"Aristocracy of officials" and "civil service aristocracy" (Danish: embedsaristokratiet, Norwegian: embetsaristokratiet) are terms used by historians to denote the elite social class (aristocracy) of university-educated higher state officials in Denmark and Norway from the early modern period until the 19th century. Norway’s traditional nobility all but collapsed after the Reformation (1537) and was formally abolished in 1821. The aristocracy of officials filled the vacant position at the top of society at the local, regional and national levels. Vidar L. Haanes notes that "in Norway the aristocracy of officials occupied the position in society held by the nobility elsewhere in Europe". Whereas most European nations at the time were typically dominated by a noble class, in Norway, clergy and lawyers were, between the 17th and 19th centuries, broadly the apex of the social pyramid, especially outside the cities. By the 19th century Norway is widely considered to have been a "Civil Servant State," reflecting the role of the civil servants as "the most enduring, consistent and visible elite." This social group has with reference to the 19th century also been called "the thousand academic families" by the historian Jens Arup Seip, and they comprised less than one per thousand in the overall population. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they likely comprised a few hundred families at most. It was a far smaller elite than the nobility of many other countries.
- ⭐ Core Definition: Aristocracy of officials
- Aristocracy of officials in the context of Rosmersholm
- Aristocracy of officials in the context of Paus family
Aristocracy of officials in the context of Rosmersholm
Rosmersholm (pronounced [ˈrɔ̀sməʂˌhɔɫm]) is an 1886 play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It tells the story of Johannes Rosmer, an aristocratic former clergyman and owner of the Rosmersholm manor who is haunted by his wife's suicide and his own idealistic desires for societal reform, and Rebecca West, a strong-willed companion who challenges his convictions, leading to a deep exploration of morality, political activism, and the struggle for personal and social change amidst a backdrop of intense personal and political turmoil. Rosmersholm has been described as one of Ibsen's darkest, most complex, subtle, beautiful, mystical, multilayered and ambiguous plays. The play explores the tension between old and new, between liberation and servitude, between narratives, action or inaction, and of "what to do with ourselves when the world collapses around us." Rosmersholm and The Wild Duck are "often to be observed in the critics' estimates vying with each other as rivals for the top place among Ibsen's works."
Ibsen scholar Jon Nygaard writes that the loss of joy of life is an underlying theme of several of Ibsen's plays, including Rosmersholm, in which "the spirit of the dead and the aristocracy of officials [lingers heavily] over the manor [and] the Rosmerian view of life ennobles man – but it kills happiness". A key theme in Rosmersholm and other plays was, according to Nygaard, "the joy of life that was lost – and the new Puritan Civil Servant State that was coming. It was the spirit of civil servants from Upper Telemark, the Paus family."
View the full Wikipedia page for RosmersholmAristocracy of officials in the context of Paus family
The Paus family (pronounced [ˈpæʉs]), also styled de Paus or von Paus, is a Norwegian family that emerged as an aristocratic priestly family from Medieval Oslo in the 16th century. For centuries, it belonged to the "aristocracy of officials," especially in the clergy and legal professions in Upper Telemark. Later generations entered shipping, steel, and banking, becoming steel magnates in Oslo. The family's best-known members are Henrik Ibsen and Ole Paus. The name is recorded in Oslo from the 14th century and likely derives from a metaphorical use of the Middle Low German word for pope—perhaps meaning "the pious one"—reflecting foreign influence and name satire in medieval Oslo.
The priest brothers Hans (1587–1648) and Peder Povelsson Paus (1590–1653) from Oslo have long been known as the family's earliest certain ancestors. In Slekten Paus, Finne-Grønn identified their grandfather as Hans Olufsson (d. 1570), a canon at St Mary's Church who held noble rank and served as a royal priest both before and after the Reformation. Peder Povelsson Paus came to Upper Telemark as parish priest of Vinje in 1618, became provost of Upper Telemark in 1633, and was the ancestor of the extant family; in the 17th century the family also used the name Vind (Wind) after the parish of Vinje. From the 17th to the 19th century, the family were among the foremost of the regional elite, the "aristocracy of officials" in Upper Telemark, where family members served as priests, judges and other officials, often across generations. The family held the district judgeship—the region's chief governmental and judicial office—for 106 years (1668–1774). It was a meritocratic elite defined by education, priesthood, and service to the state, and the apex of the social order of Upper Telemark.
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