Dauphin of France
Dauphin was the name of each heir of the king of France at the time of the Valois and Bourbon dynasties.
The title " Dauphin " (literally: " Dolphin" ) goes back to the nickname of Count Guigues IV of Albon († 1142 ), who called himself le Dauphin. Among his descendants became the epithet of this title, the dolphin became their heraldic animal and gave the county Albon in Viennois finally found the name " Dauphiné " (literally: " Delfinat "). 1349 the childless Dauphin Humbert II was a monk and made his Principality to the French crown, that is, King Philip VI .. Since the Dauphiné de jure belonged to the Holy Roman Empire and King Philip wanted to be a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor, gave he the Principality, together with the title Dauphin on to his grandchildren and future heir, the future King Charles V, who both then passed it on to his son, the future Charles VI. After that solidified this practice, and by the mid-15th century ( the German Emperor had now abandoned their claims to the Dauphiné ) was the name of the respective French Crown Prince Dauphin, or Dauphin de France (similar to the English crown prince traditional Prince of Wales called).
The title was only descendants of the reigning king, but not heir to the throne, who succeeded him as younger brothers came from or side lines of the dynasty to the throne. Therefore, for example, were the important kings Francis I and Henry IV never Dauphin.
The last French Crown Prince, who was officially called le Dauphin was Louis -Antoine de Bourbon, duc d' Angoulême ( Louis XIX. ). He was the son of Charles X, who resigned after the July Revolution of 1830 and renounced the throne.
After François Henri Louis Marie d' Orléans ( b. 1961 ), comte de Clermont, eldest son of Henri comte de Paris was expelled in 2006 because of a disability caused by toxoplasmosis of the successor, the current Dauphin is his brother Jean d ' Orléans ( b. 1965 ), duc de Vendôme. His claim to the title is of course a theoretical nature, because France is no longer a monarchy.
In today's parlance, the French, the word " dauphin" in use in a different, more general meaning. It describes the desired or designated successor of a higher official.