In the medieval Holy Roman Empire, some counts took or were granted unique variations of the title, often relating to a specific domain or jurisdiction of responsibility, e.g. , , (Count Palatine), , , , , , etc. Although as a title ranked, officially, below those of (duke) and (prince), the Holy Roman Emperor could and did recognise unique concessions of authority or rank to some of these nobles, raising them to the status of or "princely count". But a title with such a prefix did not always signify a higher than comital rank or membership in the . Only the more important of these titles, historically associated with degrees of sovereignty, remained in use by the 19th century, specifically and .