In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The counts of Auvergne slowly became autonomous.
After the death of Acfred, who left the comital fisc completely diminished, there appeared no successor who could control the entire Auvergne, with Velay. Several relatives of surrounding regions made claims. Below are the dates of their effective control.
From 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
Coat of arms of the dauphins of Auvergne.
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,[1] 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
County of Auvergne (963-1169)
Younger County of Auvergne (1169-1302) Raised to: Dauphinate of Auvergne (1302–1434)
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.[2] To avoid confusion, the numbering system used here is continuous, and Dauphin is used as part of the name where applicable.
Children of Beraud II, both titled Dauphin/Dauphine, inherited separately their possessions:
Anne inherited her deceased maternal uncle's possessions of Forez in 1372, as Dauphine de Forez. After her death this part was inherited by the Bourbons.
Beraud inherited, after their father's death in 1399, the Dauphinate itself, plus the county of Sancerre from his mother.
Became part of the royal domain upon the ascension of Louis XIII of France, son of Henry IV and Marie de'Medici
Afterwards, the title returned to the royal domain and was claimed as a courtesy title by the dukes of Orléans, and the modern Orleanist pretenders
Bishops of Clermont
The title of bishop of Clermont is used from 1160 onwards. Before then they were called bishop of Arvernes.[citation needed] In 2002, the Bishopric of Clermont was incorporated into the Archbishopric of Clermont-Ferrand.
The Duchy of Auvergne was created in 1360 by John II of France, out of part of the Elder County of Auvergne, confiscated by Philip II of France in 1209.
List of dukes of Auvergne
John, Duke of Berry (1360–1416), first husband of Joan II, Countess of Auvergne
Louise confronted Charles III's right to succession with the support of her son, King Francis I of France. After her death in 1531, the title passed to the royal domain.
^Some authors have named William VII and his descendants counts of Clermont (after the viscounty from which the family emerged), as a way to mark them as the legitimate line. However, this risks confusion with the episcopal County of Clermont in Auvergne, and also with the unrelated County of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis.
^Some authors create a new numbering starting with the first dauphins even though the dauphinate did not really begin until 1302. Others choose to reestablish, beginning with William the Young, the numbering of the viscounts of Clermont who became counts of Auvergne, particularly for the dauphins named Robert.
^The numbering of the counts named William follows the one of the elective counts. However, the most traditional counting does not include William III, Duke of Aquitaine as a de facto count of Auvergne.
^According to Pontiari, E. (ed.) (1927-8), De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriæ et Siciliæ comitis et Roberti Guiscardi ducis fratris eius, (Bologna) (“Malaterra”) IV.8, p. 90, Emma was intended to marry Philip I of France, but her father didn't know he was still married to Bertha of Holland, and it was Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse who arranged for her to marry William VI. This could only have happened in 1092, probably between the separation of the royal couple, and the beginning of the bigamous marriage of the king to Bertrade of Montfort.
^A previous marriage to Joanna of Calabria is mentioned in a spurious document. See Baluze (1708) Auvergne, Tome II, p. 62.
^He is alternatively named Robert I Dauphin, thus restarting the numbering. In the present table the numbering will continue from the original county of Auvergne.
^The numbering in the Dauphinate starts from where the division left it; He was the eighth William in this part of the county.
^Somes sources state him as I or II, depending on whether his grandfather was named Robert or simply Dauphin For the reason of the numbering on the present table see footnote on Robert IV Dauphin.
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