1310-1363) was a German noble (dominus[2]), knight, and mercenary commander of the Alemannic Guard in the Serbian Imperial army of one of the most prolific European rulers of its time, Dušan the Mighty (r.1331–1355).

At 16 he became a squire (armiger) at the service of Henry III of Gorizia until 1310 when his father died and he returned to Styria and inherited all of the family holdings.

Broken hearted, he joined knight tournaments all over the Holy Roman Empire where he fought for several years, losing a finger.

Palman and his entourage crossed into Zeta, a maritime province of the Serbian Kingdom, in hands of Young King (heir) Stephen Uroš IV Dušan, and decided to join his service as mercenaries.

Palman became the "captain of the Alemannic Guard", a mercenary unit under the direct hand of Dušan, consisting of him and his entourage (300 Germans).

[4] According to contemporary pro-Dušan sources, evil advisors turned Uroš III against his son; he decided to seize and exclude Dušan of his inheritance.

Next he suppressed revolts in Zeta, by Bogoje, and in Serbian holdings of northern Albania, where he sent his nephew through his sister, Đorđe (Georg) with a band of the mercenaries.

At the same time, talks began with Austrian Duke Otto V, that his niece, German King Frederick the Fair's daughter Elizabeth be married to Dušan.

The papal bishop, irritated with the failure of his mission, turned home and on the way visited Louis I, asking him to furiously continue the war on Serbia.