Aristocracy (Scandinavia)

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In Scandinavia, the term “ nobility ” is initially associated with the special war obligation towards a ruler, which corresponds to an exemption from taxes. This means that the nobility is initially related to a person and not to a family. It was only when the nobility became hereditary that they were able to break away from their war obligation. The monarch could now ennoble other functionaries of the state with a special duty of loyalty to him with effect also to the descendants. This meant that the nobility was retained in the following generations, even if its function and privileges had long since expired until the sovereign decided otherwise. The Scandinavian nobility - apart from the royal houses ruling there - knows no high nobility .

Denmark

In Denmark the nobility grew out of the class of free large farmers. First a so-called "Herremands class" was formed. Three explanations have been given for this term: one is that the term is derived from "hærman" = warrior and corresponds to the Latin word "miles", the other is that the term is derived from "Herrars man" = man of the Lord and corresponds to the Latin "homo domini", and the third that it is derived from "Herre-mand" (Old Norse herramaðr ) = person of high rank. The royal Hirð, the following, was later recruited from this stand. These gentlemen had taken the oath of allegiance to the king or a bishop and thus committed themselves to special services, above all to military service with special armor. In return, they received wages or fiefs, including legal protection. On the other hand, they were not exempt from royalties to the crown until the 12th century. Due to their special oath of loyalty to the king, the qualified military service of the Herremenn separated them from the general duty of suffering (duty to follow the army). When the general duty of suffering was converted into a tax of suffering, the Herremenn were not among the taxpayers because they had not been among the taxpayers. The tax exemption in return for the provision of a fully armed knight was laid down in Jyske Lov in 1241 . The tax exemption also meant that they would not have to pay taxes on the land they owned or acquired. In general, the contrast between the royal men and the other passed pawns is interpreted as meaning that they were simply exempt from all taxes. In the contemporary laws there are also the first beginnings for their judicial powers by being allowed to impose fines of up to three silver marks . The knight class emerged from this heterogeneous class of gentlemen in the 13th century. With the accolade they set themselves apart from the weapon bearers (armigeri).

In the time of Canute the Holy in 1085 a "Stabularius" (stable master) is named as an official. It is not known what duties and powers he had. But towards the end of the 13th century, the stable master became the king's representative and tax collector in the Frisian parts of South Jutland - Ejdersted and Nordstrand. In Knut's time there was also a kind of steward called "Bryder" (one who breaks bread, heads a manor, especially on the royal estates). These posts also belonged to the nobility.

In the 13th century, through the transition from the people's and peasants' army to the knight's army through royal privileges, a closed aristocracy was formed in its own right.

A distinction is now made between “Uradel” and “Briefadel”. The primeval nobility comes from the time before the introduction of the nobility letter. Noble patents were issued by the king from the first half of the 15th century. Attempts were made to limit access to the nobility so that the taxable land would not be reduced. Soon a social stratification occurred in the aristocracy: the aristocracy with large estates became the high aristocracy, those with small estates became the lower aristocracy, who after 1400 were also known as "Knappen" (Væbner). The nobility now closed themselves off from the lower classes. In 1526, the nobility was therefore obliged to distinguish them from the lower classes to adopt fixed gender names. Gradually, the posts in the royal government were filled exclusively by the high nobility, since the lower nobility usually did not have the means for the training that was required for these offices. Since the nobility class had no interest in everyone being able to be ennobled by the king, Christian II's election surrender in 1513 stipulated that the king could only elevate persons to the nobility with the consent of the Imperial Council, unless the person had renounced particularly excellent on the battlefield. Between 1536 and 1660 the power of the high nobility over the Imperial Council continued to grow. At that time there were around 2000 noble families in the country. In addition to the tax exemption, a small group of the richest nobility had secured exclusive access to lucrative government offices and posts in the Reichsrat. In 1660 absolutism was introduced and with it the power of the nobility abruptly ended.

After 1660, the old nobility remained, but lost a lot of power, prestige and privileges. It was now also possible for non-nobles to join the government bodies, the so-called “colleges” and the private advisory group of the king, the “secret council”, even if the nobles continued to make up the majority. In addition, there was now the so-called post office. The king raised deserved bourgeoisie in high offices to the nobility.

