(Anglo-Saxon, eorl, a man of position, in opposition to ceorl, a churl, or freeman of the lowest rank; Danish, jarl). William the Conqueror tried to introduce the word Count, but did not succeed, although the wife of an earl is stillcalled a countess.
“The sheriff is called in Latinvice-comes, as being the deputy of the earl or comés, to whom the custody of the shire is said to have been committed.”—Blackstone: Commentaries, book i. chap. ix. p. 339.
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