When it comes to pluck and industry in advancing one's fortunes, no one beats the Grimaldi clan of Monaco -- memorably described by Somerset Maugham as "a sunny place for shady people." Prince Ranier's obit today speaks of his family's noble origins this way:
"The fairyland he [Prince Ranier] was groomed to take over had been in the Grimaldi family since 1297. It became a Grimaldi holding not because of any act of chivalry performed by a remote ancestor and rewarded by a king. Rather, it occurred when Francesco Grimaldi of Genoa, leading a group of men dressed as monks, appeared at the front gate and told the guards they were tired and hungry and needed shelter for the night. The guards, who were also Genoese, felt sorry for the monks and let them in.
"But the men in robes, who belonged to no religious order at all, immediately drew their swords and slaughtered their hosts. Grimaldi then became known in Italy and France as Francesco the Spiteful, and the bloody event that made him a prince became part of the Grimaldi family's coat of arms, which to this day shows two men who look like monks holding swords."
BTW, Aristotle Onassis also had a great line about this fairyland by the sea: ""Monaco will always be prosperous so long as there are 3,000 rich men in the world." Ah, the romance of it all.
Carl