House of Auvergne the viscounty of Clermont, then vassal to the elective county of Auvergne, came the so-called House of Auvergne, a designation used by modern historians for the family that ruled consistently the Auvergne region from 963. After a period of comital vacancy, the viscounts of Clermont were elevated as successors of the elective counts: the county became hereditary.
Viscounts of Clermont • Armand of Clermont (?–?) • Robert I of Clermont (?–?) • Robert II of Clermont (?–?) • Robert III of Clermont (?–?), son of Robert II
The splitting of the county and the Dauphinate In 1155, count William VII
the Young was usurped by his uncle, count William VIII
the Old. However, William VIII left a smaller portion for his nephew to rule. In 1209, the county of William VIII
the Old would be made smaller after a partial confiscation by
Philip II of France, later to be made in 1360 as the
Duchy of Auvergne. As for William VII
the Young, he was able to maintain his status in part of his county, especially
Beaumont,
Chamalières, and
Montferrand. From this smaller county raised, in 1302, the
Dauphinate of Auvergne. Based in the fact that William VII's wife was the daughter of the
dauphin de Viennois, Guigues IV, and that William VII's descendants, in virtue of the Viennois blood, used the surname
Dauphin, the majority of authors anticipate the formalization of the dauphinate in 1302 and choose to call William VII and his successors already as
dauphins of Auvergne, for a clear distinction from the descendants of William VIII. Still others, out of convenience, choose to call these successors the counts-dauphins of Auvergne.
Partitions of Auvergne under Auvergne family Table of rulers Note: The parallel existence of the usurpers of the Elder County of Auvergne and of the usurped Younger County-Dauphinate, who often carried the same first names, also complicates things. To avoid confusion, the numbering system used here is continuous, and Dauphin is used as part of the name where applicable.
The successors of the Auvergne family in the county and the dauphinate ==Bishops of Clermont==