Dauphin of France (/ˈdɔːfɪn/,alsoUK:/dɔːˈfɪn,ˈdoʊfæ̃/US:/ˈdoʊfɪn,doʊˈfæ̃/;French:Dauphin de France[dofɛ̃dəfʁɑ̃s]ⓘ), originallyDauphin of Viennois (Dauphin de Viennois), was the title given to theheir apparent to thethrone of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830.[1] The worddauphin is French fordolphin and was the hereditary title of the ruler of theDauphiné of Viennois. While early heirs were granted these lands to rule, eventually only the title was granted.
The wife of the Dauphin was known asla Dauphine.
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CountGuigues IV of Albon (d. 1142) inViennois, within theKingdom of Burgundy (Arles), under thesuzerainty of theHoly Roman Empire, had adolphin on hiscoat of arms, and was nicknamedle Dauphin. In time, that nickname came to be used as a title. Sincec. 1285, the title ofDauphin de Viennois was already in official use by the counts ofAlbon, and their domains came to be known as theDauphiné.[2]
In 1343, a series of negotiations was initiated between dauphinHumbert II of Viennois and the French kingPhilippe VI, regarding the future inheritance of the Dauphiné. Since Humbert had no heirs, it was initially agreed that in exchange for a substantial financial compensation, his domains will pass to king's younger sonPhilip, Duke of Orléans, but already in 1344 the provisions were changed by the new agreement, designating king's oldest son and heirJohn, Duke of Normandy as Humbert's heir in the Dauphiné.[3]
By 1349, Humbert decided to relinquish his rule over Dauphiné, and the final agreement was made, designating king's grandson and John's sonCharles as Humbert's successor, on the condition that Dauphiné will remain a distinctive polity, not integrated into the French realm. Thus in the summer of 1349, the young French prince Charles became the firstDauphin de Viennois from theHouse of Valois. In 1350, when his father ascended to the French throne as king John II, Charles became theheir presumptive and thus for the first time both honors (heir to the French throne, and Dauphin de Viennois) were held by the same person.[4]
The title was roughly equivalent to the SpanishPrince of Asturias, the PortuguesePrince of Brazil, the English (later British)Prince of Wales, the DutchPrince of Orange, and the ScottishDuke of Rothesay. The official style of a Dauphin of France, prior to 1461, waspar la grâce de Dieu, dauphin de Viennois, comte de Valentinois et de Diois ("By the Grace of God, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois"). A Dauphin of France united the coat of arms of the Dauphiné, which featured dolphins, with the Frenchfleurs-de-lis, and might, where appropriate, further unite that with other arms (e.g.Francis, son ofFrancis I, was rulingDuke of Brittany, so united the arms of that province with the typical arms of a Dauphin;Francis II, while Dauphin, was also King of Scots by marriage toMary I, and added the arms of theKingdom of Scotland to those of the Dauphin).
Originally the Dauphin was personally responsible for the rule of theDauphiné, which was legally part of theHoly Roman Empire, and which the emperors, in giving the rule of the province to the French heirs, had stipulated must never be united with France. Because of this, the Dauphiné suffered from anarchy in the 14th and 15th centuries, since the Dauphins were frequently minors or concerned with other matters.
During his period as Dauphin, Louis, son ofCharles VII, defied his father by remaining in the province longer than the king permitted and by engaging in personal politics more beneficial to the Dauphiné than to France. For example, he marriedCharlotte of Savoy against his father's wishes.Savoy was a traditional ally of the Dauphiné, and Louis wished to reaffirm that alliance to stamp out rebels and robbers in the province. Louis was driven out of the Dauphiné by Charles VII's soldiers in 1456, leaving the region to fall back into disorder. After his succession asLouis XI in 1461, Louis united the Dauphiné with France, bringing it under royal control.
The title was automatically conferred upon the next heir apparent to the throne in the direct line upon birth, accession of the parent to the throne or death of the previous Dauphin, unlike the British titlePrince of Wales, which has always been in the gift of the monarch (traditionally conferred upon the heir's 21st birthday).
The sons of the King of France held the style and rank offils de France (son of France), while male-line grandsons were given the style and rank ofpetits-enfants de France (Grandson of France). The sons and grandsons of the Dauphin ranked higher than their cousins, being treated as the king's children and grandchildren respectively. The sons of the Dauphin, though grandsons of the king, were ranked as Sons of France, and the grandsons of the Dauphin ranked as Grandsons of France; other great-grandsons of the king ranked merely asprinces of the blood.
The title was abolished by theConstitution of 1791, which made France a constitutional monarchy. Under the constitution the heir-apparent to the throne (DauphinLouis-Charles at that time) was restyledPrince Royal (aPrince of the Blood retitledprince français), taking effect from the inception of theLegislative Assembly on 1 October 1791. The title was restoredin potentia under theBourbon Restoration ofLouis XVIII, but there would not be another Dauphin until after his death. With the accession of his brotherCharles X, Charles' son and heirLouis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême automatically became Dauphin.
