Graf


Graf is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl".
The German nobility was gradually divided into high and low nobility. The high nobility included those counts who ruled immediate imperial territories of "princely size and importance" for which they had a seat and vote in the Imperial Diet.

Etymology and origin

The word Graf derives from, which is usually derived from. Graphio is in turn thought to come from the Byzantine title grapheus, which ultimately derives from the Greek verb γρᾰ́φειν 'to write'. Other explanations have been put forward, however; Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, while still noting the potential of a Greek derivation, suggested a connection to, meaning 'decision, decree'. However, the Grimms preferred a solution that allows a connection to 'reeve', in which the ge- is a prefix, and which the Grimms derive from Proto-Germanic rōva 'number'.

History

The comital title of Graf is common to various European territories where German was or is the official or vernacular tongue, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Alsace, the Baltic states and other former Habsburg crown lands. In Germany, all legal privileges of the nobility have been officially abolished since August 1919, and Graf, like any other hereditary title, is treated as part of the legal surname. In Austria, its use is banned by law, as with all hereditary titles and nobiliary particles. In Switzerland, the title is not acknowledged in law. In the monarchies of Belgium, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, where German is one of the official languages, the title continues to be recognised, used and, occasionally, granted by the national fount of honour, the reigning monarch.
From the Middle Ages, a Graf usually ruled a territory known as a Grafschaft. In the Holy Roman Empire, many Imperial counts retained near-sovereign authority in their lands until the Congress of Vienna subordinated them to larger, neighboring monarchs through the German mediatisation process of 1815, preserving their precedence, allocating familial representation in local legislatures, some jurisdictional immunities and the prestigious privilege of Royal intermarriage. In regions of Europe where nobles did not actually exercise Landeshoheit over the populace, the Graf long retained specific feudal privileges over the land and in the villages in his county, such as rights to peasant service, to periodic fees for use of common infrastructure such as timber, mills, wells and pastures.
These rights gradually eroded and were largely eliminated before or during the 19th century, leaving the Graf with few legal privileges beyond land ownership, although comital estates in German-speaking lands were often substantial. Nonetheless, various rulers in German-speaking lands granted the hereditary title of Graf to their subjects, particularly after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Although lacking the prestige and powers of the former Imperial counts, they remained legal members of the local nobility, entitled to whatever minor privileges were recognised at the ruler's court. The title, translated as "count", was generally accepted and used in other countries by custom.
Many Continental counts in Germany and Austria were titled Graf without any additional qualification. Except in the Kingdom of Prussia from the 19th century, the title of Graf was not restricted by primogeniture: it was inherited by all legitimate descendants in the male line of the original titleholder, the males also inheriting an approximately equal share of the family's wealth and estates. Usually a hyphenated suffix indicated which of the familial lands a particular line of counts held, e.g. Castell-Rudenhausen.
In the medieval Holy Roman Empire, some counts took or were granted unique variations of the gräfliche title, often relating to a specific domain or jurisdiction of responsibility, e.g. Landgrave, Margrave, Pfalzgraf, Burgrave, Wildgraf, Waldgraf, Altgraf, Raugraf, etc. Although as a title Graf ranked, officially, below those of Herzog and Fürst, the Holy Roman Emperor could and did recognise unique concessions of authority or rank to some of these nobles, raising them to the status of gefürsteter Graf or "princely count". But a grafliche title with such a prefix did not always signify a higher than comital rank or membership in the Hochadel. Only the more important of these titles, historically associated with degrees of sovereignty, remained in use by the 19th century, specifically Markgraf and Landgraf.
In Russia, the title of Graf was introduced by Peter the Great. The first Russian graf was Boris Petrovich Sheremetev, elevated to this dignity in 1706 for the pacification of the. Then Peter granted six more graf dignities. Initially, when someone was elevated to the graf's dignity of the Russian Empire, the elevated person's recognition by the German Emperor in the same dignity of the Holy Roman Empire was required. Subsequently, the latter ceased to be obligatory.

Nobiliary titles containing the term

Some are approximately of comital rank, some higher, some lower. The more important ones are treated in separate articles ; a few minor, rarer ones only in sections below.
GermanEnglishComment/ etymology
MarkgrafMargrave
or Marquess		Mark 'march, border province' + Graf. Exercised authority over territory on the border of the Empire.
LandgrafLandgraveLand 'country' + Graf. Exercised authority over an entire province.
ReichsgrafImperial CountReich 'Empire' + Graf. Imperial count, whose title was granted or recognised by the Emperor.
Gefürsteter GrafPrincely CountGerman verb for "made into a Reichsfürst" + Graf.
PfalzgrafCount Palatine
or Palsgrave 		Pfalz 'palatial estate, Palatinate' + Graf. Originally ruled "with the authority of the Imperial Palace"; later, ruler of the "Palace-land", i.e., the Palatinate.
RheingrafRhinegraveRhein 'river Rhine' + Graf. Ruled territory bordering the Rhine River.
BurggrafBurgraveBurg 'castle, burgh' + Graf. Ruled territory surrounding or dominated by a fortified castle.
AltgrafAltgravealt 'old' + Graf. A count whose title pre-dated Imperial grants of the comital title. Unique to the Salm family.
FreigrafFree Countfrei 'free' + Graf. Both a feudal title of comital rank and a more technical office.
GaugrafGaugraveGau 'imperial territory' + Graf. Ruler of a gau in the Carolingian Empire. Most gäue later became counties.
WaldgrafWildgraveWald 'forest' + Graf. Ruled a heavily forested area.
RaugrafRaugraveRau + Graf. Ruled territory centered on an undeveloped area of land.
VizegrafViscountVize 'vice-, substitute' + Graf.

A Reichsgraf was a nobleman whose title of count was conferred or confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor, and meant "Imperial Count", i.e., a count of the Holy Roman Empire. Since the feudal era, any count whose territory lay within the Empire and was under the immediate jurisdiction of the Emperor with a shared vote in the Imperial Diet #Princes came to be considered a member of the "upper nobility" in Germany, along with princes, dukes, electors, and the emperor himself. A count who was not a Reichsgraf was likely to possess only a mesne fief — he was subject to an immediate prince of the empire, such as a duke or prince elector.
However, the Holy Roman Emperors also occasionally granted the title of Reichsgraf to subjects and foreigners who did not possess and were not granted immediate territories — or, sometimes, any territory at all. Such titles were purely honorific.
In English, Reichsgraf is usually translated simply as count and is combined with a territorial suffix or a surname. Even after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Reichsgrafen retained precedence above other counts in Germany. Those who had been quasi-sovereign until German mediatisation retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigning dynasties.
Notable Reichsgrafen have included:
A complete list of Reichsgrafen with immediate territories as of 1792 can be found in the List of Reichstag participants.

Margrave

A Markgraf or Margrave was originally a military governor of a Carolingian "mark", a border province. In medieval times the borders of the Holy Roman Empire were especially vulnerable to foreign attack, so the hereditary count of these "marches" of the realm was sometimes granted greater authority than other vassals to ensure security. They bore the title "margrave" until the few who survived as sovereigns assumed higher titles when the Empire was abolished in 1806.
Examples: Margrave of Baden, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Since the abolition of the German Empire at the end of World War I, the heirs of some of its former monarchies have resumed use of margrave as a title of pretence, e.g. Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen and Maximilian, Margrave of Baden.