In Section 97 of the 1849 Constitution, all noble privileges were abolished. In § 98 the establishment of new fiefs, parent houses or entails was prohibited and the transfer of such existing goods into free ownership was ordered. These regulations have survived to this day, albeit under a different count. The concept of nobility as such was retained. After 1849 nobody was ennobled in Denmark, but there were some takeovers of foreign nobles in the Danish nobility (naturalization).

Finland

In Finland the nobility did not develop until it was united with Sweden. As early as the 14th century, there were numerous nobility classes in the southwestern coastal landscape, including Häme . In Karelia , however, it was rare and in Savo and Ostrobothnia it was completely absent. The conditions of the nobility were similar to those in Sweden. There were, however, certain differences in social composition and also between the nobility, who were under the bishops, and those who were subordinate to the king. The oldest mention of the nobility concerns the families van Arsten and Villilä , who can be assigned to the bishop. From the 1270s, secular nobles also appear in the sources. In the 16th century the nobility was very unevenly distributed. Most of the nobles were in Varsinais-Suomi , where many nobles from Sweden, Germany and Denmark had immigrated. At the end of the Middle Ages, over half of the aristocratic estates were located there. The main source of income for the nobility was the legal system. The income of a lagman (legal expert), of which there was one in northern Finland and one in southern Finland, and a judge (Häradshövdingetjänste) were significant. The offices were reserved for certain noble families. In marriages with non-nobles, the nobility was not lost. An impoverished nobleman could maintain his nobility by marrying a wealthy middle-class partner. Because if he could no longer pay for the necessary armor, he lost his status. A lower nobility who ran a farm that was not exempt from tax (Flöteskattmännen) was also widespread. Opportunities for advancement were practically denied to him. It also happened that the non-noble husband took the name and coat of arms of his noble wife.

After Finland separated from Sweden in 1809, a Finnish knight house was formed in 1818, in which the old noble families came together. With the state parliament order of April 15, 1869, the nobility secured participation in legislation and tax permits. Until 1900 there were one princely, eleven counts, 62 baronial and 87 noble families in the Finnish knight's house. But the princely, five counts, 15 baronial and 85 noble families had already died out, at least on the male side. There were the following classes of aristocracy: Prince, Count, Baron, Knight and Lord. Like Lord, Ritter was an untitled nobility and was intended for the members of the Swedish Secret Council and the commanders of the Swedish royal orders of knights. In 1863 the class was merged with the men.

Since 1809 the Russian tsar had the title "Grand Duke of Finland". As such, he claimed the right to raise people to the nobility. As the last he raised the general CFA Langhoff to the baron status in 1912. There are currently just over 100 noble families left. While one of the main privileges of the nobility used to be the tax exemption of their property, this privilege disappeared in 1920 with the introduction of the income and wealth tax, which had no tax exemption. In 1919 the Finnish Governor CG Mannerheim issued rules for the knight's house, which are still in force today. Thereafter, every third year there is a meeting of the Finnish nobility.

Iceland

In the Free State there were chiefs who exercised independent rule over a certain part of the country. Jon Loptsson, Bodvar Tordsson, Orm Jonsson, Odd Gissursson and Gissur Hallson are referred to in a letter from Archbishop Øystein from 1179 or 1180 as men "to whom God has given power over the people of Iceland".

As early as the 12th and 13th centuries, a number of Icelanders went to the royal court in Norway and were accepted into the royal court society there. In 1262/1264 Iceland submitted to Norwegian royalty. Hereditary titles of nobility have only been handed down to Icelanders from 1277 onwards. About 20-30 people received the knight title, including Eiríkur Sveinbjarnarson from Vatnsfjörður († 1342). His wife Vilborg even bears the title "Duchess" in the sources.

Arnfinnur Þorsteinsson († 1433) also carried the nobility title "Knight". The knights have in common that they were governors (hirðstjori) of the king. The form of address was then herrar or "frú". In 1620 the Icelander Jón Magnusson the Elder had the nobility letter of his ancestor Björn Þorleifsson ríka (the rich) from 1457 confirmed by the Danish king. The letter was read on July 1, 1620 before the Althing. He was the last nobleman in Iceland. With the introduction of absolutism in Denmark in 1660, the era of the nobility in Iceland also ended.

