Monnet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Monnet was first found in Savoy (French: Savoie) in the Rhône-Alpes region of the French Alps, where the family held a family seat from ancient times.

Another branch of the family was found in Monnay, Normandy. And many of this branch of the family participated in the Conquest of England.

By example, William de Monay was a benefactor to Bliburgh, Suffolk, before the time of Henry II. Robert de Monei held a fief from Bigot, Earl of Norfolk, in 1165. 1

"The fee held by William was at Brigg. In Yorkshire, ' Henri de Monnaie witnesses the original grant of the manor of Allerton, probably about 1190 :' and a family of the name Monet of Hadlesby, continued in the county in the seventeenth century. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Robert Monay in Oxfordshire. William de Mony is entered in the Testa de Nevill as holding part of a knight's fee at Clinton, in that county, of Guy Fitz Robert and Bardolt Fitz Roger : and Walter de Munet as holding by serjeanty at Munet in Staffordshire. " 2

The Mauny variant derived there name from "the castle of Mauny at Hambye, (the parish adjoining St. Denis-de-Gaste) in Normandy." 3

Over the course of many centuries, this family branched, prospered and expanded to many regions where members of the family adapted to the cultural and linguistic changes in these regions and also became active citizens defending their beliefs, their King, and their country. This ancient family name is registered at Abondance in 1649.

A famous member of the family, Claude Monet, was a French painter during the 1800s and 1900s. Claude was fascinated by the reflection of light off the water and his painting "Impression, soleil levant " (1872), inspired a critic to describe him as an "Impressionniste". His home at Giverny remains open to the public as well as the famous garden with the water lilies which he painted so frequently.