Lensmann
{{Short description|Historically holder of a royal fief and now rural police chief}}
{{Lang|no|Lensmann}} in modern Norwegian or {{Lang|da|lensmand}} in Danish and older Norwegian spelling ({{Literal translation|fief man}}; {{Langx|non|lénsmaðr}}) is a term with several distinct meanings in Nordic history. The Icelandic equivalent was a {{Lang|is|hreppstjóri}}.
Fief-holder
{{see also|Lendmann}}
The term {{Lang|no|lensmann}} traditionally referred to a holder of a royal fief in Denmark and Norway. As the fiefs were renamed amt in 1662, the term {{Lang|no|lensmand}} was replaced with amtmand. In Norway these offices evolved into the modern fylkesmann office. Modern Norwegian historians often use the term {{Lang|no|lensherre}} (English: 'fief lord') instead of {{Lang|no|lensmann}}, although from the legal point of view, the king was the fief lord, and the title used by contemporaries was {{Lang|no|lensmand}}, not {{Lang|no|lensherre}}.Mikael Berglund, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-s6Zh8qzPxEC Cross-border Enforcement of Claims in the EU: History, Present Time and Future], {{ISBN|9041128611}}, 2009, page 101
While the {{Lang|no|lensmann}} was a fief-holder from the nobility, the {{Lang|no|amtmann}} was a civil servant who might be ennobled as a reward.
| class="wikitable"
|+Differences between {{Lang|no|lensmann}} and {{Lang|no|amtmann}}Steinar Imsen & Harald Winge (1999). Norsk historisk lexikon. Oslo: Cappelen Akademisk Forlag, p. 21. | ||
| Office
! {{Lang|no|Lensmann}} ! {{Lang|no|Amtmann}} | ||
|---|---|---|
| General governing power | Yes | No |
| Military commander | Yes | No |
| Tax collector | Yes | No |
| Fiscal accountability | No | Yes |
Modern police officer
The title {{Lang|no|lensmann}} is also used in an entirely different meaning in modern Norway, denoting the leader of a rural police district known as a {{Lang|no|lensmannsdistrikt}}.[http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/jd/dok/regpubl/stmeld/20002001/Stmeld-nr-22-2000-2001-/3.html?id=431893 Stortingsmelding nr 22] (2000-2201) punkt 3; www.regjeringen.no{{dead link |date=December 2024}}