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Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.[1] Especially in earlier medieval periods the term often implied not only a certain status, but also that the count had specific responsibilities or offices. The etymologically related English term "county" denoted the territories associated with some countships, but not all.
Although the term count was not generally used in England, after the 1066 conquest by the Normans, various European terms for count eventually became the normal translations used for the English title of earl, and the wives of earls are still referred to as countesses.
Origin of the term
The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative form comitem. It meant "companion" or "attendant", and as a title it indicated that someone was delegated to represent the ruler.
In the late Roman Empire, the Latin title comes denoted the high rank of various courtiers and provincial officials, either military or administrative. Before Anthemius became emperor in the West in 467, he was a military comes charged with strengthening defenses on the Danube frontier.[2]
In the Western Roman Empire, "count" came to indicate generically a military commander[citation needed] but was not a specific rank. In the Eastern Roman Empire, from about the seventh century, "count" was a specific rank indicating the commander of two centuriae (i.e., 200 men).
The medieval title of comes was originally not hereditary.[3] It was regarded as an administrative official dependent on the king, until the process of allodialisation during the 9th century in which such titles came to be private possessions of noble families.[4] By virtue of their large estates, many counts could pass the title to their heirs—but 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 The title had disappeared by the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the office had been replaced by others. Only after the Partitions of Poland did the title of "count" resurface in the title hrabia, derived from the German Graf.
In the Frankish kingdoms in the early Middle Ages, a count might also be a count palatine, whose authority derived directly over a royal household, a palace in its original sense of the seat of power and administration. This other kind of count had vague 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 as comes sacrarum largitionum ("count of the sacred doles"), concerned with the finances of the realm.[5]
Land attached to title
Originally, with the emergence of the title came the most powerful symbol of entitlement, that is the ownership of and jurisdiction over land, hence the term county. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the control of a count (earl) or a viscount.[6] The modern French is comté, and its equivalents in other languages are contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, etc. (cf. conte, comte, conde, Graf).
The title of Count was also often conferred by the monarch as an honorific title for special services rendered, without a feudal estate (countship, county) being attached, so it was merely a title, with or without a domain name attached to it. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent "Earl" can also be used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of a duke or marquess. In the Italian states, by contrast, all the sons of certain counts were little counts (contini). In Sweden there is a distinction between counts (Swedish: greve) created before and after 1809. All children in comital families elevated before 1809 were called count/countess. In families elevated after 1809, only the head of the family was called count, the rest have a status similar to barons and were called by the equivalent of "Mr/Ms/Mrs", before the recognition of titles of nobility was abolished.
Comital titles in different European languages
The following lists are originally based on a Glossary on Heraldica.org by Alexander Krischnig. The male form is followed by the female, and when available, by the territorial circumscription.
Etymological derivations from the Latin comes
| Language | Male title | Female title/Spouse | Territory/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Kont | Konteshë | Konte |
| Armenian | Կոմս (Koms) | Կոմսուհի (Komsuhi) | |
| Bulgarian | Кмет (Kmet), present meaning: mayor; medieval (9th-century) Комит (Komit): hereditary provincial ruler |
Кметица (Kmetitsa), woman mayor Кметша (Kmetsha), mayor's wife |
Кметство (Kmetstvo); medieval Комитат (Komitat) |
| Catalan | Comte | Comtessa | Comtat |
| English | Count | Countess (even where Earl applies) | Earldom for an Earl; Countship or county for a count. (County persists in English-speaking countries as a sub-national administrative division.) "Count" applies to titles granted by monarchies other than the British, for which Earl applies. |
| French | Comte | Comtesse | Comté |
| Greek | Κόμης (Kómēs) | Κόμησσα (Kómēssa) | Κομητεία (Komēteía); in the Ionian Islands the corresponding Italianate terms κόντες kóntes, κοντέσσα kontéssa were used instead. |
| Hungarian | Vikomt | Vikomtessz | Actually meaning viscount. These forms are now archaic or literary; Gróf is used instead. |
| Irish | Cunta | Cuntaois | Honorary title only. |
| Italian | Conte | Contessa | Contea, Contado |
| Latin (medieval and later; not classical) |
Comes | Comitissa | Comitatus |
| Maltese | Konti | Kontessa | |
| Monegasque | Conte | Contessa | |
| Portuguese | Conde | Condessa | Condado |
| Romanian | Conte | Contesă | Comitat |
| Romansh | Cont | Contessa | |
| Spanish | Conde | Condesa | Condado |
| Turkish | Kont | Kontes | Kontluk |
Etymological derivations from German Graf and/or Dutch Graaf
| Language | Male title | Female title / Spouse | Territory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Graaf | Gravin | Graafskap |
| Belarusian | Граф (Hraf) | Графiня (Hrafinia) | Графствa (Hrafstva) |
| Bulgarian | Граф (Graf) | Графиня (Grafinya) | Графство (Grafstvo) |
| Croatian | Grof | Grofica | Grofovija |
| Czech | Hrabě | Hraběnka | Hrabství |
| Danish | Greve | Grevinde (Count's wife) Komtesse (Unmarried daughter of a count) |
Grevskab |
| Dutch | Graaf | Gravin | Graafschap |
| English | Grave (for example Landgrave, Margrave), reeve, sheriff | Gravin | Graviate |
| Estonian | Krahv | Krahvinna | Krahvkond |
| Finnish | Kreivi | Kreivitär | Kreivikunta |
| German | Graf | Gräfin | Grafschaft |
| Greek | Γράβος (Gravos) | ||
| Georgian | გრაფი/თავადი (Grapi/Tavadi) | გრაფინია/თავადი (Grapinia/Tavadi) | საგრაფო/სათავადო (Sagrapo /Satavado) |
| Hungarian | Gróf | Grófnő (born a countess), Grófné (married to a count) | Grófság |
| Icelandic | Greifi | Greifynja | Greifadæmi |
| Latvian | Grāfs | Grāfiene | Grāfiste |
| Lithuanian | Grafas | Grafienė
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