barons Châteauneuf
Motto: "In Tenebris Pulchitor"
Author is:
John Paul consignee securities entitling him to part of the fief of Châteauneuf by his late wife Anne Mary Constantine Châteauneuf which was owned (December 11, 1715) daughter of Pierre Antoine de Châteauneuf Constantine and Catherine Rossetti was born March 12, 1710 and baptized 13 in the Cathedral of Saint Reparata in Nice.
June 20, 1420, Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, who had come ask the sun Nice improving their health put an end to the discord that divided for many years RIQUIER of EZE and GRIMALDI of BEUIL about the stronghold of Leven.
The decision of Amadeus invests Jean Grimaldi of the manor of Levens, subject to payment of 3000 gold florins paid in compensation to the family RIQUIER.
is how Castle Levens, imposing fortress, having belonged to the monks of St Pons and RIQUIER of EZE, became possession of the powerful Grimaldi BEUIL, already master of almost all the district PUGET-of THENIERS.
The Levençois would have gone willingly to such a master who had wrested the county of Nice in Provence.
Willingly they wanted to depend on a single central power and manage themselves the affairs of their country to UTELLE example, his happy neighbor, she knew no lord since its liberation by the "good Queen Jeanne d'Anjou."
Thus the people of the county of Nice, grateful, called the Queen Joanna, whose turbulent life was a mixture of atrocities and benefits.
The proud Baron made only short visits to the Castle Levens, prevented by its many activities and his many relationships.
His son Peter celebrated his wedding in 1442 by magnificent festivities which drew the country almost all the nobility Nice.
LEVENS was previously a stronghold of the vast field of BEUIL.
But before he died, Pierre gave it to preserve his second son Louis, at the same time as the strongholds and RAIMPLAS TOURETTE REVEST, great bulwark of defense and concentration.
Louis Grimaldi is the head of the stem of GRIMALDI Levens, http://jean.gallian.free.fr/Grimaldi/Images/P8.pdf end of the Grimaldi BEUIL. Both families had the same aspirations, shared the same joys and the same suffering. Their whole life was marked by treachery, rebellion. They submitted themselves and returned to favor, they plotted again and this ride lasted until 1621. Their collapse led to the end of feudalism activist in the county of Nice.
Louis Grimaldi is remembered as a righteous man. It was with some light heart that the people of LEVENS swore loyalty and honor. With him, the country acquired the first municipal liberties, with money obtained in a calm and understanding.
The charter of January 8, 1475 gave the population the right to elect its own representatives, that is to say advisers and a trustee to manage and defend common interests. This same convention abolishes the size, a feudal tax variable became unpopular and weighing heavily on the poor people peasants. There did not stop the concessions that noble, I repeat, do not s'obtinrent for free.
Three years later, June 5, 1479, the town of Leven, we can give him the name of "common" because the country has its own representatives to defend and run, so the town bought for Louis Grimaldi rights that were commonplace on bandits, Wasteland and bread oven. Happy concessions that allowed the farmer is to graze his cattle, to sow his wheat, or bake their bread freely without being subjected to such mundane measures whose iniquity has raised many popular revolts at this time .
Note that the Lord of LEVENS kept with jealous care the oil mills and flour mills because these, in a country rich in corn and olives, was an important source of income and were not resigned by the knight whose lavish spending were not always commensurate with his fortune.
His son, known as Jean GRIMALDI I was not as popular as his father. He followed the wake of the boat with his cousin, Baron Georges BEUIL.
He lent an ear to the advice of this cousin who, dissatisfied with the Duke of Savoy, plotted the project to encourage the return of the County Nice to France, contrary to his oath and swore allegiance to Savoy. The conspiracy was discovered when she was about to burst. A few months later, January 5, 1508, George died in his castle BEUIL, murdered by his valet, while Jean de Provence LEVENS had fled to escape the justice of his country.
The Duke of Savoy delegated a special committee to investigate the case. The long and laborious investigation does not meet less than 232 charges against the Lord of Levens. So it was he condemned to perpetual banishment and the confiscation of his fiefs and property for the benefit of the House of Savoy.
