Swedish House of Lords

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The Swedish House of Nobility, south end, with statue of Gustaf Eriksson Vasa. Inscription: CLARIS MAIORUM EXEMPLIS.

The Swedish House of Lords (Swedish: Riddarhuset) means either the corporation of the Swedish nobility or the palace of the nobility. The phrase is also alternately translated "Swedish House of Nobility" and also literally "the (Swedish) House of Knights", and this phrase is used because of the knights' (Swedish: riddare) belonging to the higher ranks of the Swedish nobilty, sometimes also together with titles as count (Swedish: Greve) and baron (Swedish: friherre). All esquires are also represented in the corporatation (most of the families, so called untitled nobilty, Swedish: obetitlad adel). This is a tradition from the medieval times when Sweden during the Kalmar union only had one knight: Sten Sture.

Between the 17th and the 19th century the House of Lords was a chamber in the Estates of the Realm, and as such, a Swedish equivalent to the British House of Lords.

After 1866, when the Riksdag of the Estates was replaced by the new Riksdag, the Swedish House of Lords served as a quasi-official representation of the Swedish nobility, regulated by the Swedish government. Since 2003, it has been a private institution, which maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility, with the main purpose to maintain old traditions and culture.

[edit] Building

The Riddarhuset is also the name of the building maintained by the corporation in Stockholm old town. The French-born architect Simon De la Vallée started the planning of the building, but was killed by a Swedish nobleman in 1642. The plans were eventually finished by his son, Jean De la Vallée, in 1660.

The south end of the building carries the Latin inscription CLARIS MAIORUM EXEMPLIS, after the clear example of the forefathers, and holds a statue of Gustav II Adolph. North of the building is a park in which is a statue of Axel Oxenstierna.

In the 18th century, it was often used for public concerts; Elisabeth Olin is believed to have debuted there in the 1750s, and Elisabetta Almerighi and Giovanni Ansani sang here in 1772.

The architecture of the old main library in Turku, Finland was influenced by the Swedish House of Lords.