DAUPHINÉ/VIENNOIS
. The region that came to be known as the Dauphiné is bounded by the Rhône and Savoie
on the west and north, by Italy on the east, and by Provence on the south. From the 5th
century, it formed part of a succession of kingdoms known as “Burgundy” or “Arles and
Vienne” (so named after the two cities that disputed the claim to be its capital). After
1032, this kingdom passed in theory under the direct authority of the Holy Roman
emperor, but in fact it continued to be controlled by regional magnates. One of these,
Archbishop Brochard of Vienne, gave comital authority over the northern part of the
Viennois to the count of Savoy, while giving the southern part, with the title of count, to
Guigues le Vieux (d. 1060/70), lord of Vion and Albon. This was the beginning of the
Viennois as a political entity, but not until Guigues IV (d. 1142) does the name Dauphin
appear, as a surname (Guigo Dalphinus). The reasons for this surname are unknown, but
since Guigues’s mother was English and had a cousin named Dolfin, she was probably
responsible.
The rulers of the Viennois, while annexing the adjoining territories (the Briançonnais,
Grésivaudan, Embrunais, Gapençais, and the baronies of La Tour-du-Pin, Montauban,
and Mévouillon), continued to call themselves “count of Vienne and Albon” until the late
13th century, when dauphin first became a title and Dauphiné the name of the
principality. The acquisition of the Dauphiné by the king of France occurred in 1349,
after Humbert II sold it to Philip VI, who bestowed it upon his grandson, the future
Charles V. Charles was thus the first dauphin belonging to a French royal family, and the
royal heir apparent thereafter received the title, underlining the importance of this
extension of French sovereignty beyond the Rhône. Under Dauphin Louis II (r. 1440–
57), the future King Louis XI, the final important annexations (Valentinois and Diois) to
the Dauphiné took place. The mother house of the Carthusian order, La Grande
Chartreuse, was founded near Grenoble in 1084, as were the Hospitalers of Saint-
Anthoine at about the same time in the Viennois. Several well-known troubadours came
from the southern Dauphiné, and in 1339 a university was founded at Grenoble.
Eugene L.Cox
[See also: DAUPHIN]
Bautier, Robert-Henri, and Janine Sornay. Les sources de l’histoire économique et social du moyen
âge. I. Provence, Comtat Venaissin, Dauphiné, et états de la maison de Savoie. Paris: CNRS,
1968.
Bligny, Bernard, ed. Histoire du Dauphiné. Toulouse: Privat, 1973.
Chevalier, Cyr Ulysse. Regeste dauphinois, ou repertoire chronologique et analytique des
documents imprimés et inédits relatifs a l’histoire du Dauphiné des origines chrétiennes a
l’année 1349. 5 vols. Valence: Imprimerie Valentinoise, 1913–26.
Sclafert, Thérèse. Le Haut-Dauphiné au moyen âge. Paris: Sirey, 1926.
The Encyclopedia 553