ABSTRACT
Officeholding was a means for Scandinavian elites to gain access to material resources, and royal offices are of particular interest. Two kinds of elites created by kings can be distinguished, namely those built on existing elites as opposed to those created for specific purposes. In an early phase (up to the late twelfth century), kings applied both kinds of officeholders: high-status magnates with whom they to a large degree shared power and lower-ranking servants who were in charge of the royal farms, between which the kings ambulated. The question of the status of the latter group is discussed within this chapter, as well as the blurred borders between the two offices. From the late twelfth century onward, the two offices merged into one, called sýslumenn in Norway and ombudsmænd/fogeder/advocati in Denmark and Sweden. Through an analysis of the dispersal of royal offices and land throughout the realms and the income that officials could extract through this system, the practice of governance is studied. It is concluded that at least to some degree the standardization of royal offices marked the strengthening of royal status.
