Dauphin

Categories: French noble titles | French nobility

For other uses, see Dauphin (disambiguation).

The Dauphin was the heir apparent to the throne of France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties.

Guy VIII, Count of Vienne, had a dolphin on his coat of arms and had been nicknamed le Dauphin (French for dolphin). The title of Dauphin du Viennois descended in his family till 1349, when Humbert II sold his signeurie, called the Dauphiné, to King Philippe VI on condition that the heir of France assumed the title of le Dauphin. The wife of the Dauphin was known as la Dauphine.

Image:Louis11-1.jpg
Louis XI, the 8th holder of the title of Dauphin

The first French prince called le Dauphin was Charles V. The last was the Duc d'Angoulême, son of Charles X, who renounced the title in 1830.

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List of Dauphins, 1349-1830

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In literature

In Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck encounters two odd characters who turn out to be professional con men. One of them claims that he should be treated with deference, since he is really an impoverished English duke, and the other, not to be outdone, reveals that he is "really" the Dauphin, presumably Louis XVII.de:Dauphin fr:Dauphin (titre) nl:Dauphin no:Le Dauphin pl:Delfin (tytuł) pt:Delfim de França