Norwegian Fogderi

Back to: Norway

A fogderi is the bailiff’s jurisdiction. In the beginning of the 1500’s most feudal lords used bailiffs in the administration. The district that was under a bailiff was called a fogderi. At that time Norway was divided into four major divisions as well as a group of small areas and some estates. The administration was very loosely organized. In the course of several hundred years the administration became more homogenized. In 1640 the organization that was created lasted until the end of the 1800’s.

The counties in Norway were divided into several fogderi (districts). Originally there were more than 55. In 1700 they were reduced to 38. By law in 1894 there was to be 56. These were adjusted in the period between 1898 and 1919.

Fogderi were originally divided into Tinglag, which were in a large measure corresponded to the middle ages Skipreide. In 1837 the Tinglag was replaced by the executive committee districts, where every clerical district became an executive district. The tax law in 1853 changed the name from executive district to kommunes or herreds.Fogderi could contain one or more Sorenskriveri.

References

-Wikipedia. “Fogderi.” &lt;http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogderi&gt;. Accessed 15 November 2012.

-Imsen, Steinar and Winge, Harald. Norsk Historisk Leksikon: Kultur og samfunn ca. 1500 – 1800, pages 119-121, 2nd ed. (Oslo, Cappelen Akademisk Forlag, 2004). Accessed 15 November 2012.

-lokalhistiewiki.no. ”Leksikon:Fogderi.” http://lokalhistoriewiki.no/index.php/Leksikon:Fogderi. Accessed 19 November 2012.