Ippolita Trivulzio (1600 – 20 June 1638) was the Princess of Monaco by marriage to Honoré II of Monaco, and was the first Monegasque consort to bear the title of ''Princess''.

Biography

Ippolita was the only daughter of Carlo Emanuele Teodoro

Trivulzio The House of Trivulzio is the name of an old Italian noble family, most closely associated with Milan, whose members were prominent politicians, military men and various clergymen. History The noble and ancient Trivulzio family was one of the g ...

, Count of Melzo and Caterina of Gonzaga-Castelgoffredo. Her family originated from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. Her older brother was

Gian Giacomo Teodoro Trivulzio Giovanni (Gian) Giacomo Teodoro Trivulzio (1597 – 3 August 1656) was an Italian Cardinal who held several high functions in service of the Spanish Crown. Trivulzio was born and died in Milan, Duchy of Milan. He was the son of Carlo Emanue ...

. Ippolita was brought up in a convent. Her brother married Giovanna Maria Grimaldi, the sister of Honoré II. In 1615, Honoré II returned to Monaco from Milan, where he had spent his childhood with his Spanish maternal uncle, to resume government after having reached his age of majority. Marriage to provide an heir was one of the first political issues to be solved, and Ippolita, being the sister-in-law of his sister Jeanne, was successfully introduced to him as a simple and suitable solution.Anne Edwards, The Grimaldis of Monaco, 1992 She married Honoré II, Prince of Monaco on 13 February 1616. The couple had one son. Ippolita was described as "demure, slim, dark-haired, a potential beauty and raised by nuns." Her spouse was pious, domestic and homely and the marriage was described as a happy one. As Honoré II redecorated the Princely residence from a medieval fortress to a princely palace and introduced several courtly customs and official religious stately ceremonies to create a sense of national and monarchial feelings between the dynasty and the Monegasque population, Ippolita was given a bigger role in public representation than her predecessors." During the years 1624–30, they also hosted the state visits of

Archduke Charles of Austria Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

, Maria Anna of Austria and the future Emperor Ferdinand III. Princess Ippolita died in her thirty-eighth year. Originally buried in the crypt of the

Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (in French language: ''Cathédrale de Notre-Dame-Immaculée''), but sometimes called Saint Nicholas Cathedral (name of the old church which was demolished in 1874), or Monaco Cathedral (Fre ...

, she was moved on 4 November 1966 by decision of Prince

Rainier III Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...

Issue

# Ercole Grimaldi, Marquis of Baux (16 December 1623 – 2 August 1651) married Maria Aurelia Spinola (d. 1670) and had issue.

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trivulzio, Ippolita 1600 births 1638 deaths House of Grimaldi Princesses of Monaco Burials at the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate Ippolita Nobility from Milan House of Gonzaga 17th-century Italian women