Preliminary Programme

Wed 12 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Thu 13 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Fri 14 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Sat 15 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00

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Wednesday 12 April 2023 08.30 - 10.30
J-1 ELI02a Manors and Modernity. Ownership, Economy and Landscape c1750 to c1950 I
B44 (Z)
Network: Elites and Forerunners Chair: Martin Dackling
Organizers: Martin Dackling, Brita Planck, Göran Ulväng Discussants: -
Arne Bugge Amundsen : Norwegian Transformations: Two Manors from Landed Estate to Industrial Centers
The manors of Borregard and Hafslund in Southeastern Norway developed during the 17th and 18th centuries into quite large estates based and agriculture and forestry. The owners belonged to the small noble elite in Norway, and their lifestyle was deeply rooted in the aristocracy.

Due to their control over waterfalls ... (Show more)
The manors of Borregard and Hafslund in Southeastern Norway developed during the 17th and 18th centuries into quite large estates based and agriculture and forestry. The owners belonged to the small noble elite in Norway, and their lifestyle was deeply rooted in the aristocracy.

Due to their control over waterfalls and forests, the estates from around 1800 became the object of economic speculation and investments, not only by Norwegian merchants and industry owner, but also by German and English capitalists. The “manor dimensions” were mostly demonstrated by the monumental buildings and impressive parks, while the surrounding areas were turned into industrial and - eventually - urban landscapes.

The paper will present and discuss the different stages of these developments and relate them to the more general historical development of modern Norway. (Show less)

Göran Ulväng : Entailed Manors in Sweden – Numbers, Owners and Size 1750 to 2020
The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of the entailed manors in Sweden in a long-term perspective. The position of the landed elite has varied between states, but in general they had a strong political and economic position until the early 20th century, based on the ownership ... (Show more)
The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of the entailed manors in Sweden in a long-term perspective. The position of the landed elite has varied between states, but in general they had a strong political and economic position until the early 20th century, based on the ownership of land. Strengthened by the commercialization of agriculture and even industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries, they were forced to gradually share political power with others. The late 19th century became a turning point with the agricultural crises together with the democratization process which brought increased taxes and land reforms, as well as a dissolution of noble privileges such as entailment.

In Sweden entailment of property was made possible by the law of 1686, which can be seen as a compromise to compensate for the loss of land many noble families made when the Crown withdraw land, previously given to them before 1680.

Entailed manors were uncommon until the mid1700s, probably because most aristocratic families still possessed huge estates and had rather few surviving children as well as many childless siblings and cousins, which enabled them to keep the manors in the family. Until 1789 and 1810 the noble families also had the exclusive right to one third of the land, land which was comparatively cheap when sold on the market, since there were few competitors.

In 1789 the noble families` exclusive right to noble land ceased and in 1810 the right to establish new entailments was prohibited, as a result of the actions of the king as well as non-noble merchants, burghers and freehold farmers.

Between c1750 and 1810, nearly 300 entailments were established, an overwhelming part of them in aristocratic families (counts and barons), consisting of around 450 manors and town real estate. In this way nearly 15 per cent of all manors and probably around 20 to 25 per cent of all noble land, were locked-in within the families for generations. It took until 1964 before the government decided to dissolve the entailments, but with the intent to do it gradually. Today seven entailed manors still remain.

Until now the number of entailed manors, their owners and their size have been rather unclear.
In the three year project Entailed Manors in Sweden, data has been collected from all entailments, many of them rather small and unknown until now, and then compared to a wider set of data on all manors in Sweden as well as the changes in the general ownership of land in the country. Preliminary results show on one hand that the role of the entailments shouldn´t be underestimated, as they were the primal reason why the aristocracy could prevail as land owners and keep their position. In areas with no or few entailed manors, noble families owned almost nothing in the early 20th century, while they in entailed-dominated areas could possess half of the land or more. The reason for this was that owners of entailed manors benefited hugely from the fact that they were the sole heirs to the land, and using the surplus to expand the property by buying neighboring manors. On the other hand, many of the smaller entailments, owned by noble or non-noble families, were dissolved already in the 19th century. In times of decline, with low prices on grain or iron, the entailment became a burden. Some of them were divided among the heirs, others moved the entailment to a town real estate. (Show less)

Piet van Cruyningen : The Transformation of Aristocratic Landownership in the Eastern Netherlands, c. 1780 – c. 1850
In the eighteenth century, nobles in the eastern provinces of the Netherlands had an income strategy based on office-holding combined with ownership of a relatively small manor. The manors not only provided direct revenue from rents and wood sales, but also indirectly, because they provided access to the provincial Estates, ... (Show more)
In the eighteenth century, nobles in the eastern provinces of the Netherlands had an income strategy based on office-holding combined with ownership of a relatively small manor. The manors not only provided direct revenue from rents and wood sales, but also indirectly, because they provided access to the provincial Estates, and thus to lucrative offices. This strategy came to an abrupt end after the Batavian Revolution of 1795, which abolished entry to the Estates based on noble status and ownership of a manor. This resulted in a transformation of aristocratic landownership. Many smaller nobles sold out and opted for a military or bureaucratic career. A small group of very wealthy families, however, chose to maintain and even enlarge their estates, and increase their incomes by improving management and introducing new methods of forestry and farming. This resulted in increasing economic inequality within the nobility, but also had consequences for the landscape, because smaller manor houses were demolished and the remaining ones were often enlarged and embellished and provided with larger gardens and parks. The paper will explore the causes and consequences of these changes. (Show less)

Gerrit van Oosterom : The Rise and Fall of Dutch Country House Culture and it’s Reception (1750-1850)
Dutch country house culture flourished in the coastal areas of the Dutch Republic from the 17th century well into the second half of the 18th century. From that moment on the formerly urban based elite developed into a true landed elite. This had significant cultural, economic and spatial implications on ... (Show more)
Dutch country house culture flourished in the coastal areas of the Dutch Republic from the 17th century well into the second half of the 18th century. From that moment on the formerly urban based elite developed into a true landed elite. This had significant cultural, economic and spatial implications on the existing country house culture around cities in the west of the Netherlands. As early as 1800 owners around Amsterdam started to express their concerns about the demise of formerly highly appreciated country-house landscapes such as the Amstelland area. As one owner stated in a family letter about the much debated demolition of their family country house; ‘father would not have approved of this’. In our paper we will explore two aspects of this phenomenon. 1: An analysis of the conditions and causes leading to this shift and the reception of its cultural implications from within the elite itself. 2: An exploration of the effects this shift caused for the existing country house landscape (including processes such as the emergence of new owners, the effect of absentee ownership, demolition) and the defensive and offence strategies the remaining elite developed to stand the test of time. We will explore both aspects in the framework of the metropolis Amsterdam and its urban elite. They shed light on the transformation of the entire coastal area of the Republic that underwent a similar cultural shift (Show less)



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