Imperial count palatine

"Count of the Sacred Palace of the Lateran" redirects here. For this title in papal usage, see Count palatine § Papal counts palatine.

An imperial count palatine (Latin: comes palatinus caesareus, German: Kaiserlicher Hofpfalzgraf) was an official in the Holy Roman Empire with quasi-monarchical ("palatine") powers. In all, over 5,000 imperial counts palatine were created between the 14th and 18th centuries.[1] The office was hereditary in perpetuity in the legitimate male line.[2]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Paul F. Grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), p. 183ff.