The sources do not provide any information about the functions associated with the title and title of nobility and about its social significance. But they were apparently responsible for the poor relief in their sphere of influence and had the duty to assist their clients in legal disputes. According to the sagas, marriages only took place between chief families.

The sources also give nothing for a “nobility” in Iceland after 1277. The descendants of those ennobled by the king did not bear the title. There were no aristocratic areas such as county and duchy in Iceland. In any case, no special functions were reserved for the nobles, so that one can assume a purely honorary title, which was apparently intended to underline that they were acting in the name of the king when they were in office.

In addition, there was also the ecclesiastical nobility, to which the bishops, abbots and abbesses belonged. Most of these people came from the most powerful families in Iceland or Norway. The two bishops of Iceland had a seat and vote in the Norwegian Imperial Council after 1262. This nobility ended with the Reformation in 1530.

Norway

In Norway, a special class of chiefs was archaeologically accessible through elaborate graves. In the north, the trade with the Sami, known as “Finns”, led to the formation of an upper class, in whose hands the further transport of the fur goods acquired in this way to the south lay. A stratification also developed in the seeds. In the historical accounts of the Middle Ages there is talk of Finnish kings. In historical times, two centers of power emerged: On the one hand, the central kingdom, on the other hand, individual particularly powerful families such as the Ladejarle and the Jarle von Møre. When kingship prevailed across Norway, leaders were chosen by the king, who selected them from the families who had placed themselves at the top of society in the past. From this time on one can speak of nobility. But gradually the class of large farmers moved up to leadership positions, as they were appointed as loins in a special relationship of trust with the king. In the 12th century, the members of the royal retinue, the Hirð , were determined from this upper class . They took a special oath of allegiance. They obtained exemption from taxes and from general military service ( Leidang ).

During and after the great plague epidemic of 1348/1349 and the subsequent epidemics, the nobility continued to decline. Around 1320 there are still 500 aristocratic families, around 1450 only around 200. What political influence these families had and whether it was more or less a question of local figures has not yet been adequately researched. After 1523 there was only one noble family, namely the Galle family, represented by two brothers, which died out in the 17th century. A renewal of the nobility, be it through an aspiring wealthy bourgeoisie or through exaltation through the king, as was the case in the Middle Ages on the continent, hardly took place in Norway. The Union king had only moderate interest in Norway. Instead, he enfeoffed Danish nobles or non-nobles with Norwegian fiefs. King Christian II stated in his election surrender of 1513 that the Norwegian nobility was as good as extinct. In the course of time he occupied all important fiefdoms in Norway with his Danish supporters, often also non-nobles. They did not become noble through this enfeoffment.

In the 16th century, the Norwegian aristocracy was filled by the marriage of Danish noblemen, who married the widows and daughters of the dying noble families and who soon felt themselves to be Norwegians. This is how a new nobility emerged in Norway, represented by names such as Bjelke, Litle, Brockenhus, Bildt, Huitfeldt and Lange. At the same time, the Norwegian lower nobility pushed in. This had a purely Norwegian background. They included the Skaktavl, Rustung, Benkestok, Galtung, Galde, Teiste, Handingmand, Brat and Rytter families. This Norwegian nobility was poor compared to the Swedish and Danish nobility. The Norwegian aristocracy was also politically disadvantaged. The Danish nobility exercised full control over the entire Danish empire. In 1536 the Norwegian Imperial Council, in which the nobility and clergy were represented, was abolished. Only in a few exceptional cases did a Norwegian nobleman manage to get into the Danish Imperial Council, and only one Norwegian feudal man, Jens Bjelke, obtained a principal fief in Norway. Domestically, the aristocracy in Norway remained the ruling class. For example, he represented the people at the homage to the king in 1548. But the decisions were ultimately made by the Danish nobles. The Norwegian nobility was de facto incapacitated and reduced to the life of a wealthy large farmer. The decline can also be seen on the days of the estates. In 1591, the nobility appeared as a self-confident group when paying homage to Christian IV. They wrote their own letter of homage and demanded that the king fill Norwegian fiefs and the governorship with Norwegians. When paying homage to Friedrich III in 1661 . only 17 Norwegian nobles came together. They had to cede the leadership role to the clergy and the peasant class. The names of the nobles reveal foreign origins. After the introduction of violence, the nobility was pushed back further, so that ultimately only one gender retained its position, the family of the Huitfeldt. The others married into civil servant families in high positions who were later ennobled, for example Kaas, Marschalck, Tritschler and Lützow. Other noble families, such as Bagge, Bothner, Dahl and Galtung, were forced to sell their goods to citizens and officials and fell into the peasant class.

