An imperial count palatine (, ) was an official in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

with quasi-monarchical ("

palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

") powers. In all, over 5,000 imperial counts palatine were created between the 14th and 18th centuries.John Flood (2002), "Neglected Heroines? Women Poets Laureate in the Holy Roman Empire", ''Bulletin of the John Rylands Library'', 84(3): 25–47, at 29. The office was hereditary in perpetuity in the legitimate male line.Paul F. Grendler,
The Universities of the Italian Renaissance
' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), p. 183ff.

History

The office originated in the Lombard kingdom in Italy (c.575–774), where the kings appointed officials with the title ''comes palatii'' (count of the palace) and power to act in the king's absence. The office was retained in Italy under the

Carolingians The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid ...

after 774 and under the Ottonians after 961. The Emperor

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

is known to have appointed a large number of counts palatine. The title for a count palatine gradually grew in length, from ''comes sacri palatii'' (count of the sacred palace) to ''comes sacri Lateranensis palatii'' (count of the sacred Lateran palace) to ''comes palatinus sacri Lateranensis palatii'' (count palatine of the sacred Lateran palace). The connection to the actual

Lateran Palace The Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (; ), informally the Lateran Palace (), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main pope, papal residence in Rome. Located on Saint John's Square in Lateran on the Caelian Hill, the palace is ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

was merely symbolic. The Lateran was a former imperial palace under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and was the chief residence of the

Popes The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Its use in the title of a count palatine underlined his imperial and universal commission. This could occasionally be explicit, as in Benedetto Porcellini's title in a 1519 notarial act: ''comes palatinus et sacri Lateranensis palatii apostolicis et imperialis'' (count palatine of the sacred Lateran apostolic and imperial palace). The office of imperial count palatine was hereditary and the emperors seem to have used it to create an Italian aristocratic class loyal to the empire. In 1357, the Emperor Charles IV added the power of conferring licences and doctorates of civil law to those of the counts palatine. Later on, they acquired the power to confer doctorates in general.

Role

In some cases where parties willingly submitted their petitions to them, the imperial count palatine possessed jurisdictional authority (''comitiva'') to settle the matter. Such cases included: the legitimizing children born out of wedlock; appointing guardians for minors; confirming that a minor had come of age; certifying adoptions; attesting documents such as wills; authorizing patents of nobility and

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

; conferring academic honors such as doctorates; appointing of notaries public and judges; and laureating poets. The procedure for receiving a doctorate from a count palatine was less onerous and, since it involved fewer people that needed paying, less expensive than receiving a doctorate from a university. A doctorate from a Counts Palatine also generally required fewer years of study, with the examination simpler and the ceremony of conferral less solemn. In Italy,

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

preferred to receive their degrees from counts because counts did not require an oath of allegiance to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. While the emperor appointed imperial counts palatine for individual territories, from time to time the territorial princes themselves would bestow this honor with ''comitiva major'' (German ''Großes Palatinat''), that is with the power to transact these enactments on their own initiative. The appointment as an imperial count palatine was a lucrative post, because the office bearer could levy fees for the execution of official acts. The imperial count palatine gradually lost its importance, and the office ended with the

dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire occurred on 6 August 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, abdicated his title and released all Imperial estate, Imperial s ...

in 1806.

History

Role

References

Further reading