Complex sentence: By the fourteenth century, "conte" and the Imperial title "barone" were virtually synonymous, but some titles of count, according to the particulars of the patent, might be inherited by the eldest son of a Count.
Split into simpler sentences: By the fourteenth century, "conte" and the Imperial title "barone" were virtually synonymous. Some titles of count, according to the particulars of the patent, might be inherited by the eldest son of a Count.