Counts were an important part of medieval society. But while the title of count is pretty well known until this day, the duties of a medieval count are far less well known.
- Judge: While the sentence was found by a jury the count still organized and steered the jury
- Policing: It was the duty of the count to fulfill policing tasks in his district
- Mobilizing the levies in his district
Let`s find out more!
The duties of a medieval count
During the Early Middle Ages Counts were not a part of the nobility but rather royal office bearers who had received their office from the king. Over time the title of count would become hereditary which led to the establishment of a gentry.
When it comes to the duties of a count it is important to know that the realm was divided into districts and each count could only fulfill his duties within the district that he was responsible for. But let’s look at the duties of a medieval count.
- Judge: While the sentence was found by a jury the count still organized and steered the jury
- Policing: It was the duty of the count to fulfill policing tasks in his district
- Mobilizing the levies in his district
Especially the last point, the responsibility to mobilize the levies when the king called for an army, was important since most armies, especially during the Early Middle Ages consisted mostly of men from the expeditionary levy. Here you can find out more about the composition and organization of medieval armies.
To be able to effectively mobilize the levies the count also had to maintain a list with the owners of land and their wealth in his district since the wealth of a man decided if he had to serve as part of the general levy or as part of the expeditionary levy. You can find out more about the minimum wealth requirements for being part of the general levy or the expeditionary levy in my article here.
But it is important to emphasize that regular counts could not mobilize the levies on their own. They needed an order from the king to do so. However, that was not the case for some counts that ranked above the average count.
Let`s take a look!
Counts that ranked higher than the normal count
While most counts were not allowed to mobilize the levies within their districts without the explicit order of their lord there were a few exceptions to that. To understand why some counts ranked higher than others and why those higher-ranking counts were allowed to mobilize the men within their districts even without a direct royal order we first have to look at these counts.
- Marchio (=the Margrave) is responsible for the especially endangered border areas; Austria was for example the march (the border province) of Bavaria
- Landgrave: The position of Landgrave was established during the 12th century mainly to limit the power of the dukes; one example is the Landgrave of Thuringia
When we look at the Margrave then it starts to become clear why these men were allowed to mobilize the levies in their district without a direct royal order. Since border provinces were especially vulnerable to invaders it was not feasible to send a messenger to the king with the request that he should allow an army to be raised when the enemy army was already advancing. So the counts of border provinces needed more independence to better protect their districts.
Waiting on the return of a messenger with the royal permission to raise an army would have taken too much time, especially because medieval armies moved rather fast. You can find more information on the marching speed of medieval armies and how much distance they could cover in a day in my article here.
And if you want to find out more about the surprisingly large sizes of medieval armies then you might want to check out my article here.
Take care of yourself because you deserve it. You really do.
Until next time
Yours truly
Luke Reitzer
Sources
David S. Bachrach: Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany (Woodbridge 2012).
Malte Prietzel: Krieg im Mittelalter (Darmstadt 2006).
Karl Heinz Zuber, Hans Holzbauer (Hrsg.): bsv Geschichte 2. Vom frühen Mittelalter bis zum Westfälischen Frieden (München 1983).