| Post: | Steward |
| Body: | the Realm |
| Department: | Royal Danish court |
| Reports To: | the Monarch |
| Nominator: | Council of the Realm (from 1648) |
| Appointer: | the Monarch |
| Termlength: | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| Abolished: | 1665 |
Steward of the Realm (Danish: Rigshofmester) was an office at the Royal Danish Court. With the coronation of Eric VII of Denmark in 1396, it became an important office, taking over the role of the Seneschal (Danish: Drost) as the de facto prime minister of the country. Prior to that the Rigshofmester had merely been the administrative leader of the Royal Court.
The office was abolished with the institution of absolute monarchy in Denmark-Norway in 1660.[1]
| Year | Steward of the Realm | |
|---|---|---|
| 1373 | NN. Frentzel | |
| 1385 | Degenhard Buggenhagen | |
| 1387 | Bent Byg Grubbe | |
| 1397 | Mikkel Rud | |
| 1400–1409 | Jens Due | |
| 1412–1413 | Anders Jacobsen Lunge | |
| 1414–1416 | Jens Due | |
| 1417–1423 | Anders Jacobsen Lunge | |
| 1424 | Erik Segebodsen Krummedige | |
| 1429–1440 | Albrecht Morer | |
| 1441–1442 | Nielsen Gyldenstjerne | |
| 1445–1452 | Otte Nielsen Rosenkrantz | |
| 1453–1456 | Niels Eriksen Gyldenstjerne | |
| 1456–1480 | Erik Ottesen Rosenkrantz | |
| 1482–1487 | Strange Nielsen Strangesen Bild | |
| 1489–1502 | Poul Laxmand | |
| 1513–1515 | Niels Eriksen Rosenkrantz | |
| 1523–1544 | Mogens Gøye | |
| 1547–1552 | Eske Bille | |
| 1567–1575 | Peder Oxe | |
| 1596–1601 | Christoffer Valkendorff | |
| 1632 | Frands Rantzau | |
| 1641–51 | Corfitz Ulfeldt | |
| 1651–60 | Joachim Gersdorff |