Monaco · Former fief of Les Baux

Les Baux-de-Provence is located on a rocky plateau in the Alpilles in the present-day southern French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. The difficult-to-access settlement was ruled in the Middle Ages by the lords of Les Baux, an extensive Provençal noble family. Their castle controlled transport routes and the surrounding lands. After the local dynasty died out, the territory eventually came under the French Crown in the late Middle Ages. The fortifications were partially demolished by royal order in the 17th century; their ruins still shape the appearance of the settlement today.

The name Les Baux has also entered the field of mineralogy. In the area, an aluminium-bearing rock was studied in the 19th century and named “bauxite” after the place where it was found. The place name itself derives from a Provençal word for a projecting or steep rock.

The connection with Monaco arose in the context of a reorientation of the principality’s foreign policy. Honoré II freed Monaco from Spanish protection and concluded the Treaty of Péronne with King Louis XIII. Monaco thus came under French protection. In compensation for possessions lost by the Grimaldi family in Spanish-controlled territories, the princely house received several French fiefs and noble titles. Les Baux was among them. The marquisate was therefore not part of the Monegasque territory, but a French lordship and noble title associated with the dynasty.

Later, the title lost its function as an actual territorial lordship. It nevertheless remained part of the historical titulature of the House of Grimaldi and is traditionally associated with the immediate heir to the throne. The coin issue therefore highlights an aspect of Monaco’s dynastic history and its centuries-long relations with France. No specific round anniversary is given as the reason for selecting the occasion.