Vidar L. Haanes notes that "in Norway the aristocracy of officials occupied the position in society held by the nobility elsewhere in Europe".
They included not only higher central government officials, but also all priests of the state church, all judges, lawyers (until the mid 19th century), county governors, university professors, military commissioned officers and other groups.
In Norway, "what little was left of the Norwegian nobility, which had constituted the elite in the country during the Middle Ages, quickly withered away after 1537.
[4] While most European countries were dominated by a noble class, in Norway "other social groups came to fill the vacant position at the top of society, burghers and officials.
"[4] Since the 16th century, offices in Denmark and Norway were also increasingly awarded based on merits and education, leading to the disappearance of the lower nobility as local elites, especially in Norway, as they were very often unable to afford costly university education abroad, and its gradual replacement as an elite by a class of university-educated higher officials, often of Danish or German origin.
They performed the rites of life which in the Norwegian context were associated with baptism, confirmation, communion, wedding and funeral.
The structuring elements of the culture were taken for granted, supported by the Lutheran doctrine of supremacy which meant that all should remain in the condition God had set them, and be obedient to their superiors.
According to Seip, "the thousand academic families" completely dominated the state and particularly the civil service, the government and the parliament during the 19th century.
[8] The historian Øystein Rian describes the aristocracy of officials in Norway as "a nobility-resembling elite;"[9][10] in many respects they occupied a similar position in society as the French nobles of the Robe.