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The House of Nobility (Swedish : Riddarhuset) in Stockholm, Sweden, is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility.
The name is literally translated as House of Knights, as the knights (Swedish : riddare ) belong to the higher ranks of the Swedish nobility, sometimes also together with titles as count (Swedish : Greve) and baron (Swedish : friherre ). All esquires are also represented in the corporation (most of the families are so called untitled nobility, Swedish : obetitlad adel). This is a tradition from the Middle Ages when Sweden during the Kalmar Union only had one knight: Sten Sture.
Between the 17th and the 19th century the House of Nobility was a chamber in the Riksdag of the Estates.
In the 18th century, the building was often used for public concerts. From 1731, public concerts were performed here by Kungliga Hovkapellet. Elisabeth Olin is believed to have debuted here in the 1750s, and foreign artists performed such as Elisabetta Almerighi, Giovanni Ansani (1772) and Rosa Scarlatti.
In 1866, the Parliament of the Estates was replaced by the new Riksdag (Parliament of Sweden). From then on, the House of Nobility served as a quasi-official representative body for the Swedish nobility, regulated by the Swedish government. Since 2003, it has been a private institution which maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility, its main purpose being to maintain old traditions and culture.
Since 1990 the House is a member of CILANE.
The House of Nobility is governed by the House of Nobility Act. Currently it’s the 1866 Act governing the body, but the first such act was introduced as far back as 1626.
The primary decision making body of the House is the Assembly of Nobles (Swedish: Adelsmötet), which convenes every 3 years to make decisions regarding how the nobility shall operate until the next meeting. The Head of each noble house which has been introduced into the house is entitled to attend and vote at the assembly. They may also send another member of their house to represent them.
Decisions taken by the assembly are then to be implemented over the next 3 years by the Directorate of the Swedish Nobility Foundation. This body is elected by the assembly and consists of a Chairman, a Deputy Chairman, 6 members and 3 deputy members. There is also a Chancery of the House of Nobility assisting the Directorate in implementing decisions of the assembly. [1] [2]
The Riddarhuset is also the name of the building maintained by the corporation in Stockholm old town. The French-born architect Simon de la Vallée started the planning of the building, but was killed by a Swedish nobleman in 1642. The plans were eventually finished by his son, Jean de la Vallée, in 1660.
The south end of the building carries the Latin inscription CLARIS MAIORUM EXEMPLIS, after the clear example of the forefathers, and holds a statue of Gustav Vasa, the king of Sweden 1523-1560. North of the building is a park in which is a statue of Axel Oxenstierna.
The architecture of the old main library in Turku, Finland, was influenced by the Swedish House of Nobility.
The older genealogical collections in the House of Nobility, spanning from the 1600s to the 1800s, have been digitized by the Swedish company Arkiv Digital.
The Riksdag is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members, elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, fixed four-year terms. The 2022 Swedish general election is the most recent general election.
Riksdag of the Estates was the name used for the Estates of Sweden when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King. It was a Diet made up of the Four Estates, which historically were the lines of division in Swedish society:
The Council of the Realm, or simply The Council, was a cabinet of medieval origin, consisting of magnates which advised, and at times co-ruled with, the King of Sweden.
The Swedish nobility has historically been a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, and part of the so-called frälse. The archaic term for nobility, frälse, also included the clergy, a classification defined by tax exemptions and representation in the diet. Today the nobility does not maintain its former legal privileges although family names, titles and coats of arms are still protected. The Swedish nobility consists of both "introduced" and "unintroduced" nobility, where the latter has not been formally "introduced" at the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset). The House of Nobility still maintains a fee for male members over the age of 18 for upkeep on pertinent buildings in Stockholm.
The Bonde Palace is a palace in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located between the House of Knights (Riddarhuset) and the Chancellery House (Kanslihuset), it is, arguably, the most prominent monument of the era of the Swedish Empire (1611–1718), originally designed by Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and Jean De la Vallée in 1662-1667 as the private residence of the Lord High Treasurer Gustaf Bonde (1620–1667) it still bears his name, while it accommodated the Stockholm Court House from the 18th century and since 1949 houses the Swedish Supreme Court. On the south side of the building is the street Myntgatan and the square Riddarhustorget, while the alleys Riddarhusgränd and Rådhusgränd are passing on its western and eastern sides.
The Adlercreutz family is a Swedish and Finnish noble family.
The Finnish nobility was historically a privileged class in Finland, deriving from its period as part of Sweden and the Russian Empire. Noble families and their descendants are still a part of Finnish republican society, but except for the titles themselves, no longer retain any specific or granted privileges. A majority of Finnish nobles have traditionally been Swedish-speakers using their titles mostly in Swedish. The Finnish nobility today has some 6,000 male and female members.
Högvaktsterrassen is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden passing west of Yttre Borgården, the outer court of the Stockholm Palace.
Myntgatan is a street in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching west from Mynttorget over to Riddarhustorget, it is crossed by the streets Salviigränd, Rådhusgränd, Riddarhusgränd, and Storkyrkobrinken.
Riddarhustorget is a public square in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden, named after its location in front of the House of Knights (Riddarhuset).
Riddarhusgränd is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching north from the square Riddarhustorget to the bridge Vasabron, it passes between the Swedish House of Knights (Riddarhuset) and the Bonde Palace forming a parallel street to Rådhusgränd. On either side of its northern end are the quays Riddarhuskajen and Kanslikajen.
Riddarhuskajen is a quay in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located north of both the square Riddarhustorget and the House of Knights, it stretches east from the north-western corner of the island Stadsholmen to the bridge Vasabron and the alley Riddarhusgränd. Just west of the quay passes the motorway Centralbron, while the quay Kanslikajen forms an eastward extension leading past Kanslihuset to Stallbron and Mynttorget.
The Schauman family is a Swedish Finnish noble family of German origin, introduced in both the Swedish House of Nobility and the Finnish House of Nobility. Originally known as a family of high-ranking soldiers, since the 1800s its representatives have become known in numerous other fields.
Axel Oxenstierna palace is a Mannerist architecture style building situated in the Old Town of Stockholm, Sweden.
Johannes Matthiae Gothus was a Swedish Lutheran Bishop of Strängnäs and a professor of Uppsala University, the rector of the Collegium illustrious, Collegium Illustre in Stockholm (1626–1629) and the most eminent teacher in Sweden during the seventeenth century. He was Bishop of Strängnäs from 1643 to 1664.
Simon de la Vallée (1590–1642) was a French-Swedish architect. The first architect in Sweden to have received formal academic training, he created the Swedish school of architecture.
Roslags-Bro Church is a medieval Lutheran church in the Archdiocese of Uppsala in Stockholm County, Sweden. It was built during the middle of the 13th century by an important sea-route, since disappeared as a consequence of the post-glacial rebound. Immured in the church is a runestone from the 11th century.
Johannes Elai Terserus was a Swedish prelate and theologian who served as the Bishop of Turku from 1658 to 1664 and then Bishop of Linköping between 1671 and 1678.
The Directorate of the Swedish Nobility Foundation governs the management of the Swedish House of Nobility. The Directorate is the chief executive body of the House, while the Assembly of Nobles is the principle decision-making body. This means that while the Assembly of Nobles, convened every 3 years, makes decisions regarding the governance of the House it is the directorate that implements these decisions between meetings of the assembly. It is also the assembly which appoints the directorate and to which the directorate reports.
The Assembly of Nobles is the principal decision-making body of the House of Nobility. It convenes every three years at the Palace of the Nobility in Stockholm to make decisions regarding the management of the properties and foundations under the ownership of the House of Nobility, the affairs of the nobility and the budget of the House.
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