In 1671, King Christian V decided to create a new nobility with counts and barons in Norway. The half-brother of King Ulrich Friedrich Gyldenløve and Peder Schumacher each received a county, Gyldenløve got Larvik , Schumacher Griffenfeld, which was declared a county in 1673. After his fall, the county was renamed Jarlsberg and transferred to Field Marshal Gustav Wilhelm Wedel. In 1678 Ludvig Rosenkrantz was raised to the new nobility as a baron, and his Rosendal estate became a barony. With the ranking ordinances of 1693 and 1730, a new hereditary nobility was established for all who held offices in the three highest rank classes. These included the de Tonsberg and Hausmann families. Others were ennobled by royal patents. However, these were only honorary titles without any special permissions. On April 22, 1709, Frederick IV appointed the Italian Hugo Octavius ​​Accoramboni from Florence as margrave (Marki) of Lister and on November 24, 1710 Franciscus di Ratta and his two nephews Giuseppe Carlo and Luigi, senators and gonfaliers (standard bearers, a high ceremonial Office) of Bologna, to the Marquis of Mandal. The reason for this is not known. Francisco was a Spanish captain. Francisco died in 1716 and Giuseppe in 1725, both unmarried. Luigi was married, but the family died out in the male line with his great-grandson Margrave Benedetto. In any case, in 1711 Povel Juel was the bailiff there. Neither sex has been proven to have resided in Denmark or Norway.

After the Peace of Kiel in 1814, Norway adopted its own constitution, which was largely retained under the union with Sweden. In § 108 of this constitution it was determined that no counties, baronies, ancestral houses and entails may be established in the future. In Section 23 (2) it was also determined that hereditary privileges may no longer be granted in the future. The status quo was frozen for the time being. The background to this was the demand for equality adopted from the French Revolution. On August 1, 1821, a law regulating the rights of the Norwegian nobility was passed. In this law, all privileges, except those that do not contradict Section 108 of the Constitution, have been expressly revoked. In § 6 it was then determined that the rights of the nobility that had been preserved in this way should only be granted to the owners and their marital descendants living when the law was announced, if they were proven to have been legally acquired by the next storting. After the death of these people, all nobility in Norway should come to an end. In § 7 it was specially ordered that everyone should lose their nobility who does not prove their nobility by legally recognized documents by the next ordinary storting. After the turn of the 20th century, there were no more nobles in Norway.

Sweden

In the 13th century, particularly important families began to undertake special military service for the king and were exempt from taxes (Frälsemän). This duty consisted in the provision of a knight on horseback in full armor. According to Magnus Eriksson's land law of 1347, members of the Imperial Council, knights and squires were noble. Free farmers could also acquire the nobility by providing a knight in full armor. Anyone who later failed to find this expensive equipment would lose their tax exemption status. This status became so constitutive for the nobility that the words "Frälse" and "Adel" were used synonymously. So it also happens that not only knights, but also mine operators, who were also exempt from taxes, were considered nobles and were accepted into the knight's house.

