Drawings by Ronny Andersen of the coronets in Danish Noble Heraldry
Danish nobility is a social class and a former estate in the Kingdom of Denmark. The nobility has official recognition in Denmark, a monarchy. Its legal privileges were abolished with the constitution of 1849. Some of the families still own and reside in castles or country houses. A minority of nobles still belong to the elite, and they are as such present at royal events where they hold court posts, are guests, or are objects of media coverage, for example Kanal 4's TV-hostess Caroline Fleming née Baroness Iuel-Brockdorff.[citation needed] Some of them own and manage companies or have leading positions within business, banking, diplomacy and NGOs.
Cover of Danmarks Adels Aarbog (Peerage of the Danish Nobility)
Historians divide the Danish nobility into two categories: ancient nobility (Danish: uradel) and letter nobility (Danish: brevadel) based on the way they achieved nobility. Another status based categorization distinguishes between higher and lower nobility (Danish: højadel, lavadel).
"Ancient nobility" refer to those noble families that are known from the era before the Danish reformation where we have no exact knowledge of how they attained noble status, whereas letter nobility are those families that received their rank by a patent at the time of their elevation to the nobility. Families of the Lord High Councillors of Denmark prior to the introduction of absolutism in Denmark in 1660, and houses endowed with a title from 1671 onwards are regarded as higher nobility of Denmark.[citation needed] Whereas all other noble families are considered lower nobility.
In 1671 a new titled higher nobility was introduced with the ranks of count and baron available for families that owned estates with a minimum of 2,500 and 1,000 barrels of land hartkorn respectively and were willing to allocate them as feudal counties and baronies to be inherited by primogeniture with the possessor receiving the title of lensgreve (literally fief count) or lensbaron (literally fief baron). Despite their patents - which in reality were subjugations to a nascent absolutist state, most nobles who were elevated to the titled nobility by the post 1671 patents came from families that had belonged to the higher nobility prior to the introduction of absolutism, such as Brahe or Rantzau.
The title of duke being restricted to the royal family and their relatives is in contrast to German and French usage. In Germany most dukes had executive power within the Reichstag.
Danishnobility is a social class and a former estate in the Kingdom of Denmark. The nobility has official recognition in Denmark, a monarchy. Its legal...
The DanishNobility Association (or the Association of the DanishNobility; Danish: Dansk Adels Forening, DAF) is an organization for the Danish and Norwegian...
Commonwealth. Icelanders who belonged to the Norwegian nobility. Icelanders who belonged to the Danishnobility. During the Norse settlement of Iceland, beginning...
Monpezat (Danish: Greve af Monpezat), or Countess of Monpezat (Danish: Grevinde af Monpezat) when the holder is female, is a hereditary title of Danish nobility...
nobility in Denmark still exists. They are likewise included in the Yearbook of the DanishNobility, published by the Association of the DanishNobility. The...
Prince Henrik of Denmark (Danish pronunciation: [ˈhenˀʁek]; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the...
of the Danishnobility would be loyal to his nephew Christian II. In 1523, Christian was forced by disloyal nobles to abdicate as king of Denmark and Norway...
claim to the Danish throne upon becoming queen consort of the Hellenes. Danishnobility Line of succession to the Norwegian throne "The Danish Monarchy -...
reform of the Danish state in 1521–22, which would have strengthened the rights of commoners at the expense of the nobles and clergy. The nobility rose against...
Count Felix of Monpezat (born Prince Felix of Denmark; 22 July 2002) is a member of the Danish royal family. He is the younger son of Prince Joachim and...
The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the (landed) gentry. The nobility of its four constituent home nations has played a major role in shaping...
Christopher II (Danish: Christoffer 2.; 29 September 1276 – 2 August 1332) was King of Denmark from 1320 to 1326 and again from 1329 until his death. He...
Count Nikolai of Monpezat (born Prince Nikolai of Denmark; 28 August 1999) is a member of the Danish royal family. He is the eldest son of Prince Joachim...
the monarch, who wanted a strong unified state, and the Swedish and Danishnobility, which did not. The Union lost territory when Orkney and Shetland were...
whose nobility predates issuance of letters patent. The term dates to the early nineteenth century. Austrian nobilityDanishnobility Finnish nobility German...
Earl-Marshal Anders Bille, who commanded the Danish forces. This was Frederick's first collision with the Danishnobility, who afterwards regarded him with extreme...
leading member of the Danish resistance during the German occupation of Denmark in the Second World War. She was the first woman in Denmark to receive a capital...
envoys of the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Order as well as the nobility of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Dorothea made her entrance in the city escorted...
and Ellen Marsvin (1572–1649), members of the wealthy but untitled Danishnobility. Her mother, widowed a second time in 1611, was the greatest landowner...
brother, the king of Denmark, as well as with the Danish court. Her mother introduced her to the heir presumptive to the Danish throne, the future Christian...
(1102–1288) In Denmark and historically in Denmark-Norway the title of count (greve) is the highest rank of nobility used in the modern period. Some Danish/Dano-Norwegian...
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