grevskap

A grevskap is the territorial domain and legal jurisdiction granted to a count (greve) in medieval and early modern Nordic states. The term combines greve and skap and denotes a fief held from the crown. It encompassed lands, settlements, forests, and the resources they produced, along with rights to collect certain revenues and to govern within its borders.

The count served as the king’s vassal and administered the grevskap through appointed officials, convened local courts, and organized defense and taxation. The fief could be hereditary or for the tenure of a life, and its borders were often defined by royal charter or customary practice. The count owed allegiance to the crown and provided military service, governance, and administrative oversight as part of the feudal system.

Grevskaps were most common in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway during the high to late Middle Ages, reflecting the broader European feudal structure. They functioned as semi-autonomous jurisdictions within the realm, with local jurisdictions, manors, and the power to regulate local economy and justice.

Decline and legacy: With the rise of centralized state administration, reforms, and the abolition of feudal privileges, the practical authority of grevskap diminished. Many were dissolved or transformed into royal domains or absorbed into new administrative divisions, such as the counties (län) in Sweden. Today, the term is primarily of historical or genealogical interest and appears in discussions of medieval nobility and feudal land tenure.