la Tour du Pin

The de La Tour du Pin were barons of the castle of La Tour-du-Pin in the Viennois, an Alpine lordship of the Kingdom of Burgundy. In 1273 Humbert I wed Anne, daughter and heiress of Guigues VII, dauphin of Viennois, and ruled the Dauphiné jure uxoris.

His son John II and grandson Guigues VIII kept the title; Guigues defeated the Savoyards at Varey in 1325 and was killed besieging a Savoyard castle in 1333. He was succeeded by his brother Humbert II, the last dauphin of the local line, whose only son died in childhood.

Childless and short of money, Humbert sold the Dauphiné to the French crown in 1349 and entered the Dominican Order. From that sale the heir apparent of France took the title dauphin, and the Dauphiné became a royal appanage.