In 1435 the nobility became a separate estate alongside the clergy, citizens and farmers. The nobility soon acquired special privileges, namely jurisdiction over their own property and the right of patronage . At the end of the 16th century, the obligation to do special military service in one's own armor ended. But the tax exemption was retained. Under Erik XIV these noble knights were combined to form a separate cavalry unit, which was called "Adelsfanan". It was only dissolved in 1809. Erik XIV also introduced titles of nobility in 1561, following the European model: Count and Baron. The title of duke was reserved exclusively for members of the royal family. In 1569, Johann III. at his coronation that the nobility privileges were only granted to those who came from a noble marriage or to whom the king had issued a letter of nobility.

Riddarhuset in Stockholm, seat of the knight's house

Gustav II Adolf founded the knight house in 1625 by issuing a knight house order. All nobles had to register there. This made the nobility a closed body. There were three rank classes in the knight's house: The first was the “gentlemen's class” with the counts and barons. In the second were the families who were represented in the Reichsrat or at least had the ability to do so without a title. The third class included the remaining nobles. In 1719 the nobility classes were abolished, but Gustav III. reintroduced it in 1778. In 1809 all estates received the right to hold the highest state offices, and the right of the king to ennoble deserving persons was regulated in Section 37 so that only the oldest male heir inherited the title of nobility, and if there was none, the one who from the progenitor was the next contender.

In 1865 the Reichstag ceased to be divided into four estates. This also ended the primacy of the nobility. In 1902 Sven Hedin was ennobled as the last noble elevation. In the constitution of 1975 the possibility of the nobility rise was no longer mentioned. With effect from July 1, 2003, the Ritterhaus lost its privileged position as a public corporation and became a legal entity under private law.

literature

  • G. Authén-Blom: Article “Adel”, section “Norway” in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde vol. 1. Berlin 1973. pp. 76–77.
  • Sverre Bagge, Knut Mykland: Norge i dansketiden. 3. Edition. Oslo 1998
  • Knut Helle: Konge & gode menn i norsk riksstyring ca 1150–1319 . Oslo etc. 1972.
  • Lena Huldén: Market structure in the tidiga finska 1500-talssamhället . In: Genos . Volume 69 (1989) pp. 111-118, 156-157.
  • Article “aðall” in: Ìslenzka alfræði orðabókin . Vol. 1. Reykjavík 1990.
  • Article “Adel (Adel i Danmark)” in: Den store danske , accessed on December 8, 2011.
  • Hans Kuhn: Article “Adel”, section “Linguistic” in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Vol. 1. Berlin 1973. pp. 58–60.
  • Bernhard Linder: Adelsleksikon. Adel and godseije. Vol. I: Middelalder og renæssancetid . Vol. II: 1660 - årtusindskiftet . Copenhagen 2004.
  • Lars Løberg: “Norsk adel, hadde vi det?” In: Genealogen 2/1998, pp. 29–32.
  • Kauko Pirinen: Article “Frälse” Section: “Finland” in: Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for nordisk middelalder. Vol. 4. Copenhagen 1959. Col. 693-695.
  • Jerker Rosén: Article "Frälse" in: Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for nordisk middelalder. Vol. 4. Copenhagen 1959. Col. 670-693.
  • R. Wenskus: Article “Adel”, section “Constitutional and social history” in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Vol. 1. Berlin 1973. pp. 60–75.
  • K. Wührer: Article “Adel”, section “Sweden and Denmark” in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Vol. 1. Berlin 1973. pp. 75–76.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Løberg p. 29.

Denmark

  1. ↑ a b Rosén Sp. 684.
  2. ↑ Hærre-mand . In: Ordbog over det danske Sprog. Volume 8. 1926.
  3. ↑ Keyword “Adel (Adel i Danmark)” in: Den store Danske and § 178 Jyske Lov.
  4. ↑ a b Rosén Sp. 685.
  5. ↑ keyword "bryde" in Den store Danske .
  6. ↑ Wührer p. 76.
  7. ↑ a b c d Keyword "Adel (Adel i Danmark)" in: Den store Danske .
  8. ↑ Linder IS 13.

