A ''Grafschaft'' was originally the name given to the administrative area in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

over which a count, or ''

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

'', presided as judge. It is often, therefore, translated as 'county'. The term has survived as a placename in German-speaking countries, for example, in Germany and in Switzerland. According to the early Saxon legal document, the ''

Sachsenspiegel The (; gml, Sassen Speyghel; modern nds, Sassenspegel; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing loc ...

'' which dates to around 1230, the ''Graf'' or count is a special judge (''Sonderrichter'') who, in the name of the king may preside at a juridical court, in certain cases, under the king's ban, i.e. king's authority. The type of 'ban' cases derived from the nature of the kingdom: From that followed the exclusive responsibility of the king – and thus the count – to deal with allegations against the nobility. As part of the court "under the king's ban" there was a bench of jurors made up of the nobility, the ''Schöffenbarfreien''. The area of the county was roughly that of modern rural German districts or counties ('' Landkreisen''). On the emergence of states in the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

, the acquisition and thus

mediatisation Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by ...

of the counties by the

territorial prince A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

s played an important role. The beginning of the late medieval trend towards large

territorial lordship A territorial lord (german: Landesherr) was a ruler in the period beginning with the Early Middle Ages who, stemming from his status as being immediate (''unmittelbar''), held a form of authority over a territory known as ''Landeshoheit''. This a ...

s in the 14th century was simultaneously the end of the ''Grafschaft'' of the late and high Middle Ages. In 1521 there were 144

imperially immediate Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular prin ...

''Grafschaften'' in the

, the so-called

imperial count Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

ies or ''Reichsgrafschaften''. Several rural ''

Landkreis In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

e'' in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, whose territorial history goes back to the ''Grafschaften'', bear this title in their official names; after the municipal reforms at the end of the 1970s, only the county of

Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim County of Bentheim (german: Grafschaft Bentheim) is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the Dutch provinces of Overijssel and Drenthe, the district of Emsland, and the districts of ...

retains the name. Not to be confused with ''Grafschaften'' are the '' Markgrafschaften'' ("margraviates"), '' Pfalzgrafschaften'' ("counties palatine") or '' Landgrafschaften'' ("landgraviates"), which had the same status as

duchies A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

. The present-day German federal states of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

were once margraviates;

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

and

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

were landgraviates.

External links

* {{Authority control Subdivisions of the Holy Roman Empire

See also

External links