Disputatio:Vicecomes

Geraifa[fontem recensere]

Traupman's a great guy, but not much of a source on medieval titles. I can't see any evidence for this "geraifa". Can anyone help? Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 14:14, 5 Septembris 2018 (UTC)[reply]

From Blaise's Lexicon latinitatis medii aevi:

grafio (graffio, garafio, gravio), 1. juge: Dipl. 8-e s. (M. 96, c. 1524 C); (peut être défenseur d'une église) adjuvante grafione qui defensor ecclesiae est, Capit. Car.-M. (M. 97, c. 123 B) - || sheriff (Angl.) - 2. comte (dès le 8-e s.): ... judices, duces nempe et grafiones, Lib. pont. (Duch. I, p. 496); cum ducibus et graphionibus, Chron. Divion. c. 779 B.

But the DMLBS defines grafio differently:

grafio [Frk., cf. MLLM; cf. AS gerefa] official, reeve. 743 ut ‥ unusquisque episcopus in sua parrochia sollicitudinem adhibeat, adjuvante gravione qui defensor ecclesiae est Ep. Bonif. 56; †821 (12c) nec princeps nec graphio hanc lenitatem mutare audeat CS 366; hujus pacem et justitiam fedis gravionum improbitatibus et malis utinam necessitatibus sine pretio subrogamus (Quad.) GAS 534; ne malorum inpunitas aut gravionum pravitas ‥ miseros laceratione conficiant (Leg. Hen. 7. 2) ib. 553; greva Leg. Angl. Lond. 11. (5) (v. heretochius).

So I think grafio, geraifa, etc. is a reeve, but scirevus (or more commonly vicecomes) is a shire-reeve or sheriff. Lesgles (disputatio) 13:27, 6 Septembris 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, I see now. Latin "Grafio" etc. is a version of German Graf = "comes". There was once an English word grave with the same meaning. And DMBLS as you quote it gives gerefa as Anglo-Saxon: surely geraifa is simply a variant of that, not Latin but Anglo-Saxon. That all fits together. So "geraifa" should redirect, if anywhere, to comes. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:47, 6 Septembris 2018 (UTC)[reply]