Dauphiné

The Dauphiné is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.

In the 12th century, the local ruler Count Guigues IV of Albon bore a dolphin on his coat of arms and was nicknamed le Dauphin . His descendants changed their title from Count of Albon to Dauphin of Viennois. The state took the name of Dauphiné. It became a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. However, the Dauphin of France was the title of the eldest son of a king of France and the heir apparent to the French crown, from 1350 to 1830. The title was established by the royal house of France through the purchase of lands known as the Dauphiné in 1349 by the future Charles V of France.

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