Count

:This page is about the Western style nobility; for the baseball term, see count (baseball).

Definition

:Main article: Comes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late Roman Empire. the Latin title comes meaning (imperial) 'companion' denoted the high rank of various courtiers and provincial officials, either military or administrative: before Anthemius was made emperor in the West in 467, he was military comes charges with strengthening defenses on the Danube frontier http://www.roman-emperors.org/anthemiu.htm.

Related Topics:
Roman Empire - Comes - Anthemius

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Military counts in the Late Empire and the Germanic successor kingdoms were often appointed by a dux and later by a king. From the start the count was in military charge, not of a roving warband, but settled in a locality, a county, his main rival for power being the bishop, whose diocese was often coterminous.

Related Topics:
Dux - County - Bishop - Diocese

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In many Germanic and Frankish kingdoms in the early Middle Ages, the count might also be a count palatine, whose authority derived directly from the royal household, the "palace" in its original sense of the seat of power and administration. This other kind of count had antecedents in Late Antiquity too: the father of Cassiodorus held positions of trust with Theodoric, as comes rerum privatarum, in charge of the imperial lands, then of comes sacrarum largitionum (concerned with the strictly monetary fiscal matters of the realm) http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/cassbook/chap1.html,

Related Topics:
Middle Ages - Count palatine - Palace - Late Antiquity - Cassiodorus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The position of comes was not originally a hereditary one, but by developing a local power base, a count was often able to make it a hereditary title—though not always. For instance, in Piast Poland, the position of komes was not hereditary, resembling the early Merovingian institution. The title had disappeared by the era of the Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth, and the office replaced with other institutions. Only after the Partitions_of_Poland did the title of "count" resurface in the German-derived title hrabia.

Related Topics:
Piast Poland - Merovingian - Polish-Lithuanian_Commonwealth - Partitions_of_Poland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The title of Count was was often conferred by the monarch as an honorific title for special services rendered. In the UK a count or earl is often a courtesy title for the eldest son of a duke. In the United Kingdom stringent rules apply, often a future heir has a lower ranking courtesy title; in Italy, by contrast, all the sons of certain counts are counts (contini).

Related Topics:
Courtesy title - United Kingdom

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~