Comtes
Comtes, in French nobility, is the plural form of comte, a title of nobility roughly equivalent to the English "count." The term derives from Latin comes, meaning companion or attendant, and came to designate the ruler of a county in the medieval Frankish and European polities. A comte was typically a noble with delegated civil and military authority over a county, responsible for administration, justice, taxation, and defense, and he acted as the king’s representative within his territory. The office was usually hereditary within noble families, though kings could appoint or elevate individuals to the title. In the French realm, counts often held significant power, sometimes themselves princes of the blood or rulers of semi-autonomous counties; over the course of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period many comtés grew into larger lordships or duchies, and the title faded as central authority strengthened.
The title existed in many European systems with local equivalents: Graf in German-speaking areas, conte in Italian,