Finland

  1. ↑ Pirinen Sp. 693.
  2. ↑ Eric Anthoni: Finlands medeltida frälse och 1500-tals nobility. Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, No. 422. Helsingfors 1970, p. 211.
  3. ↑ Huldén
  4. ^ T. Carpelan: Finlands nobility . In: Bernhard Meijer (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape 1 : A-Armati . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1904, Sp. 147 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  5. ↑ Finlands Adelskalender 1998, pp. 40–43.
  6. ↑ Haakon Holmboe, Terje Bratberg: Article “adel - finland” in: Store norske leksikon , accessed on December 4, 2011.
  7. ↑ Suomen ritarihuone ( Memento from May 25, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on December 7, 2011.

Iceland

  1. ^ Regesta Norvegica vol. 1 no.163 .
  2. ↑ Páll Eggert Ólason: Íslenzkar æviskrár Frá landnámstímum til ársloka 1940 . Vol. 1 Reykjavík 1948. p. 421.
  3. ↑ "Það er líkara að‚ frú hertogina 'sé Fremdr Vilborg kona Eiríks Sveinbjarnarsonar í Vatnsfirði. " Diplomatarium Islandicum - Íslenzkt fornbrefasafn. Vol. 3. Copenhagen 1890. P. 773. Likewise, around 1360 a duchess compiled a list of the driftwood rights for the church in Vatnsfjörður. Jón Sigurðson, who has passed down the text, held it in a gloss for Ingibjörg Hákonardóttir (1301-1360). But this was the daughter of Håkon V. and ruler of Norway and Sweden. It can therefore be considered certain that it was the same Vilborg.
  4. ↑ Safn til sögu Íslands og Íslendzkra Bókmenta að fornu and nýju. Vol. 9. Copenhagen 1886. p. 103.
  5. ↑ "Sauðlauksdalsannáll" for 1620. In: Annales Islandici posteriorum saeculorum. Annálar 1400-1800. Vol. 6. Reykjavík 1987. p. 388 fn. 5.
  6. ↑ Regulated in the section "Ómagabálkur" (section on the poor) of the Grágás.
  7. ↑ Ìslenzka alfræði orðabókin . P. 8.
  8. ↑ There were also non-noble bishops; B. Bishop Pétur Nikúlásson von Hólar (1391-1411), who was a Danish monk.

Norway

  1. ↑ Rosén Sp. 683.
  2. ↑ Bagge / Mykland p. 35.
  3. ↑ Article "Galle - norsk adelsslekt" in: Store norske leksikon , accessed on December 5, 2011.
  4. ↑ Bagge / Mykland p. 74.
  5. ↑ Bagge / Mykland p. 91 f.
  6. ↑ Bagge / Mykland p. 172 f.
  7. ↑ Francisco Ratta was a senator in Bologna 1706–1725 and built the Palazzo Rotta there.
  8. ↑ a b Amund Helland: Topografisk-statistisk deskrivelse over Lister og Mandals amt. Første del. Den almindelige del . Kristiania 1903. p. 643. Helland calls him “Francisco de Ratia” when describing the coat of arms, which would correspond to an old Spanish family.
  9. ↑ Amund Helland: Topografisk-statistisk deskrivelse over Lister og Mandals amt. Første del. Den almindelige del . Kristiania 1903. p. 644. Helland calls both margrave titles “empty forms”.

Sweden

  1. ^ Statute of Alsnö by Magnus Birgersson.
  2. ↑ a b Adeln in Sverige ( Memento from August 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 16 kB)
  3. ^ In the Kulturhistorisk Leksikon for nordisk middelalder , the nobility is treated under the lemma "Frälse".
  4. ↑ Bergsfrälse . In: Bernhard Meijer (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape  2 : Armatoler – Bergsund . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1904, Sp. 1488 (Swedish, runeberg.org ). Bergs nobility . In: Bernhard Meijer (Ed.): Nordisk familjebok konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi . 2nd Edition. tape  2 : Armatoler – Bergsund . Nordisk familjeboks förlag, Stockholm 1904, Sp. 1486 (Swedish, runeberg.org ).
  5. ↑ § 28 of the Constitution of 1809.
  6. ^ Swedish Collection of Laws SFS 2003: 178; Erik Tersmeden: "Riksdagsbeslut om adelns offentligrättsliga status" in: Riddarhuset ( Memento from February 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 9 kB), accessed on December 9, 2011.