With the removal of theBourbons the title fell into disuse, the heirs ofLouis Philippe I being titledPrince Royal. After the death ofHenri, comte de Chambord,Carlos, Duke of Madrid, the heir of thelegitimist claimant,Juan, Count of Montizón, made use of the title inpretense, as have the Spanish legitimist claimants since.
| N° | Name as Dauphin | Heir of | Birth | Became Dauphin | Ceased to be Dauphin | Death | Other titles before or while Dauphin | Name as King | Dauphine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | %2c_basilique%2c_gisant_de_Charles_V_sculpt%25C3%25A9_lorsqu%2527il_avait_27_ans_2.jpg) Charles | John II | 21 January 1338 | Summer 1349 Became Dauphin de Viennois 22 August 1350 Became the heir presumptive | 8 April 1364 Became King | 16 September 1380 | Duke of Normandy | Charles V | Joanna of Bourbon |
| 2 |  Charles | Charles V | 3 December 1368 | 16 September 1380 Became King | 21 October 1422 | — | Charles VI | – | |
| 3 | Charles | Charles VI | 26 September 1386 | 28 December 1386 | — | – | – | ||
| 4 |  Charles | 6 February 1392 | 13 January 1401 | Duke of Guyenne | – | – | |||
| 5 |  Louis | 22 January 1397 | 13 January 1401 | 18 December 1415 | Duke of Guyenne | – | Margaret of Burgundy | ||
| 6 |  Jean | 31 August 1398 | 18 December 1415 | 5 April 1417 | Duke of Touraine | – | Jacqueline of Hainaut | ||
| 7 |  Charles | 22 February 1403 | 5 April 1417 | 21 October 1422 Became King | 22 July 1461 | Count of Ponthieu | Charles VII | – | |
| 8 |  Louis | Charles VII | 3 July 1423 | 22 July 1461 Became King | 30 August 1483 | — | Louis XI | Margaret of Scotland; Charlotte of Savoy | |
| 9 |  François | Louis XI | 4 December 1466 | — | – | – | |||
| 10 | %2c_by_anonymous_artist%2c_16th_century_(cropped)_2.jpg) Charles | 30 June 1470 | 30 August 1483 Became King | 7 April 1498 | — | Charles VIII | – | ||
| 11 |  Charles-Orlando | Charles VIII | 11 October 1492 | 16 December 1495 | — | – | – | ||
| 12 | .jpg) Charles | 8 September 1496 | 2 October 1496 | — | – | – | |||
| 13 | François | July 1497 | — | – | – | ||||
| 14 |  François | Francis I | 28 February 1518 | 10 August 1536 | Duke of Brittany | – | – | ||
| 15 | .jpg) Henri | 31 March 1519 | 10 August 1536 | 31 March 1547 Became King | 10 July 1559 | Duke of Orléans,Duke of Brittany | Henry II | Catherine de' Medici | |
| 16 |  Francis | Henry II | 19 January 1544 | 31 March 1547 | 10 July 1559 Became King | 5 December 1560 | King-consort of Scotland | Francis II | Mary, Queen of Scots |
| 17 |  Louis | Henry IV | 27 September 1601 | 14 May 1610 Became King | 14 May 1643 | — | Louis XIII | – | |
| 18 |  Louis-Dieudonné | Louis XIII | 5 September 1638 | 14 May 1643 Became King | 1 September 1715 | — | Louis XIV | – | |
| 19 |  Louis,le Grand Dauphin | Louis XIV | 1 November 1661 | 14 April 1711 | — | – | Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria | ||
| 20 |  Louis,le Petit Dauphin | 16 August 1682 | 14 April 1711 | 18 February 1712 | Duke of Burgundy | – | Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy | ||
| 21 |  Louis | 8 January 1707 | 18 February 1712 | 8 March 1712 | Duke of Brittany | – | – | ||
| 22 |  Louis | 15 February 1710 | 8 March 1712 | 1 September 1715 Became King | 10 May 1774 | Duke of Anjou | Louis XV | – | |
| 23 | .jpg) Louis-Ferdinand[5] | Louis XV | 4 September 1729 | 20 December 1765 | — | – | Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain; DuchessMaria Josepha of Saxony | ||
| 24 |  Louis-Auguste | 23 August 1754 | 20 December 1765 | 10 May 1774 Became King | 21 January 1793 | Duke of Berry | Louis XVI | ArchduchessMaria Antonia of Austria | |
| 25 |  Louis-Joseph | Louis XVI | 22 October 1781 | 4 June 1789 | — | – | – | ||
| 26 |  Louis-Charles | 27 March 1785 | 4 June 1789 | 1 October 1791 Retitled as "Prince-royal" | 8 June 1795 | Duke of Normandy | Louis XVII | – | |
| 27 |  Louis-Antoine | Charles X | 6 August 1775 | 16 September 1824 | 2 August 1830 Abdication | 3 June 1844 | Duke of Angoulême | Louis XIX | Marie Thérèse of France |
InMark Twain'sAdventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck encounters two odd characters who turn out to be professionalcon men. One of them claims that he should be treated with deference, since he is "really" an impoverished Englishduke, and the other, not to be outdone, reveals that he is "really" the Dauphin "Looy the Seventeen, son ofLooy the Sixteen andMarry Antonet".
Louis, Duke of Guyenne, the Dauphin of Viennois, is a character inWilliam Shakespeare'sHenry V. Another Shakespeare play,King John, features the futureLouis VIII as "Lewis the Dauphin" - this is an anachronisms, as he died over a century before the term was applied to French heirs-apparent.
In BaronessEmma Orczy'sEldorado, theScarlet Pimpernel rescues the Dauphin from prison and helps spirit him from France.
Alphonse Daudet wrote a short story called "The Death of the Dauphin", about a young Dauphin who wants to stop Death from approaching him.
The Dauphin is also mentioned inCormac McCarthy'sBlood Meridian.
"The Dauphin" is a 1988 episode ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. As the titular character (a planetary princess) is female, the episode title gets the gender incorrect (the French female equivalent is "Dauphine").
Robert Pattinson portrays the Dauphin of Viennois inThe King.
Generations are numbered by descent fromCharles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme | ||
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*died without issue | ||
