  count palatine is a high noble title,adel (german) used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to palatine, which can have other meanings as well. ==importance of a count palatine in medieval europe== ===comes palatinus=== this latin title is the original, but also pre-feudal: it originated as a roman comes, which was a non-hereditary court title of high rank, the specific part palatinus being the adjective derived from palatium ('palace'). but after the fall of rome, a new, feudal type of title, also known simply as palatinus, started developing. the frankish kings of the merovingian dynasty employed a high official, the comes palatinus, who at first assisted the king in his judicial duties and at a later date discharged many of these himself. other counts palatine were employed on military and administrative work. in visigothic spain, the officium palatinum consisted of a number of men with the title of count that managed the various departments of the royal household. the comes cubiculariorum oversaw the chamberlains, the comes scanciorum directed the cup-bearers, the comes stabulorum directed the equerries in charge of the stables, etc. the ostrogothic kings that ruled in italy also maintained palatine counts with titles such as comes patrimonium, who was in charge of the patrimonial or private real estate of the king, and others. the system was maintained by the carolingian sovereigns (see the twelve legendary paladins). a frankish capitulary of 882 and hincmar, archbishop of reims, writing about the same time, testify to the extent to which the judicial work of the frankish empire had passed into their hands, and one grant of power was followed by another. instead of remaining near the person of the king, some of the counts palatine were sent to various parts of his empire to act as judges and governors, the districts ruled by them being called palatinates. being in a special sense the representatives of the sovereign, they were entrusted with more extended power than the ordinary counts. thus comes the later and more general use of the word palatine, its application as an adjective to persons entrusted with special powers and also to the districts over which these powers were exercised. by the high middle ages, the title "count" had become increasingly common, to the point that both great magnates who ruled regions that were the size of duchies, and local castle-lords, might style themselves "count". as the great magnates began to centralize their power over their local castle-lords, they felt the need to assert the difference between themselves and these minor "counts". therefore, several of these great magnates began styling themselv
Counts Counts_Palatine_of_Germany Counts_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire Court_titles Ezzonids Marquesses Noble_titles Titles_of_nobility_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire