Editing Palatine (section)

===Holy Roman Empire: ''comes palatinus''===
{{main|Imperial count palatine}}
From the Middle Ages on, the term palatine was applied to various officials across Europe. The most important of these was the ''comes palatinus'', the [[count palatine]], who in [[Merovingian]] and [[Carolingian]] times (5th through 10th century) was an official of the sovereign's household, in particular of his [[court of law]] in the imperial [[palace]]s (see ''[[kaiserpfalz]]'').<ref>"palatine." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.</ref> The count palatine was the official representative at proceedings of the court such as [[oath]] takings or judicial sentences and was in charge of the records of those developments. At first he examined cases in the king's court and was authorized to carry out the decisions, in time, these rights extended to having his own judicial rights. In addition to those responsibilities, the count palatine had administrative functions, especially concerning the king's household.

In the 9th century Carolingian rule came to an end and the title of Holy Roman emperor with it. About a century later the title was resurrected by [[Otto I the Great|Otto I]] though the new empire was now centered on Germany rather than [[France]]. Under the German kings of the [[Saxony|Saxon]] and [[Salian]] dynasties (10th to 12th century), the function of the counts palatine corresponded to those of the ''[[missi dominici]]'' at the Carolingian Court. They had various tasks: representatives of the king in the provinces, they were responsible for the administration of the royal domain and for protecting and guiding the legal system in certain duchies, such as [[Saxony]] and [[Bavaria]], and, in particular, [[Lotharingia]]. Later other palatine rights were absorbed by ducal dynasties, by local families, or, in Italy, by bishops. Increasingly, the count palatine of Lotharingia, whose office had been attached to the royal palace at [[Aachen]] from the 10th century onward, became the ''real successor to the Carolingian count palatine''. From his office grew the Countship Palatine of the Rhine, or simply the [[Electoral Palatinate|Palatinate]], which became a great territorial power from the time of the emperor [[Frederick I (Barbarossa)]] (d. 1190) on. The term ''palatine'' reoccurs under Charles IV, but they had only voluntary jurisdiction and some honorific functions.