The Dauphiné (, , ; or ; or ), traditionally known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France during the Ancien régime, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present-day 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 (–1142) bore a dolphin on his coat of arms and was nicknamed (French for 'dolphin'). 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.
In 1349, the Dauphiné was transferred from the last non-royal Dauphin (who had great debts and no direct heir) to the future king of France, Charles V, through the purchase of lands. The terms of the transfer stipulated that the heir apparent of France would henceforth be called and included significant autonomy and tax exemption for the Dauphiné region, most of which it retained only until 1457, though it remained a province until the French Revolution. Dauphin of France remained the title of the eldest son of a king of France and the heir apparent to the French crown until 1791, and again from 1824 to 1830.
The historical capital is Grenoble and the other main towns are Vienne, Valence, Montélimar, Gap and Romans-sur-Isère. The demonym for its inhabitants is .
Geography
Under the Ancien Régime, the province was bordered in the North by the River Rhône which separated the Dauphiné from the Bresse ("Brêsse") and Bugey ("Bugê"). To the east it bordered the Savoy and Piedmont, and to the south the Comtat Venaissin and Provence. The western border was marked by the Rhône to the south of Lyon. The Dauphiné extended up to what is now the centre of Lyon. It was divided into the "High Dauphiné" and "Low Dauphiné". The first covered: the Grésivaudan the Royans the Champsaur the Trièves the Briançonnais the Queyras the Embrunais the Gapençais the Dévoluy the Vercors the Bochaine the Baronnies
The second included: the County of Albon with the Viennois around the city of Vienne, annexed in 1450 and the Turripinois around the city of La Tour-du-Pin. the County of Valentinois with the city of Valence, annexed in 1404 the County of Diois, around the episcopal city of Die, also annexed in 1404 the Tricastin the Principality of Orange annexed to Dauphiné, (in 1793 it was included in the Vaucluse)
The province also included the current Italian Dauphiné, which belonged to the Republic of the Escartons until 1713, when it was ceded to the Duchy of Savoy by the Treaty of Utrecht. The Vivaro-Alpine dialect was still spoken there until the 20th century: Oulx valley Pragelato (in the Upper Val Chisone) Casteldelfino
The province offers a range of terrain, from the alpine summits of the High-Dauphiné (the Barre des Ecrins is 4,102 meters at its highest point), the Prealps (Vercors and Chartreuse), and the plains of the Drôme, which resemble the landscapes of Provence.
History
Classical antiquity and the Middle Ages Roman rule and the early Middle Ages The area of the future Dauphiné was inhabited by the Allobroges and other Gaulish tribes in ancient times. The region was conquered by the Romans before the Gallia conquest by Julius Caesar. Vienne became a Roman colony and one of the most important cities of Gallia.
After the end of the Western Roman Empire, the region suffered from invasions of Visigoths and Alans tribes. The Burgundians settled in Vienne.Petite histoire du Dauphiné , Félix Vernay, 1933, p22 After the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the region became part of the kingdom of Lotharingia. However, the King of France Charles the Bald soon claimed authority over this territory.
The governor of Vienne, Boson of Provence, proclaimed himself king of Burgundy and the region became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy, which remained independent until 1032, when it became part of the Holy Roman Empire.Petite Histoire…, Félix Vernay, 1933, p24
At that time, the development of feudal society and the weakness of the Emperor's rule allowed for the creation of several small ecclesiastic or secularist States (the region of Viennois, for example, was under the rule of the archbishop of Vienne). In the middle of that chaos, the Counts of Albon succeeded in uniting these different territories under their rule.Petite histoire… , Félix Vernaix, 1933, p25
Imperial fief (1040–1349)
Amidst the chaos of feudal rule, the Counts of Albon began to rise above other feudal lords and acquire dominance over the region. Their story begins with Guigues I the Old (died 1070), Lord of Annonay and Champsaur. During his reign, he gained significant territories for his province: a part of the Viennois, the Grésivaudan and the Oisans. Moreover, the Emperor gave him the region of Briançon. The territories combined under his personal rule became a sovereign mountain principality within the Holy Roman Empire. The count made a significant decision whenFélix Vernay, Petite histoire du Dauphiné, 1933, p9 he chose the small city of Grenoble as capital of his state instead of the prestigious city of Vienne, which was the long-established seat of a powerful bishop. This choice allowed him to assert authority over all his territories.
In the 12th century, the local ruler Count Guigues IV of Albon (c.1095–1142) bore a dolphin on his coat of arms and was nicknamed le Dauphin (French for dolphin). His descendants changed their title from Count of Albon to Dauphin of Viennois. The state took the name of Dauphiné.
However, the Dauphiné did not, at this point, have its modern borders. The region of Vienne and Valence were independent and even in Grenoble, the capital, the authority was shared with the bishop. Furthermore, the cities of Voiron and la Côte-Saint-André were parts of the County of Savoy, while the Dauphins had the Faucigny and territories in Italy. This tangle between Dauphiné and Savoy resulted in several conflicts. The last Dauphin, Humbert II of Viennois, made peace with his neighbour. He also acquired the city of Romans. He finally created the Conseil Delphinal and the University of Grenoble and enacted the Delphinal Status, a kind of constitution that protected the rights of his people.
