COUNT (OF. conic, comic, Fr. comic, from Lat. conies, companions, from coin-, together + ire, Gk. Meat, ienui, Skt. i, to go). In classical writers down to the end of the fourth century, the meanings attached to the word conics were comparatively few and simple. At first the word signified merely an attendant, and differed from socins chiefly in expressing a less intimate and equal relation to the persons accompanied. A little later, in Horace's time, it was applied to those young men of family whom it had be come customary to send out as pupils under the eye of a governor of a province, or the commander of an army. Very soon the fashion of having attendants at home was introduced. The Em peror had many cum itcs in this sense, and to these, as lie gradually became the centre of power, lie transferred the various offices of his household and of the State. The example of the emperors of the West was followed by the emperors of the East. Most of the titles at present applied to court officials are translations of the names applied to similar offices in the Byzantine Empire. The comes sacrarum rgi tionum was grand almoner and practically chan cellor of the exchequer; the comes curiaf was the grand master of ceremonies; the comes cquorum, the grand equerry. The conies mar CGrIllit, or count of the marches, was the original of the later marquis.
In France, the count of the palace (comes palatii) was the highest dignitary in the State after the mayor of the palace, and in the eleventh century had already acquired a rank apart from that of the other counts. He pre
sided in the court of the sovereign in his absence, and possessed sovereign jurisdiction. The habit of instituting counts palatine was adopted by Spain and England. The counts of Chartres, Champagne, Blois, and Toulouse arrogated to themselves the authority to appoint palatine counts, and the ancient houses of Chartres and of Blois continued to claim in perpetuity the title of count palatine as that of their eldest sons. Counts of this sovereign class owed their origin to the feebleness of the later Carolingian kings, under whom they contrived gradually to convert the provinces and towns which they governed as royal officers into principalities hereditary in their families. It was then that the counts came to be known by the names of their comities. The title was never used in Eng land, though its Latin equivalent has always been the common translation for 'earl,' and the wife of an earl from a very early period has been styled 'countess.' For the history of the office in Germany, where it was of great im portance, see CatAF. Consult: Ramband, Pein pire free ant Xe siècle (Paris, 1S70) ; Luchaire, Hisioire des institutions monarchiques ,lc la France sons lcs premiers (•`apciicns (Paris, 1883) ; !Maury. "La noblesse et les titres nobili aires en France," Berne des Deno^ .11ond•s (De. cember, 1882) ; Pfaff, (icschiciitc des PfaLgrafen unites (Halle, 1847).