The first known lord of Joinville (French sire or seigneur de Joinville) in the county of Champagne appears in the middle of the eleventh century. The former lordship was raised into the Principality of Joinville under the House of Guise by French king Henry II in 1551, and passed to the House of Orléans in 1688. Even though the principality was abolished with the end of the French monarchy, the title Prince of Joinville (French Prince de Joinville) continued to be used as a courtesy title.