Everything about County Palatine totally explained
A
county palatine is an area ruled by a
count palatine (or
earl palatine, who may hold the higher title of
duke) with special authority and autonomy from the rest of the kingdom. In
feudal times, counts palatine exercised royal authority, and ruled their counties largely independently of the king, though they owed allegiance to him. In
England today there are three counties which are formally palatine counties, namely,
County Durham,
Cheshire and
Lancashire.
History
Counties palatine were established in the 11th century to defend the northern (Scottish) and western (Welsh) frontiers of the kingdom of England. In order to allow them to do so in the best way they could, their counts were granted palatine ("from the palace", for example royal) powers within their territories, making these territories nearly sovereign jurisdictions with their own administrations and courts, largely independent of the king, though they owed allegiance to him.
The Counties palatine of Durham and Chester, ruled by the
prince-bishops of Durham and the
earls of Chester respectively, were established by
William the Conqueror. Cheshire had its own parliament, consisting of barons of the county, and wasn't represented in the
parliament of England until
1543, while it retained some of its special privileges until
1830. The earldom of Chester is traditionally vested in the sovereign's eldest son upon his crowning as
Prince of Wales.
As well as having spiritual jurisdiction over the
diocese of Durham, the bishops of Durham retained temporal jurisdiction over County Durham until
1836. The bishop's mitre which crowns the bishop of Durham's coat of arms is encircled with a gold coronet which is otherwise used only by
dukes, reflecting his historic dignity as a palatine earl.
Lancashire was made a county, or duchy, palatine in
1351 and kept many of its special judicial privileges until
1873. Although the dukedom of Lancaster merged into the Crown in
1399, it's to this day held separate from other royal lands, and managed by the
Duchy of Lancaster. The title of
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is still used by a member of the British
cabinet. In Lancashire, the loyal toast is to "the Queen, Duke of Lancaster".
The king's writs didn't run in these three palatine counties until the nineteenth century and, until the
1970s, Lancashire and Durham had their own courts of
chancery.
» 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
Other palatine counties
The county of
Cornwall, although not normally reckoned a palatine county, has a similar status to Lancashire, in that royal lands in Cornwall are held by the
Duchy of Cornwall, which belongs to the sovereign's eldest son, who inherits the title of
Duke of Cornwall at birth, or at his father's or mother's accession to the throne.
At various times in history the following areas had palatinate status:
Shropshire,
Kent, the
Isle of Ely,
Hexhamshire in
Northumberland, and, in
Wales, the
Earldom of Pembroke (until the 1536 union with England).
There were also several palatine districts in
Ireland, the most important of which was
County Tipperary.
In
Scotland, the earldom of
Strathearn was identified as a palatine county in the fourteenth century, although the title of
Earl of Strathearn has usually been merged with the crown in subsequent centuries, and there's little indication that the status of Strathearn differed in practice from other Scottish earldoms.
In the colonies, the historic
province of Avalon in
Newfoundland was also granted palatine status.
Further Information
Get more info on 'County Palatine'.
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