco in 1297, although they did not control it permanently until 1419. Thus the family became Princes of Monaco.