Ventimiglia family

…three great families of the Ventimiglia, the Chiaramonte, and the Passaneto—men so powerful that contemporaries described them as “semi-kings,” having below them some 200 lesser, poor, and violent vassals. In these years, with an economy dominated largely by Catalan merchants, Sicily looked to Aragon (which in 1326 had also gained…

…belonged to the counts of Ventimiglia, a noble Genoese family, was purchased in the 14th century by the Grimaldis, lords of Monaco. In 1860 Menton was purchased by France. Pop. (1999) 28,812; (2022 est.) 30,326.