in
Viennois, within the
Dauphiné (pink), in the middle of the 13th century The region of
Viennois, including
Albon, belonged to the
Kingdom of Burgundy (Arles), since 1032 under the suzerainty of the
Holy Roman Empire. By the 12th century, counts of Albon gained prominence among the local nobility in Viennois. Count
Guigues IV of Albon (d. 1142) was nicknamed or 'the Dolphin', and in time, his nickname morphed into a title among his successors. By 1285, the lands ruled by the counts of Albon, the old , were known as the Dauphiné of Viennois (), but the city of
Vienne itself was not in their possession, being governed by the
Archbishops of Vienne until the middle of the 15th century. In 1343, dauphin
Humbert II of Viennois (d. 1355), being left childless after the death of his only son, and also being pressured by financial difficulties, decided to sell all of his possessions, titles and rights over Dauphiné. Neither the emperor, nor the pope wanted to buy, and thus a series of complex negotiations were initiated between Humbert and the
House of Valois, headed by the ruling French king
Philip VI. It was initially agreed that Humbert's domains will pass to Philip's younger som
Philip, Duke of Orléans, but already in 1344, those provisions were changed, and a new agreement was made, designating kings's oldest son
John, Duke of Normandy as Humbert's heir in the Dauphiné. By 1349, dauphin
Humbert II decided to finalize the sale of his domains. The acquisition was formalized by the treaty of
Romans, designating John's oldest son
Charles (future king Charles V) as Humbert's successor, on the condition that Dauphiné will remain a distinctive
polity, not incorporated into the French kingdom. Thus in the summer of 1349 (16 July), young French prince Charles became the first Valois Dauphin of Viennois. In 1350, when John ascended to the French throne, his son Charles became the
heir presumptive and thus for the first time both honors (Dauphin of Viennois, and heir to the French throne) were held by the same person. Under provisions of the treaty, it was also stipulated that the
heir apparent to the French throne shall always be personal holder of those lands, and thus styled as
Dauphin of Viennois. When the king of France had no son, he would personally rule the Dauphiné separately, as dauphin. Thus, the province formally remained within the Holy Roman Empire even after 1349, and already in 1356 the first Valois dauphin Charles made an
homage to the emperor
Charles IV at
Metz, and received imperial confirmation as feudal lord of Dauphiné, also being appointed as the
imperial vicar in the region. In 1378, the emperor appointed the next dauphin
Charles (future king Charles VI) as the imperial vicar in the region, but only for his lifetime. In 1456-1467, during the reign of king
Charles VII of France, ties between Dauphiné and the French crown were strengthened, but the province continued to be administered separately from the French realm well into the
early modern period. It was
de facto incorporated into France only with the rise of
absolutism in the 17th century. By the middle of the 15th century, during the reign of dauphin
Louis II (future king Louis XI), counties of
Diois and
Valentinois were finally integrated into Dauphiné. In time, since the 15th century, the title
Dauphin of Viennois gradually morphed into the
Dauphin of France. ==Lords of Château d'Albon==