County palatine
In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate[1] was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective palātīnus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palātium, "palace".[2][3] It thus implies the exercise of a quasi-royal prerogative within a county, that is to say, a jurisdiction ruled by an earl, the English equivalent of a count. A duchy palatine is similar but is ruled over by a duke, a nobleman of higher precedence than an earl or count.
The nobleman swore allegiance to the king yet had the power to rule the county largely independently of the king. It should therefore be distinguished from the
In general, when a palatine-type autonomy was granted to a lord by the sovereign, it was in a district on the periphery of the kingdom, at a time when the district was at risk from disloyal armed insurgents who could retreat beyond the borders and re-enter. For the English sovereign in Norman times this applied to northern England, Wales and Ireland. As the authority granted was hereditary, some counties palatine legally survived well past the end of the feudal period.
History
Durham, Chester, and Lancaster
Palatinates emerged in England in the decades following the
Palatine powers over
Exceptional powers were also granted to the
Palatine powers over Lancashire were conferred on the first duke of Lancaster in 1351, at the same time as his promotion from the status of earl. This was only the second dukedom created in England, following that of Cornwall in 1337, which also became associated with palatine powers. The dukedom was united with the Crown on the accession of Henry IV in 1399, but the vast estates of the Duchy of Lancaster were never assimilated into the Crown Estate, continuing even today to be separately administered for the monarch as Duke of Lancaster. The rights exercised through the Duchy, rather than the Crown, included its palatine powers over Lancashire, the last of which were revoked only in 1873. In the county palatine of Lancaster, the loyal toast is to "the King, Duke of Lancaster".[7]
The king's writs did not run in these three palatine counties until the nineteenth century[8][9] and, until the 1970s, Lancashire and Durham had their own courts of chancery.[6][10] (See Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster and Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge)
The appeal against a decision of the county court of a county palatine had, in the first instance, to be to the
There are two kings in England, namely, the lord king of England wearing a crown and the lord bishop of Durham wearing a mitre in place of a crown ...
— William de St Botolph (1302)[12]
Other counties palatine
At various times in history, the following areas had palatinate status:
Although not formally categorised as a palatinate, in Cornwall many of the rights associated with palatinates were conferred on the Duke of Cornwall, a title created in 1337 and always held by the heir apparent to the throne.
In the history of Wales in the Norman era, the term most often used is
There were several palatine districts in
In Scotland, the earldom of Strathearn was identified as a county palatine in the fourteenth century, although the title of Earl of Strathearn has usually been merged with the crown in subsequent centuries and there is little indication that the status of Strathearn differed in practice from other Scottish earldoms.
In the colonies, the historic
See also
- Marcher Lord—very similar to a palatine lord in the Middle Ages.
- Margrave—very similar to a palatine lord in the Middle Ages.
- Count palatine—sometimes similar to a palatine lord, but this term was not in use in Britain
- Duchy of Lancaster
- Justice of Chester
- Honour (feudal land tenure)
- English feudal barony
- Scottish feudal barony
- Irish feudal barony
- Electoral Palatinate
Notes
- ^ "Palatine" is an adjective used in conjunction with the noun county; "Palatinate" is a noun used alone (Collins English Dictionary).
- ^ Collins Dictionary of the English Language, London, 1986
- ^ Cassell's Latin Dictionary, ed. Marchant & Charles
- Barony of Haltonwhich are situated within Counties Palatine from his lists of feudal baronies.
- ^ Harris, B.E. [ed.] (1979). page 98.
- ^ a b c public domain: Holland, Arthur William (1911). "Palatine". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 595–596. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ "The loyal toast". Debrett's. Official functions. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
The trusted source on British social skills, etiquette, and style-Debrett's
- ^ Yates (1856), pp. 3–5.
- ^ The Law Terms Act 1830
- ^ The Courts Act 1971, section 41
- ^ "Jewett v. Summons". The Law Journal for the Year 1825. Court of King's Bench. Vol. III. 1825. p. 220 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Durham: Echoes of Power". collectbritain.co.uk. British Library.
- ISBN 1-55613-108-9. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
grant, cecilius calvert.
References
- Fraser, C. M. (1956). "Edward I of England and the Regalian Franchise of Durham". S2CID 161266106.
- Harris, B. E., ed. (1979). The Victoria history of the county of Cheshire. Volume II. London: University of London Institute of Historical Research. ISBN 978-0-19-722749-7.
- Yates, Joseph Brooks (1856). The Rights and Jurisdiction of the County Palatine of Chester, the Earls Palatine, the Chamberlain, and Other Officers. Charles Simms & Co. p. 308. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
External links
- Durham: Echoes of Power at the British Library website
- United Kingdom—World Statesmen.org