dauphin

dauphin [Fr.,=dolphin], French title, borne first by the counts of Vienne (also called Viennois) and later by the eldest son of the king of France, or, if the dauphin came to die before the king, by the dauphin's eldest son. The origin of the title is rather obscure; it probably was the family name of the counts of Vienne, who adopted the dolphin as their heraldic device (12th cent.). Their territory came to be called the dauphiné, or dauphinate, of Vienne, or simply the Dauphiné . Another dauphinate, that of Auvergne, ruled by a branch of the house of Vienne, came into existence when Auvergne broke up in the 12th cent. The title dauphin passed, with the Dauphiné, to the direct heirs of the French kings when (1349) Dauphin Humbert II of Vienne sold the region to King Philip VI of France. When Philip died (1350) his grandson, later King Charles V, became the first heir to the throne to bear the title. After Louis XI the title was merely honorific. Louis Antoine, duc d'Angoulême (1775-1844), son of King Charles X, was the last dauphin. Louis, eldest son of Louis XIV, was known as the Great Dauphin; he was a competent military leader. Louis XVII is known as the Lost Dauphin.

dauphin title of the King of France's eldest son. XV (daulphyn, dolphyn). — F. dauphin, earlier †daulphyn — Pr. dalfin — medL. dalphīnus (VIII) for L. delphinus DOLPHIN; orig. a title attached to certain seigneuries.
Hence dauphiness XVI; see -ESS 1.

dauphin The title of the heir to the French throne. Dauphiné was a province in south-east France. It was conquered by the Romans, Burgundians, and Franks. Once a fief of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, it passed to the kingdom of Arles, and, in 1029 to the counts of D'Albon who, from 1133, took the title of Dauphin of Vienne. By 1282, it had acquired its regional name and it was sold to the future CHARLES V of France in 1346. Thereafter heirs to the French throne assumed the title of dauphin. The province acquired a PARLEMENT in 1453, but was annexed to the crown in 1457 and lost its local privileges, especially during the FRENCH WARS OF RELIGION.