He lived, "said the Rev. WEAVER, seven years in exile, sometimes in Aix, now in Paris, unnecessarily tiring of his complaints ministers of King Louis XII. His brother, Louis de Forbin, Ambassador of France to the Holy See, the pope prayed for the exiled. Leo himself wrote to the Duke of Savoy, who pardoned John Grimaldi subject to a fine of "4000 golden crowns in the sun" (letter dated April 25, 1515). In vain levançois protesting against this decision which put them back under the tutelage of a master they recognized unworthy by his ill-treatment of them. A protest of the inhabitants, he was told that the grace of John Levene was a decision of State for the appeasement parties in the county of Nice and the ruler of Savoy "would be forced to remind the Lord of LEVENS tired of seeing if it does not scrupulously observed. " These reassuring words remained dull sound and Jean returned to the manor where he died in 1543. His son and successor assumed the name of John II. 15 May 1543, he received letters of investiture of the fiefs of Leven, RAIMPLAS and TOURETTE-REVEST and lent on this tribute to the Duke of Savoy. He was 31. What were the first acts the new lord?
The betrayal of his oath, his lord and his country. No sooner did he provide the Duke of Savoy for his dedication that he seized the occasion of the siege of Nice on the French-Turkish army denying his oath. At the head of supporters recruited everywhere, John ran through the valleys and Vésubie Tinée, sowing terror in the country dedicated to the Savoy, intercepting letters from the Piedmont, attacking small detachments, rivaling those of his cousin Jean-Baptiste Ascros who was part of the besieging army. He takes this opportunity to attack with a gentleman of his soldiers VALDEBLORE of Saint Dalmas, John CIAIS his longtime enemy, remained faithful to the Savoy. Grimaldi came to a very dangerous opponent to Mary, and had him tied up on the small square of this village, among the population frightened, he with his sword. This crime committed with the greatest coolness, John continued his march to Saint-Dalmas where he sacked the land and the remains of the unfortunate CIAIS, despite the tears and entreaties of his widow and his children. This was the second Lord John Grimaldi of Leven.
The town took advantage of the banishment of his lord to gain possession of the oil mills and flour which has been commonplace to weigh on the country's farmers. This acquisition was made October 22, 1550 and, on his accession, Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy hastened to confirm the same time he received the oath of homage to the municipality and the population. But soon the people had the free use of those plants for which he had paid the sum of about 2000 crowns. In fact, John Grimaldi, informed by the harsh lessons of exile, far from being his fiefs, thought that was best for him to make amends and prove to his lord that he could be a noble knight and a brave soldier . His enlistment in the army of Emmanuel Philibert was approved. He behaved so well in the body of his troops for a moment victorious French army at Saint-Quentin in 1557, the Duke of Savoy granted him pardon and restored him to his lordship LEVENS.
It was a bitter disappointment for the peasants of the village when they saw the Lord come back more insolent than ever, to settle at the castle. There was no justice in the Savoy, and the act of October 22 was he a fraud? To whom would you respect for their rights if the government of Emmanuel Philibert was said if his father had shown such weakness?
From that day, discord reigned, sharper, and disturbed the quiet, industrious population of peasants deeply attached to the soil of their country. A long and costly trial took place before the courts, and the discussion escalated very lame results in the transaction of March 3, 1586 which was to remain a dead letter after the events of 1621, the date of revocation of that famous family of Grimaldi BEUIL who gave Nice to Savoy by detaching from Provence to which it should always belong.
had married John Grimaldi the young widow of his cousin, the lord of Ascros, killed at the Battle of Cerisoles in 1544, alongside the Duc d'Enghien. After the death of the wife who bore him a numerous posterity Women, sadly John lived in the castle of the last years of his life, amidst a population that never managed to subjugate and who bore him a grudge for his mistreatment. He died September 17, 1603, leaving as successor his son Caesar, who assumed the title of Baron de Levens.
records of the registry kept at the parish church of Levens contain the death certificate John Grimaldi writes with great care by the prior Regis Parish who ran this time. We believe it useful to refer this document:
"September 17, 1603, Wednesday, at sunrise, passed from this world into a better eternity, John Grimaldi, lord of the country, at the age of 91 years, buried at the church near the seigneurial pew. May God grant Mr. Levens the repose of his soul. "
The population of Levens, so compassionate and so reserved, instead of welcoming with indifference the end of his lord, seemed to rejoice and marked by dances, costumes and carnival songs. During the night, a malicious tied the body of a dead crow in the grand portico of the palace, too vivid allusion to rapacity and poor conduct of the lord. These details drawn from a procedural document shows how far John Grimaldi was unpopular. But these marks of rejoicing people jealous of their freedom, not addressed or to misfortune or death, but hard on the representative of a regime that rotten breath and powerful civilization of the great French Revolution abolished forever two centuries later. (sic, at least it is fixed on the author's ideas!)
Signed: Victor Maurandi
The Chaudan, December 9, 1913
appeared in "Armanach Nissart" of 1914
