Lensmann


Lensmann in modern Norwegian or lensmand in Danish and older Norwegian spelling is a term with several distinct meanings in Scandinavian history. The Icelandic equivalent was a hreppstjóri.

Fief-holder

The term lensmann traditionally referred to a holder of a royal fief in Denmark and Norway. As the fiefs were renamed amt in 1662, the term lensmand was replaced with amtmand. In Norway these offices evolved into the modern fylkesmann office. Modern Norwegian historians often use the term lensherre instead of lensmann, although from the legal point of view, the king was the fief lord, and the title used by contemporaries was lensmand, not lensherre.
While the lensmann was a fief-holder from the nobility, the amtmann was a civil servant who might be ennobled as a reward.
OfficeLensmandAmtmand
General governing powerYesNo
Military commanderYesNo
Tax collectorYesNo
Fiscal accountabilityNoYes

Modern police officer

The title lensmann is also used in an entirely different meaning in modern Norway, denoting the leader of a rural police district known as a lensmannsdistrikt.