The Swedish nobility has historically been a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, and part of the so-called frälse. The archaic term for nobility, frälse, also included the clergy, a classification defined by tax exemptions and representation in the diet. Today the nobility does not maintain its former legal privileges although family names, titles and coats of arms are still protected. The Swedish nobility consists of both "introduced" and "unintroduced" nobility, where the latter has not been formally "introduced" at the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset). The House of Nobility still maintains a fee for male members over the age of 18 for upkeep on pertinent buildings in Stockholm.
The Swedish House of Nobility in Stockholm, Sweden.
Ruins of Alsnö Castle, where the first known ordinance of Swedish nobility was given in 1280 by King Magnus III
The House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) in Stockholm
King Magnus III
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund.
A Vendel-era helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities
The Tjängvide image stone dating from 800 to 1099, example of Viking art
Gustav I liberated Sweden from Christian II of Denmark, ending the Kalmar Union. He established the House of Vasa which ruled Sweden and Poland until the 17th century.
Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631