Editing Count (section)

===Territory of today's France===

====Kingdom of the Western Franks====
Since [[Louis VII of France|Louis VII]] (1137–80), the highest precedence amongst the vassals ([[Prince-bishop]]s and secular nobility) of the French crown was enjoyed by those whose benefice or temporal fief was a ''pairie'', i.e. carried the exclusive rank of ''[[Pairie|pair]]''; within the first (i.e. clerical) and second (noble) estates, the first three of the original twelve ''anciennes pairies'' were ducal, the next three comital ''[[comté-pairie]]s'':
* [[Bishop of Beauvais|Bishop-counts of Beauvais]] (in Picardy)
* [[Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne|Bishop-counts of Châlons]] (in Champagne)
* Bishop-counts of [[Noyon]] (in Picardy)
* [[Counts of Toulouse|Count of Toulouse]], until united to the crown in 1271 by marriage
* [[Count of Flanders]] (Flandres in French), which is in the Low countries and was confiscated in 1299, though returned in 1303
* [[Count of Champagne]], until united to the crown (in 1316 by marriage, conclusively in 1361)
Later other countships (and duchies, even baronies) have been raised to this French peerage, but mostly as [[apanage]]s (for members of the royal house) or for foreigners; after the 16th century all new peerages were always duchies and the medieval countship-peerages had died out, or were held by royal princes

Other French countships of note included those of:
* [[Counts and dukes of Angouleme|Count of Angoulême, later Duke]]
* [[List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou|Count of Anjou, later Duke]]
* [[Rulers of Auvergne|Count of Auvergne]]
* [[Counts and dukes of Bar|Count of Bar, later Duke]]
* [[Count of Blois]]
* [[Count of Boulogne]]
* [[Countship of Foix|Count of Foix]]
* [[Count of Montpensier]]
* [[Count of Poitiers]]

====Parts of today's France long within other kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire====
* [[County of Burgundy|Freigraf ("free count") of Burgundy]] (i.e. present Franche-Comté)
* The [[Dauphiné#The independent state (1040–1349)|Dauphiné]]