Bergenhus len

Bergenhus len was a Norwegian administrative division. The "len" was administered from Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen.

Formerly the term "len" (plural "len") in Norway signified an administrative region roughly equivalent to today's counties. The historic "len" was an important administrative entity during the period of Dano-Norwegian unification. At the beginning of the 1500s the political divisions were variable, but consistently included four main "len" and approximately 30 smaller sub-regions with varying connections to a main "len". Up to 1660 the four principle "len" were headquartered at the major fortresses Bohus Fortress, Akershus Fortress, Bergenhus Fortress and the fortified city of Trondheim [cite book|author=Kavli, Guthorm |title=Norges festninger|publisher=Universitetsforlaget |year=1987|id=ISBN 82-00-18430-7] . The sub-regions corresponded to the church districts for the Lutheran church in Norway.

In 1536 Bergenhus was one of four "len" in Norway and included Northern Norway. These four principal "len" were in the 1530s divided into approximately 30 smaller regions. From that point forward through the beginning of the 1600s the number of subsidiary "len" was reduced, while the composition of the principle "len" became more stable. [ [http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len Len on Norwegian Wiki site] ]

From 1660 Bergenhus was one of Norway's nine principle "len" comprising 17 subsidiary "len". With the royal decree of February 19, 1662, each "len" was designated an "amt" (plural "amt") and the "lenmann" was titled "amtmann", from German "Amt" (office), reflecting the bias of the Danish court of that period. [ [http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amt Amt at Norwegian Wiki site] ] After 1671 Norway was divided into four principle "amt" or "stiftsamt" and there were nine subordinate "amt". Bergenhus amt was the stiftsamt and the subordinate amt were Halsnøy klostergods, Hardanger amt, Nordlandene amt.

From 1730 Bergenhus was divided into the following "amt":

*Nordre Bergenhus amt (now: Sogn og Fjordane county)
*Søndre Bergenhus amt (now: Hordaland county)

From 1919 each "amt" was renamed a "fylke" (plural "fylker") (county) and the "amtmann" was now titled "fylkesmann" (county governor).

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