frälsegods

Frälsegods is a Swedish term referring to lands and properties owned by the nobility (the frälse) within the historical feudal landholding system. These estates were separate from crown lands (kungsgods) and church lands (kyrkliga gods) and formed the economic base of the noble class. Frälsegods comprised large agricultural estates, forests, and estate houses, often managed by a steward or by the noble owner. The income from frälsegods supported noble households, their political influence, and their obligations as members of the Riksdag's first estate.

Ownership was typically hereditary, and many frälsegods were consolidated into single or fewer holdings through marriages and inheritance. The legal framework surrounding frälsegods included certain privileges for the nobility, such as tax exemptions and jurisdictional rights in local matters, though these varied over time and by region. Tenants on frälsegods were governed by manorial custom and local law and sometimes paid rents, corvée labor, or service obligations during medieval and early modern periods.

In the modern era, reforms gradually eroded the special privileges of the nobility and altered land ownership patterns. Many frälsegods were subdivided, sold, or transformed through agricultural, economic, and legal changes in the 18th–20th centuries. Today the term frälsegods is used mainly in historical and genealogical contexts to describe estates associated with noble families and their social and economic role in Swedish history. The topic intersects with related concepts such as the term frälse, säteri (manor) and the broader rural landscape of historic Sweden.