Comes

Comes, plural Comites ( Latin for " companion ", " companion ", " wake " of cum "with" and ire " go " ) is at the origin of a Roman official title of the passage of time had several meanings, both in the civilian sector for governors and members of the Imperial Council as well as military.

Definition

Since the early Principate of the Emperor 's closest friends were called as comes ( comites principis ). Emperor Hadrian appointed inter alia senators as companions for various missions in order to assist in the everyday business of government. These men were soon to a kind of privy council, and Hadrian's successor entrusted the comites with the administration of justice and finance, or put them into the higher command positions in the military one.

Development

The Comes developed in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, from a mere honorary title and one of the highest officer ( Commander of the comitatenses ) and administrators title of the late Roman Empire. In late antiquity comes designates generally the highest ranking class of the court, while in the military regional commanders bore the title comes (they were the duces superior, and they in turn were under the Master of the Soldiers ).

Examples of Roman comites are:

  • Comes domesticorum for the commander of the Imperial Guard
  • Comes rerum privatarum for the administrator of the private imperial assets
  • Comes sacrarum largitionum for the administrator of the imperial finance

Successor

In Ostrom comes the disappeared in the 7th century. Also in the Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire and beyond in the Middle Ages the title appeared in various variations. The most common is the initially comes as representatives of royal power in the counties according to the Carolingian cantonal constitution (see: Gau ), which developed out of which comes as the hereditary owner of this district.

While in the German language for the title of the name Graf prevailed ( and similar in other Germanic languages), the concept was further developed in linguistically coined by the Latin language countries:

  • Comte ( Count ) and Comté (county) in French
  • Count ( Graf) and County ( county) in English, the title is intended for " foreign " counts, while the " domestic " Earl called, County, however, both in - and foreign counties called ( the name Shire dates from the Anglo-Saxon and has been preserved only in the name itself )
  • Conde ( Count ) and Condado (county) in Portuguese
  • Conde in Spanish
  • Conte in Italian

In addition to the comes as a regional representative, there was the court office comes as, for example, the

  • Comes stabuli the terms Constable (for example, Constable of France as the supreme leader of the French army ) developed for the stable master, and from the constable.
  • Comes palatii was for the administrator of the ( imperial ) palaces and representatives of the Duke, resulting in the German translation of the Count Palatine.

Local representatives comes again was the vice comes ( Viscount ), from which developed the Visconte in France the Viscount, in the UK and the Viscount in Italy - the latter even down to the family name of the Visconti into it. From the 10th to the 13th century in Hungary the title in several significance was used. Both the Komitatsgraf and later the Lord Lieutenant and the heads of noble families or other groups (eg, the prefect of the Pechenegs ) were designated as comes.

The term of the Marquis ( Marquis, Marquis, Marquis, Marchese ) is not due to the comes: here is derived from the Germanic word marchio the origin, with which the holder of state power was referred to in a borderland.

Stadtholder Carolingian dynasty House of Visconti Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic Dux Cursus honorum Roman consul Interrex Master of the Horse Vigintisexviri Pontifex Maximus Imperator Pater patriae Caesar (title)
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