Briefadel

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Persons ennobled by letters patent

title: "Briefadel" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["danish-noble-titles", "german-noble-titles", "norwegian-nobility", "swedish-nobility", "austrian-noble-titles"] description: "Persons ennobled by letters patent" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briefadel" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Persons ennobled by letters patent ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Adelsbrev_von_Munthe_af_Morgenstierne.png" caption="Danish]] and [[Norwegian nobility"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Reichsgrafenstands-Diplom_Schenk_von_Stauffenberg_1785.jpg" caption="Emperor Joseph II]] awarding the title of [[Imperial Count]] to Anton Schenk von [[Stauffenberg]], 1785"] ::

Briefadel (in German; ) or brevadel (in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) is a medieval German term for persons or families ennobled by letters patent. The oldest known such letters patent were issued in the middle of the 14th century, during the Late Middle Ages.

Briefadel can be contrasted with Uradel, whose nobility predates issuance of letters patent. The term dates to the early nineteenth century.

References

(1922). "Bref-adel".

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