French rule The significant debts of Humbert II and the death of his son and heir led to the sale of his lordship to King Philip VI in 1349, by the terms of the treaty of Romans, negotiated by his protonotary, Amblard de Beaumont. A major condition was that the heir to the throne of France would be known as , which was the case from that time until the French Revolution; the first was Philippe's grandson, the future Charles V of France. The titleThe Crown of France also absorbed Humbert's other titles: prince du Briançonnais, duc de Champsaur, marquis de Cézanne, comte de Vienne, d'Albon, de Grésivaudan, d'Embrun et de Gapençais, baron palatine of La Tour, La Valbonne, Montauban and Mévouillon. also conferred an appanage on the region. Charles V spent nine months in his new territory.
Humbert's agreement further stipulated that Dauphiné would be exempted from many taxes (like the gabelle); this statute was the subject of much subsequent parliamentary debate at the regional level, as local leaders sought to defend this regional autonomy and privilege from the state's assaults.
Already in 1356, the nobility of the Dauphiné took part in the battle of Poitiers, as part of the French army. In the same time, French expansion towards Dauphiné caused various concerns at the imperial court. In order to affirm imperial authority over the old Kingdom of Burgundy (Arles), the emperor Charles IV crowned himself as king of Burgundy in Arles (1365). Since Dauphiné was still considered as part of the old Burgundian realm, within the Holy Roman Empire, an arrangement was made in 1378, by appointing the young French prince Charles (future king Charles VI), as the imperial vicar of Burgundy, but only for his lifetime.
The nobility of the Dauphiné took part in the battle of Agincourt (1415), but the consequent Treaty of Troyes (1420) had wide political implications on all French interests, since the young dauphin Charles (future king Charles VII) was disinherited. Already in 1421, emperor Sigismund took action and appointed Louis II of Chalon-Arlay as the new imperial vicar of the Kingdom of Burgundy (Arles), in hope to restore some imperial authority over the region, including Dauphiné, and also Viennois and Provence, thus trying to suppress not only French interests, but also ambitions of powerful Burgundian duke Philip the Good. Emperor's attempt turned out to be unrealistic, and soon failed.
The province was also the setting for military events during the war. The Duke of Savoy and the Prince of Orange, with the help of the English and Burgundian authorities, planned to invade the Dauphiné, but at the battle of Anthon in 1430, the army of the Principality of Orange was defeated by the troops of the Dauphiné, preventing the invasion.
Louis XI was the only Dauphin of France to administer his territory, from 1447 to 1456. It was during his reign as Dauphin that the Dauphiné became totally integrated into France. At that time, it was an anarchic state, with conflicts between nobles still common.Georges Bordonove, Les Valois, 2007, p1045 Louis XI prohibited these conflicts and forced the nobles to recognize his authority. The became the third Parlement of France. Moreover, Louis XI politically united the Dauphiné. He forced the archbishop of Vienne, the bishop of Grenoble and the abbot of Romans all to pledge allegiance to him. He also acquired Montélimar and the Principality of Orange.
In addition, he developed the economy of the province, by constructing roads and authorizing markets. He finally created the University of Valence founded 26 July 1452, by letters patent. Nevertheless, he also tried to institute the without referring the issue to the estates of the province, resulting in discontent on the part of the nobility and the people of the province. Because of his opposition to his father, Charles VII, he was forced to leave the Dauphiné. The King took back the control of the province and forced the Estates to pledge allegiance in 1457.Félix Vernay, Petite histoire du Dauphiné, 1933, p. 58
Imperial suzerainty was not entirely forgotten in the 15th century. The Emperor Sigismund negotiated with King Henry V of England to give the Dauphiné to an English prince. The Dauphinois also did not forget their autonomy. The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), which exposed Gallicanism, and the Concordat of Bologna (1516), which rectified France with the Papacy, were both promulgated for France and the Dauphiné distinctly. The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539), on the other hand, which made French the official language of France, since it was not issued by the king as dauphin was not recognised in the Dauphiné. A second ordinance was promulgated at Abbeville on 9 April 1540 by the king as dauphin and this the Dauphinois parliament accepted.Gustave Dupont-Ferrier, "Où en était la formation de l'unité française aux XVe et XVIe siècles ? Premier article", Journal des savants (1941): 10–24.
Early modern history Time of troubles
During the Italian Wars (1494–1559), French troops were quartered in Dauphiné. Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francis I stayed often in Grenoble, but the people of the province suffered the exactions of the soldiers. Moreover, the nobility of the region took part in the different battles (Marignano, Pavia) and gained an immense prestige.Petite histoire du Dauphiné, Félix Vernay, 1933, p78 The best-known of its members was Pierre Terrail de Bayard, "the knight without fear and beyond reproach".