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 818 PALATINATE PALATINATE, The Upper and Lower, two separate states of the old German empire, not contigu- ous, though under one ruler. Their territory is now comprised in that of Bavaria, Baden, Hesse- Darmstadt, and Prussia. The word palatine is related to palace, and as a title dates from the time of the Merovingian kings of France, con- nected with whose court was a high judicial officer called the comes palatii, or master of the royal household, who had supreme authority in all causes that came by fiction to the king. When the sovereign chose to confer a peculiar mark of distinction upon the holder of any particular fief under him, he granted the right to exercise the same power within his province as the comes palatii exercised in the royal pal- ace. With the function went the title of comes palatinus, or count palatine; and from the ruler the district under him became finally known as a palatinate. The Upper Palatinate was bounded by Baireuth, Bohemia, Neuburg, Bavaria, and the territory of Nuremberg, and now forms in the kingdom of Bavaria a part of the districts of the Upper Palatinate and Up- per Franconia. Its area was about 2,760 sq. m. The chief town was Amberg. The Lower Palatinate was situated on both sides of the Rhine, and was bounded by Katzenellenbogen, Mentz, Wurtemberg, Baden, Alsace, Lorraine, and Treves. The chief cities were Mannheim and Heidelberg. Its area was about 3,150 sq. m., and it comprehended the principalities of Simmern, Zweibriicken, Veldenz, Lautern, and the county Palatine properly so called. The hereditary sovereignty of the counts palatine over these districts dated from the llth cen- tury. In the 13th century they assumed the dignity of electors. Eupert III. was elected emperor (1400). On his death the country was divided by his four sons. Frederick III. (1559-'76), of the Simmern line, under which it became reunited, introduced Calvinism. Frederick V. was elected king of Bohemia on the outbreak of the thirty years' war, but lost both his royal and electoral crowns by the de- feat at Prague (1620), Maximilian of Bavaria receiving the electoral dignity. Frederick's son Charles Louis regained the Lower Palatinate, as eighth elector, by the peace of Westphalia (1648). The Simmern line, ending with his son Charles, was succeeded by that of Neuburg (1685). During this period the Rhenish Pa- latinate was repeatedly desolated by the armies of Louis XIV. In 1777 the elector Charles Theodore inherited Bavaria, and the two states were united. During the wars of the French revolution, France took possession of that part of the Palatinate that lay on the left bank of the Rhine, other parts being ceded to Baden, Nassau, and Hesse-Darmstadt; but after the fall of Napoleon the main portion was returned to Bavaria. At present the Bavarian district of the Upper Palatinate and Ratisbon has an area of 3,731 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 497,960. Ihe district of the Rhenish (Lower) Palatinate has an area of 2,293 sq. m.; pop. 615,104. PALENCIA PALATINE (Hung, nddor), under the old Hun- garian constitution, the title of the royal lieu- tenant, in later periods olficiating as mediator between the nation and king, and as president of the upper house of the diet. The archduke Joseph, brother of the emperor Francis, and his son Stephen, were the last palatines, the latter officiating at the beginning of the Hun- garian revolution of 1848. The term was also used as a title (Pol. wojewoda) of the gover- nors of the larger divisions or provinces (woje- wddztwa, palatinates) of independent Poland. For COUNT PALATINE, see PALATINATE. PALEMBANG. I. A Dutch province in the S. E. part of the island of Sumatra, between the strait of Banca and the province of Bencoolen ; area, 61,911 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 573,697. It is for the most part a marshy plain, watered by several large rivers, and covered by extensive forests. The W. part is mountainous. The soil is fer- tile, and the climate hot and moist, but not un- healthy. The cultivated crops are rice, sugar cane, tobacco, gambir, indigo, coffee, and pep- per. All the animals of the forests and other parts of Sumatra are found in Palembang ; and the chief domesticated ones are buffaloes, goats, sheep, hogs, and poultry. The inhabitants con- sist of the descendants of Javanese, of Malays, of an aboriginal people called Kumring, and of a wild race known as Kubu, with a few Arabs and Chinese. The former kingdom of Palem- bang, about one fourth the size of the present province, was ruled by a sultan, with whom the Dutch had a treaty. In 1811, when Java and its dependencies were occupied by the British, the Dutch officials at Banca fell into the hands of the sultan, who put all of them to death, to ingratiate himself with the new rulers. The English sent an expedition which dethroned him, annexed part of his dominions, and placed his younger brother in authority. When Java was restored to the Dutch, he resumed his rule, and kept them at defiance till 1821, when Palembang was finally subdued. II. A town, capital of the province, on the Musi or Sung- sang, the most important river of Sumatra, about 50 m. from the strait, lat. 2 45' S., Ion. 105 E.; pop. about 40,000. It lies on both banks of the river, which is here 400 yards broad with a depth of from 8 to 9 fathoms, and sufficient water all the way from the sea for large vessels. The only buildings of stone are the mosque and the tombs of the sultans. Trade is carried on with Java, Banca, Siam, China, and the Straits Settlements. PALENCIA. I. A N. province of Spain, in Old Castile, bordering on Santander, Burgos, Valladolid, and Leon; area, 3,125 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 184,668. It is watered by the Car- rion, Cueza, Pisuerga, and several other rivers, and the canal of Castile passes through it. A portion of the N. part is mountainous ; the re- mainder is level and almost totally devoid of trees. Coal, chalk, gypsum, saltpetre, and cop- per ore are found. The climate is cold but healthy, and the soil is fertile; wine., grain,