A Count is a European title of nobility. He is the head of a county . In the US they still have counties as the basic geographic and governing units, they got them got them from Europe. read more
Some Danish/Dano-Norwegian countships were associated with fiefs, and these counts were known as"feudal counts" (lensgreve). They rank above ordinary (titular) counts, and their position in the Danish aristocracy as the highest-ranking noblemen is broadly comparable to that of Duke in other European countries. read more
These counts still held pretty large amounts of land, so they would divide their fiefs into farms, and give the farms out to their own followers. In exchange, the farmers had to swear fealty to the counts. read more
It’s quite wrong to think that feudalism was any sort of coherent system of government, with strengths and weaknesses as a system, and advantages and disadvantages for those within it, and indeed historians have begun to raise doubts as to whether the word “feudalism” has any real meaning left. read more
Counts and earls were found roughly in the middle of the feudal pyramid, barons and knights at the bottom. The feudal system was supported by serfs, who performed the actual farming of all these parcels of land. read more