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=== History === | === History === | ||
Anciently it is believed that most Danes held their land as freeholders but during the middle ages, more and more of the land was bought up or confiscated the old nobility ( | By the start of genealogical times, the vast majority of Danes did not own their own land. Anciently it is believed that most Danes held their land as freeholders but during the middle ages, more and more of the land was bought up or confiscated the old nobility (or crown) and incorporated into their estates, the peasants reduced to leasing what they had once owned. It is estimated that by 1536 only 25% of farms were still held in freehold and the 1688 cadastral list (see above) revealed that at that time only 1,700 of the 59,000 farms in Denmark were held by independent farmers. The transition from most of the land being held as leaseholds instead of freeholds first started in the 1760's, but most of the land was still leased until about 1850, and the old system was not fully abolished until 1919. <br> <br> | ||
In the 1760's the crown started auctioning off its land controlled by the calvary districts and some of those peasants were able to purchase their land as freeholders. In the 1790's changes to some of the land laws and the estates rights over their tenants caused some estates, especially in Skanderborg and northern Vejle counties, to buckle under pressure and sell off much of their land as well. Again many of the peasants belonging to those purchased their land at this time and also became freeholders. In other parts of the country such as eastern Denmark where the estates were more powerful and the land was better, no changes occurred until around 1835-1860 at which point, many of the farmers also became freeholders and only cottagers remained under the estate. <br> <br> | In the 1760's the crown started auctioning off its land controlled by the calvary districts and some of those peasants were able to purchase their land as freeholders. In the 1790's changes to some of the land laws and the estates rights over their tenants caused some estates, especially in Skanderborg and northern Vejle counties, to buckle under pressure and sell off much of their land as well. Again many of the peasants belonging to those purchased their land at this time and also became freeholders. In other parts of the country such as eastern Denmark where the estates were more powerful and the land was better, no changes occurred until around 1835-1860 at which point, many of the farmers also became freeholders and only cottagers remained under the estate. <br> <br> | ||