Danish Gods

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A Gods is an estate which consists of a manor or main farm and the land and other farms owned by the estate. In many cases, the estate served the many of the same functions as a herred. There are many different records from an estate that can help enrich genealogical research. A few gods records include:


 * Fæsteprotokoller and fæstebreve (copyhold): Letters and contracts between the lord and farmer. These are contracts of permanent work for the farmer, with conditions. They usually outline what is expected of the farmer, descriptions of the house given to them, and who the previous farmer of the farm was (many times the previous owner was some sort of relation), along with other miscellaneous information.
 * Jordebøger (land records): Information about the land and how much it is worth in taxes. These records include names of every farmer under the gods.
 * Lægdsruller (conscription rolls): Lists of males who may be available for military service.
 * Overformynderiprotokoller (guardianship records): Name of the person or persons assigned to watch over the interests of a minor.
 * Regnskaber (accounts): Financial transactions for the operation of the estate.
 * Skifteprotokoller (probate records): If a probate cannot be found under the herred, it is always good to check with the local gods records. If a person had belonged to a gods they would have registered the probate with the estate rather than the herred.

Estate records that have been deposited at the regional archives (landsarkiv) are grouped together by the estate. Many estates have not transferred their records to the archives. In those cases you must contact the estate to determine what records are available. The National Archives of Denmark (Rigsarkivet) has an online catalog where you can search by the name of the estate (arkivskaber) and see what their holdings are.